Downing Street Says

» Friday, November 19, 2010

Peers

Asked why people who made party political donations ended up in the House of Lords, the PMS said that there was an established process on appointing peers. They were vetted through the House of Lords Appointments Commission. There was also an established process on donations which was that they had to be declared to the Electoral Commission.

Asked how the Prime Minister could justify cutting the number of MPs when he was creating more positions in the House of Lords, the PMS said that the Government position on this was set out in the Coalition Document, which had said that we would continue to appoint peers, and reflect the balance of the outcome of the General Election. The document had also said that we would bring forward proposals for reforming the House of Lords.

Asked how it reflected the outcome of the General Election when there would be more appointments for the Liberal Democrats than for Labour, the PMS said that it was to ensure that the balance within the House of Lords reflected that more.

Put that the number of Liberal Democrat MPs went down in the last election, the PMS replied that the starting point had to be taken into account. From May 1997 to May 2010, there were 84 Conservative peers appointed, compared to 203 Labour peers and 64 Lib Dem peers.

Put that Labour would argue that they were merely catching up with their massive majority in the Commons and would the new balance in the Lords reflect the percentage of the vote, or the number of MPs in the Commons, the PMS said he would check, but the policy was as set out in the Coalition Agreement.

Asked again about cutting the number of MPs while appointing more Peers, the PMS said that there was a significant reform agenda underway, which involved cutting the number of MPs in Parliament. We would be looking at the House of Lords after that process.

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Peers

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