Express & Star

Disillusioned honours - what's wrong with our creaking upper house

They called them the 'dissolution honours'. But to me they're the 'disillusioned honours' - as that's how I'm feeling about this new crop of peers of the realm.

Published

Certain sections of the press have labelled the Scot one of the 'brassy' (their word, not mine) women David Cameron is enthralled by.

Ms Mone, however, is a rarity in a list dominated by people whose record with their party and politics is being rewarded as much as their service to their country or community.

The House of Lords is past its best. Creaking at the seams it is the second largest legislative chamber in the world outside of China, a country with a population of almost 1.4 billion.

The Liberal Democrats were very keen on making it elected.

But that has not stopped them adding to the red benches with 11 of their own nominees - three more than the entirety of the sad and forlorn bunch of MPs they were left with after May.

For while the Liberal Democrats were very keen indeed on serving the will of the electorate, the electorate was not all that keen on them after five years of coalition.

Meanwhile David Cameron is likely to press ahead with moves to cut the number of MPs, who are elected by the people, but not making much more than noises about the number of Lords, who are not.

The Prime Minister's own cronyism has dominated the debate on this over the past couple of days but my personal favourite addition to the list is from Labour.

Their modest eight peers are almost all former MPs, save for Spencer Livermore.

This is the strategy and communications professional who became Labour's campaign director for the General Election.

Hmmm. Remind me how that turned out again?

Still, as a new life peer Lord Livermore will have to fight for his seat, er, nevermore, which must be rather nice.

As for the West Midlands, the only new peer from these parts is the Liberal Democrat Lorely Burt, turfed out of her Solihull seat in favour of a Conservative MP in May.

Sedgley-born Baroness Burt will, we must hope, bring a bit of Black Country common sense to a house now welcoming an intake of donors, advisers, strategists and other party political types.

Which brings me back to soon-to-be Baroness Mone.

This is someone who has been busy making a success of herself. The same can be said of countless entrepreneurs, captains of industry, doctors, scientists, teachers, inventors and others who, rather than spending all their time working to either get their chosen party into power or being career politicians, were just having careers.

Take, for example, the fantastic Baroness Heyhoe-Flint - vice president of Wolves and former England ladies cricket captain. Her experience of sport would eclipse that of every member of the culture, media and sport select committee combined.

It is that knowledge and experience that should earn potential peers the fast track into a legislative chamber without the need to be subjected to the will of the electorate; knowledge and experience that benefits society and should be used to guide and shape our laws.

Parliament will be at its best when it reflects the country it represents, not when its second chamber is used as a reward for political loyalty.

And if all the parties are not careful, respect for and trust in it will sink so low, not even one of Michelle Mone's bras could lift them.

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