Cameron set to Gerrymander both Lords and Commons.

It is sometimes forgotten that Members of the House of Lords are also Members of Parliament and what we refer to as MPs  should in fact be caled Member of the House of Commons (MHCs)

The recent scandal over Lord Sewel has thrown the Upper House into focus with renewed calls for reform but it is clear that Prime Minister David Cameron is prepared to stuff

 he prime minister said he regretted that the coalition failed in its bid to reform the unelected chamber during the last parliament after a Tory backbench rebellion. But speaking in Singapore during a trade and diplomacy tour, Cameron said there was no point trying to introduce reforms again as he signalled that he would press ahead with plans to appoint more Tory peers.

“It is important the House of Lords in some way reflects the situation in the House of Commons. At the moment it is well away from that. I’m not proposing to get there in one go. [But] it is important to make sure the House of Lords more accurately reflects the situation in the House of Commons. 

The current composition is

HM Government

•     Conservative Party (226)

HM Opposition

•      Labour Party (212)

Other

•      Crossbenchers (179)›      Liberal Democrats (101)
•      Democratic Unionist Party (4)     UK Independence Party (3)     Plaid Cymru (2)     Ulster Unionist Party (2)›     Green Party (1)›
•       Non-affiliated (27)    Lords Spiritual (26)

So if Cameron wants to "Reflect the Current commons hes going to have to greatly increase the number of Tories there by something like 200 it is suggested

The Prime Minister also proposes   to slash the size of the Commons from 650 MPs to 600 saying it was the  the "right approach".


Cameron is Planing to greatly increase the numbers in the Unelected Chamber  maybe making it close to a Thousand with mainly his party members whilst cutting the numbers of the elected members in the Commons which wil also favour his party.

The Tories won an overall majority with just 37% of the vote and now seem hell bent on Gerrymandering the system so they can have a permanent majority in both  houses.

There is no case for keeping the House of Lords as it is in a modern Democracy and whilst the argument for cutting seats in the Commons have some validity it should only come with the introduction of some kind of proportional representation 

If a directly House of Lords under the same electoral system  would be deemed to be to political and simply mirrored the Commons ten maybe we should look at the Irish Senate 

Seanad Éireann consists of sixty senators:

• Eleven appointed by the Taoiseach (prime minister).
• Six elected by the graduates of certain Irish universities:
  • Three by graduates of the University of Dublin.
  • Three by graduates of the National University of Ireland.
• 43 elected from five special panels of nominees (known as Vocational Panels) by an electorate consisting of TDs (member of Dáil Éireann), senators and local councillors. Nomination is restrictive for the panel seats with only Oireachtas members and designated 'nominating bodies' entitled to nominate. Each of the five panels consists, in theory, of individuals possessing special knowledge of, or experience in, one of five specific fields. In practice the nominees are party members, often, though not always, failed or aspiring Dáil candidates:
  • Administrative Panel: Public administration and social services (including the voluntary sector).
  • Agricultural Panel: Agriculture and the fisheries.
  • Cultural and Educational Panel: Education, the arts, the Irish language and Irish culture and literature.
  • Industrial and Commercial Panel: Industry and commerce (including engineering and architecture).
  • Labour Panel: Labour (organised or otherwise).

 Or in the Union then a Upper House of the  Nations in which Wales,Scotland and Northern Ireland  have a grater role and enough members to out vote English Members.