Britain’s House of Commons took a historic step on Wednesday to endorse a fully elected House of Lords, a move that could eventually end the reign of Parliament’s upper house as a seat of privilege and patronage. After the better part of a century spent debating a more democratic foundation for a house rooted in Britain’s aristocratic and baronial past, parliament members voted 337-224 to endorse the idea of a fully elected upper chamber. By an even greater margin, they voted to abolish the 92 seats still reserved for lords by virtue of having inherited their titles. “I simply do not believe that in this less deferential, more assertive age, the public will tolerate a wholly appointed chamber for much longer. The choice in my judgment is stark: it is change or wither away,” said Commons Leader Jack Straw, who headed a government study committee which advocated moving to a partially elected house. The vote was advisory only, and any actual change in the makeup of the 746-member upper house will require a separate vote on the nuts-and-bolts legislation. The House of Lords itself will debate the issue next week, a process which leading reform proponent James Graham of the Elect the Lords Campaign Network likened to “asking the turkeys to vote on Christmas.”
