The House of Lords-An Outdated House?

The House of Lords is the upper chamber of the bicameral British Parliament. And true to its name, it is composed exclusively of the British ‘Lords’. With currently there being 785 Lords that make up the chamber, compared to the 650 MPs of the House of Commons, as well as its ‘undemocratic’ form of composition seems to give support to the age-old argument that it is a flawed and unneeded body. However, it may still be needed yet. 

Although the perception of the House of Lords, and its functions may be harsh due to its selection, it is, not, in fact, a purely hereditary body. With the life peers introduced into the House of Lords, many ‘Lords’ that are currently sitting in the House were elevated to the title and rank of a Peer, by virtue of rendering a great service to the United Kingdom, or are professional experts in their fields. Including the military, law, business, economy, education, and more. One example would be the Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, a doctor on palliative medicine. Furthermore, although the creation of life peers were created under Conservative and Labor governments, the House, however, has a significant portion of crossbenchers-Lords that are nonpartisan. 183 Lords and Ladies are crossbenchers, which provides a more nonpartisan and neutral views on matter often discussed in the House of Lords. In this case, the laws that come under scrutiny by the House are met with a diverse, neutral viewpoint that is not subordinated under political affiliations and bias. Additionally, the House of Lords is an invaluable piece in the whole ‘keeping power in check’ without any temporal restrictions. By virtue of their peerages, the Lords sit in the House, not by the sway of electoral opinion which may or may not affect democracy negatively. As democracy is in a constant threat of being converted into blatant populism, or facism, drawing the example from Hitler's Germany, the fact that there is a body to balance the threat out is an important role all in itself. 

Overall, although the House of Lords does have its own share of criticism, it is over all, a useful body that is one of the protectors of British democracy. Despite its supposedly archaic way of selection, one cannot help but point out how helpful political non-partisanship can aid democracy greatly, and the democratic governments that failed to incorporate such neutrality, and became a populistic, fascist one instead.