At the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Labour Party was founded, the House of Lords threatened the emergence of a fully democratic Britain. It was hereditary, unaccountable, overwhelmingly biased towards a single party regardless of public opinion and militant in defence of the interests of one class above all others.

Over the last century the House of Commons has rightly asserted its role as the main chamber of Parliament and the House of Lords has evolved from being a fundamental threat to British democracy to, in some instances, being its’ safeguard. Accordingly the Labour Party’s policy on the House of Lords has moved from abolition to reform.

The pace of House of Lords reform has been slow, but Labour has been in the forefront of reform. The Salisbury-Addison Convention, which curtailed the powers of the Lords, was established following Labour’s landslide general election win in 1945. The 1949 Parliament Act, which limited the delaying power of the Lords to one year, was a Labour measure.

Since 1997, Labour has embarked on a process of reforming the House of Lords, starting with the removal of most hereditary peers in 1999. Progress has at times been agonisingly slow, but a breakthrough was finally achieved in March 2007 when the House of Commons voted in favour of the options for an 80% elected and fully elected Upper House.

This vote would not have happened under a Conservative Government: a majority of Conservative MPs voted against their own manifesto commitment of an 80% elected Upper House. No Conservative Prime Minister would risk splitting their party in trying to secure House of Lords reform.

We must now move forward. Gordon Brown has indicated his strong support for democratic reform of the Upper House. The Campaign for a Democratic Upper House is calling on the new Prime Minister to build on the success of the March 2007 vote and to secure House of Lords reform at the earliest opportunity. With a hostile House of Lords, it will not be easy. We believe that for the momentum to be retained, the new Government must begin work on this sooner rather than later.