We believe that there is no place in a modern democratic system for an unelected parliament. 

Members of the current House of Lords have real power, over policies and legislation, but they are not accountable to the people who have to live by those laws.

We propose that:

• A proportional system should be used, to make it very unlikely that there would be a majority for one political party in a reformed chamber.  The Single Transferable Vote system would be the best as it would allow independents and small parties to get elected.
• Members should be elected for longer terms (about 12-15 years) to enable them to act with independent conscience rather than always worrying about getting nominated by their party for the next election.
• Elected members should be required to pay full rates of UK tax and be subject to strict rules of conduct.  They should be held accountable by an independent scrutiny body, as well as by the electorate on polling day.
• Members should receive taxable salaries – but then there should be tough restrictions on what outside work they can undertake.  
  

Now that the Commons has expressed a clear will for a democratic House of Lords the Electoral Reform Society, as part of the Elect the Lords campaign, is calling for the Government to push on with a final package of reforms. 

There is a general consensus within parliament that the electoral system for the Lords should be a proportionate system.  We argue that this system should be the Single Transferable Vote, which allow for proportional representation, but also gives the voter greater choice over their chosen candidates

We campaign for reform of the House of Lords, so that its members are elected directly by the public. 

Direct Elections for a reformed second chamber