The House of Lords is meant to differ from the House of Commons, by having appointed members and not elected ones, this will fulfil its purpose. If there is a fully elected chamber it will just be an exact replica of the House of Commons. If the House has more appointed members than elected ones it will rival the House of Commons, acting as a more effective check on the executive. These are the main befits of having appointed members. The House of Lords does not have to contain all appointed members but if there are two-thirds appointed members and one-third elected it will be more effective and fulfil its purpose to check parliament.
There are large advantages of creating a fully elected second chamber. By having a wholly elected chamber the House of Lords will be more democratic which was the original aim of reforming it. Members will not be appointed so the electorate are at liberty to chose who they want to sit in the House of Lords and check the executive for them, this means the hereditary peers, law lords and Church of England Bishops will leave, people who the general public did not choose to be in there and make decisions for them. Having wholly elected chamber make the House of Lords fairer to all parties, it will guarantee that it will not be filled with Tony’s cronies so the Conservatives will be able to accept the validity of the decisions made in the House of Lords. This means that it will be and effective, legitimate check on the government with a large majority if the members are elected.
Another advantage of having a fully elected second chamber is that is provides representation from across the UK and, if a proportional representation system was used it would also be more representative of all the political views, this increases its effectiveness.
By having a fully elected house the job of the members is likely to be more full time, more work may be done this way as it is likely to be classed a proper job, not as an extra job. The members are also likely to get paid for this; members may see this as an incentive to work harder. The members are also likely to be younger whereas some of the ex-MPs currently in thee House of Lords are past retirement age, this means that by having younger members new, fresh, modern ideas are likely to come to light, this may be advantageous in the long run. The younger members may also have more of a dedication to the job if they have gone through the election process.
By setting up an elected second chamber it would show the government was committed to a bicameral legislature but, is this the function of the House of Lords, an exact replica of the House of Commons or is it meant to check government effectively as it does now with a mixture of people. These are some of the benefits of having a wholly elected second chamber.
