Plaid Cymru peer’s Bill would require a public consultation on a new second chamber, opening a debate about how Wales is represented at Westminster.
Plaid Cymru peer Carmen Smith has called on the UK Government to honour its promise to replace the House of Lords, ahead of a parliamentary debate on her proposals on Friday 23 October.
Her House of Lords (Alternative Second Chamber) Bill would require ministers to consult on replacing the existing institution, including seeking the views of the public and devolved governments.
The Bill is scheduled for its second reading, when peers will debate its central principles. It would establish a process for considering a replacement rather than itself abolishing the Lords or creating an elected chamber.
Smith, who sits as Baroness Smith of Llanfaes, said the proposals would put Labour’s own manifesto commitment into motion.
“I have been clear from the outset that the House of Lords is an undemocratic, unrepresentative institution that must be replaced with an alternative second chamber,” she said.
“While a second chamber does have a key part to play in scrutinising legislation, the House of Lords lacks the transparency, accountability and democratic legitimacy needed to effectively serve the people of these isles.”
Labour’s 2024 manifesto committed the party to replacing the Lords with a chamber more representative of the UK’s nations and regions, following consultation with the public.
According to the House of Lords Library, the government has described that consultation as a longer-term ambition but has not committed to a timetable.
Smith’s Bill would introduce deadlines. Consultation would have to begin within six months of the legislation becoming law and run for at least 12 weeks. Ministers would then have six months after it closed to publish a summary of responses and the government’s response.
“My Bill simply calls on the UK Government to honour its own promise and to get the ball rolling because this cannot be another report gathering dust on a Whitehall shelf – it must deliver the change we need,” Smith said.
The peer entered the Lords in spring 2024 stating that she intended to work towards its abolition from within, including ending her own position in the chamber.
She is now challenging Prime Minister Andy Burnham to bring Lords reform into his wider plans for constitutional change.
“Andy Burnham has spoken of rewiring the country and shifting power away from Westminster,” she said.
“The Prime Minister has long been an advocate for reform, and these changes must go hand in hand if we are to tackle the deep-rooted problems in our democracy and build a system that is fit for the 21st century.”
For Wales, the debate raises questions about how its interests should be represented in decisions taken at UK level.
Peers do not represent constituencies in the way MPs do. Although individual members bring Welsh political, professional and community experience to parliamentary scrutiny, membership of the Lords carries no formal responsibility to represent a particular nation or region.
A replacement chamber would therefore require decisions about what representation means in practice: how members would be chosen, how seats would be distributed and how the institution would work alongside the Commons and devolved legislatures.
Those choices would determine whether reform gave Wales a stronger, more accountable voice in UK lawmaking. A commitment to represent the nations and regions leaves substantial questions about the eventual design.
Friday’s debate will provide an opportunity to examine the proposed consultation and the government’s willingness to put a timetable behind its pledge. It will not settle the composition or powers of a future chamber.
For Smith, the immediate demand is that ministers begin the process they have already promised. For the public, the larger question is what should replace the Lords — and how people would hold that institution to account.
