Electoral reform campaigners are calling new body to replace the House of Lords after publishing a report which found that more than half of peers come from just three regions.
An Electoral Reform Society (ERS) investigation found that more than half of all Lords - 56 per cent - are registered as living in either London, the South East, and the East of England.
Just 6% of Lords come from the whole of the Midlands, and 8% from Scotland.
ERS Senior Director Willie Sullivan said that reform was needed now to "shape a union that people really want to be a part of.”
The Ers want to see a senate drwan from all parts of the UK replace the House of Lords.
The House of Lords
Their probe found that the upper chamber is skewed in its regional representation when compared to the share of the UK population in each area.
London the South East and the East of England are massively overrepresented, with the proportion of peers from these three regions totaling 20 percentage points higher than their share of the UK population.
Every other region and nation, except the South West and Scotland, is underrepresented in the chamber, with the North West and Midlands losing out the most in representation.
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The combined share of peers from these three regions in the Lords is 16 percentage points lower than their share in the UK population.
Analysis of Lords’ professions shows that not a single peer’s primary working background is in manual or skilled trades.
Just 15 peers have a background in medicine or healthcare.
Campaigners argue the chamber is ‘innately incapable of reflecting the breadth of experience in the UK’, since the incentive is for prime ministers to use it as a ‘reward’ for donors and Westminster allies.
Former cricketer Ian Botham joined the Lords. There are none from manual trades.
More than a third of Lords have a background in politics, whether as elected politicians or party staff or activists – meaning unelected politicians continue to hold sway over our laws.
Figures released by the ERS today also show that 72% of Lords are male, and 54% of Lords are aged over 70.
The ERS is calling for a far smaller, proportionally-elected Senate of the Nations and Regions, which would serve as a scrutinising and revising chamber, and a voice for ‘levelling up’ the whole UK.
Willie Sullivan, Senior Director at the ERS, said: “The House of Lords is at the heart of Westminster’s constitutional crisis. Voters deserve so much better than a publicly-funded private member’s club packed to the hilt with party donors and allies.
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"The Lords totally failing to reflect the diversity of knowledge and experience in this country, and the time is now for root-and-branch change.
“These new figures shine a light on the pressing need for reform. Westminster looks desperately outdated and warped, and the unelected second chamber plays a big role in this."
Ceremony plays a big part in the House of Lords
Mr Sullivan added: "The Prime Minister must heed these calls for change. A majority of voters across parties want to see a proportionally-elected second chamber which could truly help level up the whole UK.
"There is an opportunity to drag politics into the 21st century, and start to tackle the dire political inequality. For the PM, such a move might shape a union that people really want to be a part of.”
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