The speaker of the House of Commons has criticised one of Keir Starmer’s flagship policies, saying he does not want to see the House of Lords replaced with an elected upper chamber.
In an unusual policy intervention from the normally neutral speaker, Lindsay Hoyle told LBC radio he thought an elected Lords would threaten the supremacy of the Commons.
Under precedent set by all modern predecessors except John Bercow, Hoyle would normally expect to take a seat in the Lords once he decides to stand down from the Commons. His intervention on behalf of an unelected second chamber threatens to trigger a row with Starmer, who announced a month ago that he would abolish it if elected prime minister.
Hoyle, a former Labour MP, told LBC’s Andrew Marr: “I don’t believe, and I don’t think, we should have a second house that’s elected. I don’t want competition – who’s got supremacy?
“At the moment, it’s very clear the House of Commons, the elected house, has supremacy, once you have a second house that’s elected, then you’re into an arm wrestle about who has the power.”
He added: “What I would say is if people want to reform it, please do but do not have a second elected house. We don’t need the competition. Supremacy is going to remain with the Commons.
“That is what people recognise as the senior house. We don’t want any arm struggles. We want very distinct powers separated … but not via an election.”
His words contradict the policy set out last month by the Labour leader, who told Labour peers last month: “People have lost faith in the ability of politicians and politics to bring about change – that is why, as well as fixing our economy, we need to fix our politics.”
He also promised that under his proposals the new upper house would keep its secondary role of amending and scrutinising legislation, and that exclusive power over the public finances and forming a government would remain with the Commons.
Starmer’s policy commitment came after a string of rows about Lords appointments, including Boris Johnson’s decision to give a peerage to the Evening Standard owner, Evgeny Lebedev.
Since then there have been fresh controversies about those already serving in the Lords, including the Guardian’s revelation that the Conservative peer Michelle Mone and her children benefited from £29m in profits from government contracts handed out during the pandemic. Mone is now under investigation and has taken a leave of absence from the Lords.
On Tuesday, the Guardian revealed another Tory peer, Rami Ranger, is under investigation by the Lords authorities, having been accused of bullying and harassing a female freelance journalist.
