How democratic is the UK’s House of Lords, and how could it be reformed?

As part of the 2017 Audit of UK Democracy, Sonali Campion, Sean Kippin and the DA team examine how the UK’s deeply controversial current second chamber, the House of Lords, matches up to the criteria for liberal democracies with bi-cameral legislatures. Now an almost-all appointed Chamber, the House of Lords has had some prominent or more bipartisan influence on moderating Commons proposals. But its members remain completely creatures of patronage, and wholly unaccountable to citizens. All parties except the Tories now support its replacement by an elected Senate.