Wakeham Report - Recommendations of The Report

Recommendations of The Report

The Commission explicitly did not recommend a wholly or predominantly elected chamber, and also rejected the idea of random selection of members. Instead, the following recommendations were made:

1. The membership of the House of Lords should be reduced to around 550.
2. A majority of these should be appointed by an independent Honours and Appointments Commission, rather than by the Prime Minister; this would reduce the role of the House as a source of political patronage.
3. A minority of members (between 60 and 195) should be elected on a regional basis, through proportional representation. Three different models were proposed, with varying numbers of elected members; under all three models, members were to serve for "three electoral cycles" or 15 years.
4. Ministers should be accountable to the House of Lords as well as the House of Commons.
5. The few remaining hereditary peers should be removed.