Outgoing Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford slams House of Lords: 'I don't want to become a peer'

The Welsh Labour leader criticised the unelected Upper House of Parliament as a 'democratic anachronism'
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Mark Drakeford would not accept a seat in the House of Lords if asked, the outgoing First Minister of Wales has said.

The Welsh Labour leader criticised the unelected Upper House of Parliament as a "democratic anachronism" when asked if he would accept a peerage in order to swell Labour's numbers in the chamber.

There are currently 175 Labour peers in the Lords, compared with 270 Conservatives.

Baroness Smith of Basildon, Labour's leader in the Lords, recently told the House magazine that the party would need to "refresh our numbers" in the Lords in the coming years, as existing Labour peers age.

Asked if he would accept a peerage to bolster the number of Labour lords, the First Minister of Wales said: "I will not be looking to, if I were ever to be asked - I would not be looking to become a member of an unelected House of Lords."

He added: "I simply don't believe that that is the right way to run things in a democracy."

Mr Drakeford, 69, is a supporter of Labour former prime minister Gordon Brown's proposals to replace the House of Lords with an elected upper chamber, described as an "assembly of the nations and regions".

The First Minister suggested these were long-term reforms, and not something an incoming Labour government would be able to carry out immediately.

Mr Drakeford said: "I don't say for a minute that they all have to be done on the first day, but there is a journey of House of Lords reform that we need to embark upon.

"The fact that there are hereditary peers still making laws in this country is surely, well if I was to call it a democratic anachronism, that would be giving you the kindest description I can think of."

He added: "There are immediate steps that a Labour Government ought to take on a journey to a reformed second chamber, much smaller, representing as the Brown report says the nations and the regions, elected, not appointed.

"That is not going to come straight away, but while the House of Lords remains as it is now, bloated, unelected, not responsible to anybody... that is not a place where I am planning to spend my time."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in