Steve Bell/The Guardian
Elections for Hereditary Peers in the House of Lords due
Given that Britain is a Constitutional Monarchy with at best a partially written Constitution what goes on in respect of democratic politics can be a little odd and that was before Johnson and Co.
This coming week sees elections for Hereditary Peers in the Lords. Their numbers are limited (as opposed to Life Peers who still appear to be increasing exponentially…).
Hence when one or more departs, retires or simply doesn’t turn up for a bit there are elections.
On Monday there is an election for 3 Tory Peers. There are 21 candidates and the electorate is 43.
On Tuesday and Wednesday there is an election for a single Cross Bench Peer. There are 10 candidates.
All the candidates are already Lords or Ladies but currently don’t sit.
One might query whether they are up to this voting thing. If we follow the New Left Review perspective on British politics the aristocracy as opposed to business still has a significant role due to an incomplete bourgeois revolution.
Strangely however both elections are by e-ballot. The one for Tory Peers will use the Single Transferable Vote while the Crossbench election will use the Alternative vote.
Are these venerable aristocrats up to it?
The answer is of course, yes, as a quick scan of their election statements reveals.
They are not ancient landowners but people who have worked in finance, admin, digital and the like-in short types of no doubt well-heeled professional.
Not that different one suspects to many MPs in fact..
The results:
After 9 stages 3 new Tory Hereditary Peers have been elected:
Altrincham: Banker
Leicester: 28 years promoting sustainable businesses
Sandhurst: Lawyer
A new crossbench peer was also elected:
Londesborough: ‘hands on’ entrepreneur
Bufton Tufton missed but men in suits did well
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