Why not directly elect the House of Lords?
The two chamber, or bicameral, system of parliament that exists in Britain works on the principle that one house has more legitimacy than the other. Whilst both houses can initiate legislation, our second chamber, the House of Lords, must eventually accept the will of the primary chamber, the House of Commons. This concept, called primacy, rests on the fact that MPs are directly elected by their constituents, giving them greater legitimacy than the unelected members of the House of Lords. If the reformed chamber were to be directly elected, then members would have equal legitimacy with MPs, and so the Commons would lose its primacy. The result would be democratic gridlock as each house claimed that it alone was the true representative of the people.
