The Guardian view on the House of Lords: ending inherited power is the right thing to do

House of Lords reform is often regarded as being of interest only to constitutional experts and having little appeal to the wider public. That is likely to change with Labour. The UK’s upper house is the second largest legislative chamber in the world after China’s (essentially rubber stamp) National People’s Congress. With about 800 members, the Lords has more lawmakers than the Commons. The difference is that the latter are elected whereas the upper house is entirely unelected and peers can serve for life. That means its powers are limited. For example, peers can delay a piece of legislation passed by the Commons for up to one year, but cannot block a bill altogether.