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Re: How many Lords do we need?
Numbers: Certainly no more than the House of Commons, I'd say 650 max, minimum 450.
Who can be there: First of all I'd bin the automatic right of Bishops to sit in the Lords. By all means let them stand with others for election as may be, but no automatic right.
Secondly, I'd have lords sit for a defined, but long term of "office" (Say 10-15 years). This will hopefully reduce the need for them to go for populist ideas and focus their view on long term issues.
As for how to chose those lords, there's two options. First option is to use some kind of proportional representation system based on the last general election result. This saves the cost of running a separate election, but doesn't allow for the GB public to chose a more left/right/centre revising chamber as needed.
The second option is a totally separate election done using proportional representation. Unlike constituency MPs, Lords don't represent a given area so are ripe for selection by PR
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