Public Attitudes Towards the House of Lords and House of Lords Reform

This Library Note provides information on public attitudes towards the House of Lords, and reform of the House, using the findings of various opinion polls. These have been conducted at intervals using different questions and samples, and therefore can offer only a partial account of what people think about the House of Lords. Nevertheless, taken together, they do suggest that Lords reform and constitutional questions generally are not as salient as other political issues, such as managing the economy, crime, and so on. There is also perhaps some contradictory evidence in how people view reform of the House, with some value placed on the independence offered by a House composed of appointed members, with value also placed on the democratic legitimacy conferred by elections if the House were to be reformed in this way.