Britain's new Conservative government will have a fight on its hands when it tries to get legislation on an EU membership referendum and on human rights through parliament's House of Lords, where it is in a minority. The Conservatives unexpectedly won an overall majority in the House of Commons in a general election on May 7, but as the euphoria of their surprise victory dissipates they face a complicated situation in parliament.
In the 650-strong Commons they have a majority of 12 seats, while in the unelected House of Lords opposition members outnumber them by 91. "We're going to have some interesting votes and conflicts and challenges between the two chambers," George Foulkes, an opposition Labour member of the House of Lords, told Reuters. The government bills most likely to face a bumpy ride in the Lords are plans to hold a referendum on membership of the EU, and to replace existing human rights laws to reduce the influence of the European Court of Human Rights.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats, former coalition partners of the Conservatives now in opposition, object to the proposed overhaul of human rights laws and may also find common cause on amendments to the EU referendum bill. House of Lords members, known as peers, are appointed by the prime minister following arcane rules. By convention, the chamber does not block bills that fulfil promises in the governing party's election manifesto, but it can amend them.
Ultimately, the House of Commons can overrule the Lords, but many Lords amendments do become law, and the back and forth between the chambers can delay government plans. The Lords have a record of forcing governments to amend sensitive policies. As prime minister, Tony Blair suffered stinging Lords defeats over detaining terror suspects, introducing I.D. cards and restricting trial by jury. Managing the Lords was not a problem for Prime Minister David Cameron while in coalition because the Conservatives and Lib Dems outnumbered Labour in the chamber.
Now, the 101 Lib Dem peers can team up with Labour's 214 to challenge the Conservatives, who have 224. The government could seek support among the 178 cross-benchers, peers with no party affiliation, but they do not vote as a block and would have to be won over one by one. "When it comes to something like the human rights bill the particular amendments won't have been part of the Conservative manifesto so there could be quite a lot of change there," Lib Dem peer Dick Taverne told Reuters.
"The same is true of the EU referendum bill," he said. The government announced on Monday that most nationals of other EU countries living in Britain would not be allowed to vote in the referendum, and neither would people aged 16 to 18. These proposals could face challenges in the Lords. Another area likely to cause friction will be devolution of powers to Scotland and other reforms promised by Cameron after Scots voted against independence in a referendum last year.
Constitutional experts say the government may have to trim policies and negotiate with the opposition to steer legislation through. Conservative peer Patrick Cormack told the BBC Lords defeats were "not the end of the world" and the wealth of experience in the chamber meant that it usually improved bills. The House of Lords is constrained by the fact that it is unelected, but many of the unwritten conventions that govern its relationship with the Commons may come under pressure in the new political landscape created by the May 7 election.
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