Assess the extent to which the various current proposals to reform the House of Lords have been successful and to what extent might such reforms achieve a more democratic and independent situation.

The most radical reforms, or proposed reforms, taking place in Britain can clearly be seen to be within the House of Lords (HoL), also referred to as the Upper House, the House of Commons being the Lower House.  The origins of the HoL can be traced back to Kings Court of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, making it one of the oldest law-making bodies in the world.

The HoL is made up of four groups; hereditary peers, life peers, Lords of Appeal in ordinary and Lords spiritual.  Hereditary peers have membership to the HoL on the basis of it being their birth right.  This means that at some point a peerage was created by a Writ of the Summons to the House or under Letters Patent from the Sovereign, which create a line of succession to the peerage.  This composition of the HoL makes it one of the few legislatures in the democratic world to be unelected….(short extract)