Churchill wanted Lords abolished
Alistair Cooke, the Conservative party historian who will be introduced in the Lords this afternoon, has written a fascinating piece on the upper House's history.
Cooke, who has taken the title Lord Lexden, of Lexden in the county of Essex and of Strangford in the county of Down, recalls that in 1911 Winston Churchill had a radical solution to reform of the Lords.
"Churchill, then a Liberal cabinet minister, wrote the Prime Minister, Asquith, telling him that 'the time has come for the total abolition of the House of Lords'", Cooke writes.
Of course, the Liberals, Labour and the Tories all failed to fully reform the Lords in the intervening 100 years.
"The coalition government is now preparing reform proposals," Cooke concludes.
"I am greatly looking forward to contributing to the debate that will ensue."
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