📜 The processes of the Lords

Do the work for the government–don’t expect them to

Given how dysfunctional the government can be, you often have to do the work for them. That means writing the plan yourself—literally handing them a policy that’s ready to go. The more fully developed your proposal is, the more likely it is to be picked up. Of course, how far you can go depends on your resources, but whatever your size, give the government as much of a complete package as you can manage. Because, frankly, they often don’t have the ideas or capacity to develop it themselves.

Don’t barrage the Lords

Most members of the Lords either have minimal staff or no staff at all, so email blasting the entire House is not going to make you very popular. The much better way to engage with the Lords is to look for the peers who've already done some work in your space and engage them individually. Mass emails are not going to make you friends.

→ Read Baroness Ruth Hunt’s interview for why briefings aren’t received in the Lords in the way you think they may be.

The process that underpins the House

There’s often little understanding of how the Lords works. An issue might first be raised within an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). That can be an initial point of discussion that brings attention to a particular issue. From there, a member might be prompted to ask an Oral Question or submit a Written Question.

Oral Questions take place on most sitting days and are essentially short, 10-minute debates that help surface issues. Most Oral Questions are balloted, literally a lottery, a month in advance. Peers have to manually re-enter them every day until they win, which can take a month or more. There are also topical Oral Questions that must relate to something reported in the media the day or two beforehand.

As for Written Questions, a member can ask 12 a week maximum, and the government has to provide some text in response. If their response is hapless, you can send it back for another go. The key thing to remember is that it has to be a factual question–it can’t contain opinion.

And if you want engagement…

If you want an Oral Question to really take off and generate attention or momentum, you need support from peers across different benches. Getting participation from multiple parties helps keep the discussion going and gives the issue broader visibility.

The next step might be a 'Question for Short Debate', which allows for a longer and more in-depth discussion in the chamber. Eventually, if the issue gains enough traction and aligns with a relevant piece of legislation, you might reach the stage of proposing an amendment to a bill.