House of Lords: Key outputs

This page includes some of the Unit's most important and recent outputs on the House of Lords. Additional outputs can be accessed via the button at the end of the page.

Books:

• Reforming the House of Lords: Lessons from Overseas, Meg Russell, published by OUP, 2000. 
• The Contemporary House of Lords: Westminster Bicameralism Revived, Meg Russell, published by OUP, July 2013.

Constitution Unit briefings and reports:

• House of Lords Reform: Navigating the Obstacles, Meg Russell, March 2023
• Enough is Enough: Regulating Prime Ministerial Appointments to the Lords, Meg Russell and Tom Semlyen, February 2015.
• Commons financial privilege on Lords amendments, Meg Russell and Daniel Gover, March 2014.
• House Full: Time to Get a Grip on Lords Appointments, Meg Russell, Lord Adonis, Graham Allen MP, Baroness Boothroyd, Lord Butler of Brockwell, Baroness Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde, Lord Dholakia, Baroness D'Souza, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, Robert Hazell, Baroness Jay of Paddington, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, Lord Norton of Louth, Donald Shell, Lord Steel of Aikwood, Lord Stevenson of Coddenham, Baroness Williams of Crosby, Lord Woolf, and Tony Wright, April 2011.

Video and audio:

• Lessons in Power: Parliamentary Reform Meg Russell on SPERI Presents... (covering a range of topics, including the House of Lords from around 19 minutes). 26 July 2024
• Will the parties reform Westminster? Meg Russell on Parliament Matters (primarily talking about a Modernisation Committee and House of Lords reform, the latter from around 48 minutes). 21 June 2024
• Why does Lords reform so often fail, and how can it be got right next time? Meg Russell on Mark Pack's Never Mind the Bar Charts podcast. 9 January 2023
• A Primer on the Reform of the House of Lords Meg Russell on UCL Uncovering Politics discussing options for reform. 21 December 2022
• House of Lords reform Meg Russell appears on BBC Radio 4's The Briefing Room, 8 December 2022
• How should the House of Lords be reformed? Meg Russell addresses Keele World Affairs, January 2022
• Hereditary Peers: too posh to push out?, Meg Russell appears on an episode of The Fourcast podcast, Channel 4 News, 7 July 2021.
• House of Lords: Scrutiny...and reform?, video of Meg Russell participating in a panel discussion for the Political Studies Association, 30 June 2021.
• The Future of the House of Lords, podcast episode: Meg Russell appears in a panel discussion with Charlotte Carew Pole, Rt. Hon. Baroness Frances D’Souza, and Lord Timothy Kirkhope of Harrogate, organised by Aspen Initiative UK, 15 March 2021.
• Reforming the House of Lords, video of Meg Russell participating in a panel discussion with Baroness Grey-Thompson and Lord Norton of Louth, organised by the Mile End Institute, 24 November 2020.
• ‘Meet the Lords’, Meg Russell provided expert commentary alongside a BBC TV programme on the House of Lords, February 2017.
• The House of Lords: Westminster Bicameralism Revived, a video of Meg Russell speaking at the launch of her book with BBC journalist Mark D'Arcy, November 2013.

Other media:

• Why abolishing the House of Lords is not the answer, article by Meg Russell in Prospect Magazine, November 2022. 
• The “cash for peerages” scandal shows we urgently need better democratic protections, article by Meg Russell in Prospect Magazine, November 2021. 
• Don't abolish the Lords. History shows it really can be reformed, article by Meg Russell in The Guardian, February 2017.
• Time to cut the House of Lords down to size, article by Meg Russell in Prospect Magazine, 19 February 2015.

Journal articles:

• Attempts to change the British House of Lords into a second chamber of the nations and regions: explaining a history of failed reforms, Meg Russell, Perspectives on Federalism, June 2018.
• Rethinking Bicameral Strength: A Three-Dimensional Approach, Meg Russell, Journal of Legislative Studies, April 2013.
• Elected Second Chambers and their Powers: an International Survey, Meg Russell, Political Quarterly, February 2012.
• A Stronger Second Chamber? Assessing the Impact of House of Lords Reform in 1999, and the Lessons for Bicameralism, Meg Russell, Political Studies, December 2010.
• Independent Parliamentarians En Masse: The Changing Nature and Role of the 'Crossbenchers' in the House of Lords, Meg Russell and Maria Sciara, Parliamentary Affairs, January 2009.

Commissioned reports:

• Analysis of existing data on the breadth of expertise and experience in the House of Lords, Meg Russell and Meghan Benton, report to the House of Lords Appointments Commission, March 2010.