There are many complaints about the current size of the Lords which stands at some 800. It was pointed out in The Times that it had been even larger before Tony Blair removed most of the hereditary peers. In a letter published in the newspaper on September 7, Alistair Lexden explained why there was no dissatisfaction over the size of the House in earlier times.
Sir, It is true, as Baroness Stowell says (letter, Sep.5), that more peers were entitled to sit in the Lords before 1998 than now. Average daily attendance, however, was much lower—some 250 as compared with nearly 500 now.
Previous generations would have been astonished by this dramatic change. Lord Samuel, Liberal leader in the late 1930s, said: “The efficiency of the Lords depends on the persistent absenteeism of most of its members.”
Lord Lexden
House of Lords