Renfrewshire Council has backed a motion calling for the House of Lords to be abolished and replaced with a directly elected second chamber.Councillors agreed the motion at a full council meeting on Thursday 24th September 2026. It was proposed by SNP councillor Robert Innes and seconded by SNP councillor Jacqueline Cameron.
The motion says people who exercise legislative power should be directly accountable to those they represent. It asks the council to write to Prime Minister Andy Burnham and the Secretary of State for Scotland urging the UK Government to bring forward legislation.
The House of Lords cost £143.8 million in 2023/24, excluding non-cash items, according to a parliamentary written answer. Members who are not paid a salary can also claim attendance allowances and travel expenses.
In a statement issued after the debate, Cllr Innes said: “We are constantly told that there isn’t enough money, that difficult decisions have to be made and that public services have to do more with less. Yet we continue to have an unelected chamber at Westminster costing tens of millions of pounds a year.
“This is fundamentally about democracy. If you have the power to scrutinise and vote on laws affecting millions of people, then people should have a meaningful say in who holds that power.
“If we are being told this is a government focused on the cost of living and putting power in the hands of ordinary people, surely that principle should apply to Westminster itself. Andy Burnham talks about changing politics, yet his government has appointed Anas Sarwar to an unelected chamber which Sarwar himself previously said had no place in 21st-century politics. That contradiction deserves to be challenged.”
Sarwar was introduced to the House of Lords on 3rd September. Innes pointed to Sarwar’s earlier call for it to be replaced with an elected chamber.
Cllr Innes added: “The House of Lords should not be untouchable. It can be changed, Renfrewshire Council will now send a clear message to Andy Burnham that democratic accountability matters.”
During the debate, Labour councillors also supported an elected second chamber. Councillor Ben Smith questioned the SNP’s refusal to take seats in the Lords, arguing that its members should take part in efforts to change the institution.
The motion was agreed without an amendment or a recorded vote.