The UK Lord Speaker, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, warned on Thursday that the rushed House of Lords reform could have the unintended effect of “blowing a constitutional fuse.” His comments came in a public speech given at the Hansard Society.

In his speech, Forsyth argued that the upper house can, without time constraints and pressures of re-elections, scrutinize legislation with expertise. He cited the House’s recent procurements of a ban on deepfake pornographic images; an amendment that prevents journalists from being accidentally caught by the terrorism legislation; an under-16 social media ban; an environmental regulation on sewage discharge into waterways; and progress on copyright protection for artificial intelligence developers. He said that the house is not the source of public dissatisfaction with politics.

Forsyth also contended that appointments, rather than elections, of members in the upper house allow them to focus on legislative scrutiny instead of constituency work. He also raised concerns about elections for the upper house: if the election cycles of both houses synchronize, they mirror each other politically; if they are staggered, the houses led by opposing parties may result in regular gridlock akin to that of the US Congress.

He proposed several changes to the formation of the upper house: lifting the limits on independent nominations and requiring the independent nominating body to ensure geographical balance and identify gaps in expertise when making the nominations.

Currently, the House of Lords Appointments Commission appoints the vast majority of members; it attracts wide criticism over the upper house’s legitimacy in a modern democracy. A 2022 Labour Party report went so far as to describe the upper house as “completely indefensible,” criticizing members’ electoral legitimacy and the lack of constraint on the prime minister’s power of appointment. The report proposed replacing the upper house with an elected Assembly of the Nations and Regions, which could reject legislation put forward by the House of Commons.

In March, the UK Parliament enacted the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026. The legislation removes hereditary peers–members sitting in the upper house who gain their rights and titles through patriarchal inheritance. The 92 hereditary peers left the upper house at the end of the 2024-2026 session in April, though some might be offered life peerages. Critics have raised concerns that the removal would risk increasing political appointees in the house and strip it of the unique expertise inherent in the hereditary peerage.

In his concluding remark, Forsyth said:

Any electrician would tell you, if you get your wires crossed, you may be in for a nasty shock. The House of Lords is a kind of constitutional trip-switch, forcing a reset on bad laws which have not been properly considered by the elected House. Anyone advocating rewiring politics needs to consider very carefully, will their new system keep the lights on, or will it blow a constitutional fuse?

Whether and how the UK moves forward to modernize its Parliament remains to be seen.