The Problem
The UK has a House of Lords with 800 unelected members whose average age is 71, including 92 who inherited their seat by birthright. It costs 130 million pounds per year to run. Government ministers take gifts, consultancy fees, and corporate hospitality that would be a dismissal offence in most professional environments. Foreign money and cryptocurrency flow into political parties through technical loopholes. General election turnout was 60% in 2024, the lowest in over two decades. Among 18 to 24 year olds it was 37%. First-past-the-post repeatedly produces majority governments with a third of the vote, then describes the result as a mandate.
A. Citizens' Scrutiny Council: Replace the Lords
The House of Lords is abolished by the end of Year 2 of the parliament. In its place, a Citizens' Scrutiny Council of 300 randomly-selected UK citizens, drawn by sortition from the electoral roll.
Abolition also solves the Palace of Westminster restoration
The Palace of Westminster requires an estimated £12 to £22 billion in restoration and could take 30 years if Parliament remains in the building throughout. The Independent Options Appraisal has long recommended a full decant as the most cost-effective approach — estimated to save £4 billion and cut a decade off the programme. The political barrier has always been MPs' and Lords' reluctance to leave.
Lords abolition removes that barrier. When the Lords Chamber is vacated, the Commons decants into it while the Commons chamber and its wings undergo full restoration on the optimal unoccupied basis. The adaptation is straightforward — both chambers are in the same building, the Lords Chamber has comparable capacity, and division lobbies and broadcasting infrastructure can be adapted. After restoration, the former Lords building is repurposed as parliamentary committee rooms, public access facilities, or offices — a permanent democratic use for a building previously occupied by an unelected chamber.
Two problems solved by one reform: an unelected blocking chamber is abolished, and the Palace of Westminster restoration that Parliament has deferred for 30 years is finally unlocked. Estimated saving on restoration: £4 billion. Time saved: approximately 10 years.
- Stratified random selection ensuring regional, demographic, age, and occupational diversity. The Council reflects Britain as it is, not Britain as the peerage suggests it should be
- Members serve 3-year staggered terms. 100 new members selected each year, 100 completing their term. Continuity maintained at all times
- Members paid 60,000 pounds per year (full-time-equivalent) plus reasonable expenses and employment protection on return to their previous job
- The Council reviews all primary legislation, holds committee hearings with expert witnesses, can refer Bills back to the Commons with specific objections for a reconsidering vote, and conducts deep policy investigations on issues it identifies as needing scrutiny
- Modelled on Belgium's Ostbelgien Citizens' Council (operational since 2019) and the Irish Citizens' Assembly, which drove the constitutional amendments on marriage equality and abortion law. Random citizens given expert briefings and deliberation time produce better, more durable policy than career politicians
B. Single Transferable Vote
STV in multi-member constituencies for general elections. First-past-the-post entrenches two-party dominance and regularly produces results where the party with fewer total votes forms a government with a large Commons majority. STV preserves the constituency link while ensuring seats broadly reflect votes.
- Constituencies enlarged from single-member to 3 to 5 member. Each constituency returns 3 to 5 MPs, elected by ranked preference. Voters rank candidates rather than choosing one
- Northern Ireland already uses STV for Assembly and council elections. The mechanics are proven and understood
- The reform takes effect at the second general election after legislation passes, giving all parties, Electoral Commission, and returning officers adequate time to adapt systems and processes
- The effect: parties that currently receive 20% of the vote nationally but 3% of seats will receive seats closer to their vote share. Coalition or confidence-and-supply arrangements become the norm, forcing cross-party compromise rather than single-party dominance
C. Mandatory Voting: The Australian Model
UK general election turnout was 60% in 2024. Among 18 to 24 year olds, 37%. A democracy where fewer than two-thirds of citizens participate stops being representative. The 40% who do not vote are disproportionately young, poor, and from ethnic minorities: exactly the groups whose interests most need democratic representation. Australia introduced compulsory voting in 1924 and has been above 90% turnout in every federal election since.
- Voting is a civic duty for every UK citizen aged 18 and over. Failure to vote in a general election or local council election results in a 20 pound administrative fine. Appealable if you have a genuine reason (serious illness, bereavement, overseas travel). Proportionate. Payable like a parking ticket.
- Automatic voter registration through the digital ID system at age 18. No registration deadline. No "I forgot to register" disenfranchisement. The state knows you are 18. You are registered.
- Easier ways to vote. Polling stations open from 6am to 10pm, including in major supermarkets, train stations, universities, and employers above 200 staff. Universal postal vote available on request, no reason required. Online voting trialled for overseas citizens first, scaled to the mainland if security assessments are satisfied
- "None of the above" on every ballot. Civic duty does not mean false endorsement. If you reject all candidates, you record that formally. A counted, published "None of the above" total. If it wins a seat in any constituency, that constituency holds a rerun with new candidates within 12 weeks
- The political effect: mandatory voting forces parties to appeal to the whole electorate rather than their most motivated base. In Australia, it has consistently moderated political extremism because you cannot win by mobilising only your core supporters. You must also win over the disengaged centre.
D. The Clean Wage: Pay Politicians Properly, Then Allow Nothing Else
The current system pays MPs inadequately (91,000 pounds for a job requiring extraordinary hours, expertise, and public sacrifice), then tacitly allows them to supplement income through consultancies, second jobs, corporate speaking, and gifts. The result: MPs whose financial interests diverge from their constituents' interests, and a class of professional politicians who stay on because the second incomes make the job financially worthwhile.
- MPs paid 150,000 pounds. Ministers 250,000. Prime Minister 350,000. Paid properly for what the work actually demands
- No outside earnings whatsoever. No consultancies. No second jobs. No board positions. No paid speaking while in office. No exceptions. The salary is the total income from public life
- Total gift ban. No gift, hospitality, or benefit worth more than 25 pounds. The threshold is the price of a cheap meal because that is all public life should ever be funded by
- Lobbying embargo. No paid lobbying, advising, or consulting for any organisation where ministerial decisions were relevant for 5 years after leaving office. Not 1 year. Five.
- Register of Interests replaced with Register of Actions. Not what MPs own, but what they vote for, what they say in public, and how those correlate with financial relationships. Transparency that matters rather than transparency that can be buried in a 40-page document
E. Donation Reform: Every Loophole Closed
| Donation type | Current position | Forge position |
|---|---|---|
| Individual donations | No cap. Donors can give millions to a single party | Capped at 500 pounds per person per year total across all parties and candidates combined |
| Corporate donations | Legal with disclosure above 7,500 pounds | Banned entirely. Companies do not vote. They should not donate. |
| Foreign donations | Technically banned but routinely circumvented through UK-registered subsidiaries of foreign entities | Banned with beneficial ownership test. Any donor with majority foreign beneficial ownership is treated as a foreign donor |
| Cryptocurrency | Not explicitly covered. Treated as property with standard disclosure rules | Banned entirely. Untraceable money has no place in political finance. |
| Trade union political fund | Unlimited from funds built by opt-in members | Capped at 500 pounds per individual member per year, with annual explicit opt-in required |
| Donor transparency | Published quarterly, above 7,500 per party | Published in real time, above 100 pounds, searchable by party, candidate, and donor |
F. Recall and Accountability
Any constituency can recall its MP if 10% of registered electors sign a petition. Recall triggers a by-election in which the current MP may stand. Currently the Recall of MPs Act 2015 only allows recall after a criminal conviction or a 10-day Commons suspension, catching almost nobody. Forge extends recall to: expense scandals where IPSA finds material breach, public misconduct findings, breaking a formal campaign pledge documented in writing, and sustained absence from Parliament without a declared reason.
The principle: a parliament nobody can buy. Citizens with real scrutiny power, not patronage appointees. An electoral system where seats roughly match votes. A political class paid enough to attract talent and constrained enough that talent cannot be corrupted. Voting rates that reflect a healthy democracy. None of this is radical. It is what a well-governed comparable democracy would already have. The UK's distinctive combination of unelected Lords, gift-taking ministers, foreign-funded political campaigns, and 60% turnout is not a tradition worth defending. It is a backwater worth leaving behind.