This week Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said a future government led by him could appoint cabinet ministers from outside Parliament. Drawing some comparison with the American system where top positions like Treasury Secretary are often filled by people never elected to office, Farage dismissed the idea ministers must be MPs.
A ministry of all the talents is no bad idea. But whether the public would accept say a Foreign Secretary not in Parliament at all is up for debate. One way to appoint non-MPs easily to top positions in government would be to appoint members of the House of Lords to cabinet.
This is exactly what the previous Tory government did when it ennobled ex-PM David Cameron and put him in charge of the Foreign Office.
Not only is there no rule against cabinet ministers being peers but even the Prime Minister could come from the Lords.
Until the 1900s it was very common for peers to become PM. This only changed when convention started dictating the leader of the government should be an elected MP.
The issue for Farage is he is on record wanting to replace the House of Lords with a “smaller, democratic” upper chamber.
Yet keeping the Lords in the short-to-medium-term at least not only might be the easiest way for Reform to appoint non-MPs to top positions in government, but – if he became PM – Farage may find it to his advantage to retain the Lords.
This is because the House of Lords may in the early days of a Reform government likely act as a roadblock to Reform policies coming from the Commons.
Since it would take a while to reform the Lords in any significant way, it could be expedient in the short-to-medium-term to fill the upper chamber with Reform appointees.
Since the big hitters outside Parliament which Farage presumably has in mind for top cabinet posts would have made a name for themselves in the wider world, these people would likely be suitable candidates for peerages.
This would not preclude future Lords reform, including creating a new elected upper chamber. However, such wholesale reform could well take time, and the Reform boss may find it practical to keep the Lords in the immediate term to guarantee it does not stonewall Reform government policies.
If Reform wins the next election the British public will expect major policy overhaul and nothing could get in the way of that. Still, the principle of a cabinet of all the talents is something we should all embrace.
