Reform’s radical manifesto would do wonders for democracy

In this election, neither Labour nor the Tories are particularly interested in serious constitutional reform. By contrast, there’s one smaller opposition party that makes it quite clear in its manifesto that it does believe in serious democratic change to make government radically responsive to what voters want. That party is Reform.

True, there’s a lot in its manifesto, launched today, to make you cautious: its elements of rehashed free-market Thatcherism, for instance, not to mention its fairly sketchy funding projections. But a number of its constitutional proposals make for interesting reading. Some ideas are predictable, such as replacing the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) with a British Bill of Rights, or changing the voting system to prevent abuse of postal votes. But some of the others are much more significant.

One concerns the House of Lords. The line is blunt: the House must be made much smaller, and political appointments to it must stop.