A01=Huw Macartney
aristocracy
Author_Huw Macartney
Category=JBS
Category=JPHR
Category=JPHV
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
forthcoming
house of lords
meritocracy
party donors
peerage
representative democracy
second chamber
The establishment
upper class
wealth elite
Product details
- ISBN 9781788219587
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 31 Oct 2026
- Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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Parliament’s second chamber may no longer be home to hereditary peers, but elitism has far from been eradicated with their departure. In this detailed analysis of the financial and political activity of the members of the House of Lords, Huw Macartney exposes the extent of the wealth elite’s grip on power at the heart of British government.
The introduction of life peerages in the 1950s, the reforms by the Blair government and the removal of the remaining hereditary peers were all intended to make the House a more diverse, representative and meritocratic chamber. Macartney’s investigation into the shareholdings, company directorships, landholdings, rental properties, education, attendance, speeches and voting records of the Lords demonstrates how the political apparatus at the heart of Westminster promotes economic structures that protect wealth. Far from reflecting the society they govern, the Lords continue to operate at a remove from the everyday experiences of the British public and increasingly appear to be a club for the assetocratic class.
Huw Macartney is Associate Professor in Political Economy at the University of Birmingham.
