David Cameron becomes a peer: How does the House of Lords work and what do its critics say about it?

David Cameron has attended his first Cabinet meeting as a newly minted lord since being appointed foreign secretary by Rishi Sunak.

The former prime minister was a surprise appointment on Monday, succeeding James Cleverly in the job, who moved sideways to take the home secretary job of the sacked Suella Braverman. 

“A warm welcome to those for whom it is their first Cabinet and also a welcome to those for whom it may not be their first time,” the prime minister told his new frontbench team.

Cameron’s return was a particular surprise given he has not been an MP since 2016 and has taken advisory roles outside politics. 

But parliamentary rules mean that while such a return is uncommon there is no reason why it should not happen. Here is how it works.

How did David Cameron become a Cabinet minister when he is not an MP?

David Cameron was immediately made a life peer, meaning he becomes a member of the House of Lords but with a title that cannot be inherited.

These peers are nominated by the prime minister and the custom was introduced in 1958, before which there were only hereditary peers.

While having cabinet ministers in the Lords is unusual, Zac Goldsmith was a Cabinet minister as a lord earlier this year before resigning, while Nicky Morgan briefly served from the Lords under Boris Johnson.

Usually there is just one member of the upper house in Cabinet meetings, which is the leader of the House of Lords, a role currently held by Lord True.

How does the House of Lords work?

The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It is made up of around 800 peers.

It is independent from, and complements the work of, the elected House of Commons. The Lords shares the task of making and shaping laws, and checking and challenging the work of the Government.

The Lords has three main roles:

• Making laws

• In-depth consideration of public policy

• Holding government to account

Why has the House of Lords been criticised?

Accusations of corruption and cronyism have blighted the Conservative Party for years. Last year, the Tories were accused of abusing the honours system by offering seats in the House of Lords to multimillionaire donors who would pay more than £3 million to the party.

An investigation by the Sunday Times and Open Democracy revealed that wealthy benefactors appeared to be guaranteed a peerage if they took on the temporary role as the party treasurer and increased their own donations beyond £3 million.

David Cameron was also accused of cronyism when he nominated almost 50 close aides, political allies and Conservative donors for honours as part of his resignation honours list.

In 2006, Tony Blair became the first prime minister to be questioned by police as part of a political corruption inquiry that would drag on for 16 months.

An investigation was launched after SNP MP Angus MacNeil complained that four wealthy businessmen were nominated by Blair for peerages after lending the party a total of £5m.

All four of the peerages were blocked by the House of Lords’ appointments commission, and MacNeil’s complaint launched a police investigation into whether laws banning the sale of honours had been broken.

What is the Salisbury Convention?

The Salisbury Convention is commonly understood to mean the House of Lords does not block government bills that seek to implement manifesto commitments. This means the Lords gives manifesto bills a second reading, does not subject them to wrecking amendments, and returns them to the Commons in reasonable time.

It was developed during the Labour government of 1945 to 1951.

At that time, Labour had a majority in the House of Commons but the Conservatives had a majority in the House of Lords. In his response to the King’s Speech of 1945, Viscount Cranborne argued the election result gave the Labour government a mandate for the proposals on which the electorate had voted. He said it would therefore be “constitutionally wrong” for the Lords to oppose their proposals.

He later recalled that, during this period, the opposition in the Lords passed Labour’s manifesto bills at second reading “although we cordially disliked them” and did its best to “improve them and make them more workable at committee stage”.

Could the House of Lords be abolished?

Last year, Keir Starmer set out plans to abolish the “indefensible” House of Lords and replace it with a new elected chamber as part of plans to “restore trust in politics”.

The Labour leader has not committed to a timeframe for the move but has said it would happen “as quickly as possible” and ideally within the first term of a Labour government.

The sweeping constitutional overhaul is part of a 40-point plan written by former prime minister Gordon Brown for a “New Britain” under the Labour Party.