Baroness Smith of Llanfaes’ maiden speech to the House of Lords may have been the very first to suggest abolishing it.
“I do not believe that an unelected upper chamber has a place in a modern democratic society,” she told assembled peers, wearing fake fur robes. She added: “My Lords, I am young, I am a woman, and I am from Wales. Your Lordships know well that is not the norm in this place.”
The youngest of seven kids, who grew up on a Welsh council estate on Ynys Mon – the island of Anglesey – went on to say she was “burning with resentment at the deprivation to which my community has been subjected”. The fluent Welsh speaker signed off with “Diolch yn fawr iawn” – or thank you very much.
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Jonathan Buckmaster)
At 28, Carmen Smith is Britain’s youngest peer – and the only member of the House of Lords below 30. More Vinted than vintage tiara, her background as a young carer for her dad – who was diagnosed with vascular dementia when she was 14 – means her route to the Lords was far from the average one.
She also may well be the only peer to wear Doc Martens to work, and if dyed hair is common, pink is rare. “I’ve been asked a few times ‘Who do you work for?’ and that’s been from other members of the Lords,” she says, when we meet at Parliament. “But I’m quite active here so people are getting to know me now.
“At first, I did feel an element of cold energy, perhaps because of how open I was about my views in the media. But it was better after I put it all on record during my maiden speech. I hope people could see I was quite principled in stating my beliefs.”
Welsh Nationalist party Plaid Cymru’s nominee for a peerage is determined to use her position to champion unpaid carers, stick up for young people, and to fight for Wales. “When the issue of VAT on private schools came up, so many peers stood up and spoke in opposition, and yet 97 per cent of the country went to state school,” she says.
“That was an example of how a more representative second chamber is needed. I’ve also been able to speak in a debate on Carers’ Allowance, and I was able to raise my experience as a carer. I found claiming the allowance incredibly difficult when I was younger. I’m bringing to the Lords something they may have missed.”
Britain’s first Gen Z peer has arrived at the Lords at the right time. Labour’s manifesto committed the party to several Lords reforms – ahead of a longer-term ambition to replace the House with an alternative second chamber. As a first step, Labour has introduced a bill to remove hereditary peers, but Smith wants to go further. Next week, the Baroness will speak in favour of radical change at an event in Westminster calling for a House of Citizens – where every person in the country would have the chance to be randomly selected for a stint in the second chamber, as for jury service.
“I don’t believe anyone should have a job for life, including myself,” Baroness Smith says. “It’s not acceptable to me. I believe in democracy. I want to see accountability not just in the House of Lords but across politics. In the most recent election, voter numbers have gone down again. Many people don’t vote because they think ‘my vote doesn’t matter’.”
The event is being held by the 858 Project which takes its name from the 858 years since King HenryII introduced juries.
“Without the trust of the people, politics doesn’t really work,” says James Robertson of the Sortition Foundation, which promotes and organises Citizens’ Assemblies and is behind 858. “Our polling shows the public trusts ordinary citizens five times more than politicians. Only 3% of people support the status quo. We do it with juries – and what could be more important than depriving someone of their liberty? For politics to work for people like us, it has to include people like us.
“A House of Citizens would be the only chamber in the world where women would be in the majority, and the average age would be 41 – meaning someone like Carmen would be a lot less isolated. It would be a lot more representative not just on age and gender but on class and race too.”
Smith – who lists her interests as including weightlifting and the singer Dua Lipa – says none of her mates are bothered about politics. She explained: “What we do know is that the current system doesn’t work. If we build something that people feel part of, we can create a politics for the people. I do like history. But I think it has its place in a museum. I like a museum – but not in my job.”
Smith went to Bangor University to study law before leaving early for a full-time job with the National Union of Students, then into Welsh politics, and later working at a renewables company. Growing up, her dad worked for British Steel, while her mum was in hospitality. Yesterday she intervened in the House on coal tip safety, on behalf of 250 communities who fear a repeat of the terrible 1966 tragedy of Aberfan. Last week, she saw her first amendment passed, working cross-party with Labour’s Lord Peter Hain to push for a Welsh representative on the Crown Estate, “to ensure Wales benefits” from future offshore energy projects.
But ultimately as a Plaid peer, in favour of Welsh independence, she is seeking to reform a political system she would rather her nation was not a part of. She said: “I believe in an independent Wales. I believe we will have one in my lifetime because Westminster doesn’t work for Wales. I don’t want Wales to be in a position where we’re having to go with a begging bowl to London.
“But even if I don’t agree with Westminster, it’s where decisions are made and so we have to be here. I want English people to have a better system too. And an independent Wales would be very interconnected.”
When I ask if anything has shocked her since she became a member of the House of Lords, Baroness Smith laughs. “Every day has been a shock to me,” she says. “I really should have kept anotebook.”