Could Starmer's Council of Regions and Nations begin the end of House of Lords?

In stark contrast to his immediate predecessors, Keir Starmer has made a point of establishing cordial relations with the UK’s devolved administrations and its regional or metro mayors.

- SEAN O'GRADY

The prime minister made it a high priority to swiftly visit all of his counterparts across the UK: John Swinney, first minister of Scotland; Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly, respectively first minister and deputy first minister in the Northern Ireland Executive; and Vaughan Gething, first minister of Wales.

A reception at Downing Street followed for the regional mayors including Tracy Brabin (West Yorkshire), Andy Burnham (Greater Manchester), Sadiq Khan (London) and Ben Houchen (Tees Valley). All 12 metro mayors attended except for Oliver Coppard, the mayor of South Yorkshire, who has Covid.

Starmer wanted to introduce himself and to put this nexus of internal UK relationships on a more formal basis. To this end, he has established a new Council of Regions and Nations in order to allow ministers and mayors to meet regularly. It’s a constitutional innovation that some see as another step toward a more federal UK.

What is the Council of Regions and Nations?

As presently envisaged, it will be chaired by Starmer (no deputies or substitutes) and its members will be the various first ministers and metro mayors. Starmer reportedly stated: “I don’t want to overly formalise it, but I do want a degree of formality so that it’s a meeting that everybody knows is a meeting where business is done, where decisions are properly recorded and actioned.”

What will it do?