The Guardian Supporters of a largely elected second chamber were forced to retreat last night in the face of heavy opposition from conference delegates. The Campaign for a Democratic Upper House decided not to press for a conference floor vote on its proposal that at least half the second chamber should be subject to democratic election. The campaign said it had decided to withdraw in the face of a likely defeat.
History is on our side.
A democratically elected upper house is inevitable. We are confident that democracy will win in the end. That would be a profound and dramatic change both in our party's policy and in our country's constitution. She warned that a two-chamber parliament could end up being perpetually at war. The outcome of the vote will be a relief to ministers.