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Palace of privilege: new figures reveal Lords becoming even less representative

It’s time for an overhaul of this private members club – and our democracy more widely.

Palace of privilege: new figures reveal Lords becoming even less representative
Peers take their seats in the House of Lords before the state opening of parliament | Carl Court/PA Archive/PA Images
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Turn on the news and you can see the signs of a growing antipathy towards those who occupy the highest levels of politics, business and the media.

The phrase ‘establishment’ gets kicked around a lot now. But just who makes up the governing class – and how different are ‘they’ to the rest of us?

New research by the Sutton Trust and the Social Mobility Commission has looked at the background of around 5000 people across a range of high-ranking positions in British society – providing a unique insight into who is at the top in Britain in 2019.