SCOTS are more likely than people across the UK to want to see the House of Lords abolished, according to a new poll.

The survey found a third of people north of the Border – 33% – would like to see the chamber scrapped completely, compared to the UK average of 22%. Scots are also less likely to want to keep the unelected Lords as it is – with just 7% saying it should remain as it currently is, compared to 9% across the UK.

The poll was carried out by Savanta ComRes in the wake of the Tory sleaze allegations which have emerged in recent weeks.

There have been concerns over “cash for honours”, with reports that of 15 of the last 16 Conservative Party treasurers have been offered a seat in the House of Lords after donating more than £3 million to the Tories.

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This included Peter Cruddas, whose peerage was pushed through by Boris Johnson in defiance of advice from the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Previous reports have highlighted that in 2020 almost a quarter of those appointed to the Lords last year were Tory donors – or close associates or former colleagues of Johnson.

The survey found 29% of people in Scotland agree the House of Lords should be entirely elected, around the same as the UK figure of 30%. However fewer people north of the Border support having partly elected chamber, at 10% compared to 15% across the UK.

Willie Sullivan, senior director of the Electoral Reform Society Scotland, said: “It should come as no surprise that support for the unelected Lords is so low.

“For too long this out-of-touch private members club has allowed successive prime ministers to appoint their supporters and allies to become lifetime lawmakers without even a single vote cast by the public. 

“Scotland’s interests can’t be served by an unelected and unaccountable second chamber in Westminster.

“It’s clear the public are behind the call for change – when peers are accountable to nobody but themselves and their party what incentive is there to put the needs of ordinary people first?”

He added: “For the Lords to have any legitimacy outside of Westminster it needs to properly reflect the whole of the UK – that means a chamber of all the nations and regions of the UK, elected by proportional representation and accountable to voters.”

The poll of more than 2000 adults across the UK, was carried out between 12-14 November, in the wake of the scandal over former Tory MP Owen Paterson, who was found to have breach lobbying rules.

A UK Government-backed amendment attempted to save him from suspension and overhaul the whole standards process, but Johnson was forced to U-turn on the idea after a backlash. Paterson resigned as an MP and the saga kicked off a deep dive into standards in public life, with a focus on second jobs.

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The survey found 40% of people in Scotland were “very concerned” about corruption on the UK Government, compared with 39% across the UK. And only 1% of people north of the Border said there were “not at all concerned”, compared to 4% across the UK.

CHRIS Hopkins, political research director at Savanta ComRes, said: “Perhaps the only thing more eyebrow-raising than the details of MPs’ second jobs that have emerged over the last week is the fact that Boris Johnson and his government allowed the debate to get to this point in the first place.

“Indeed, many have rightfully suggested that much of the scrutiny that has now been placed not only on MPs’ lobbying, but also their parliamentary salaries, having second jobs at all and even appointments to the House of Lords, was easily avoidable.”

He added: “Even more concerning though will be the significant majority of the public who are now concerned about corruption in central government, and one can’t help but think that government scandals otherwise largely confined to the Westminster ‘bubble’ may have begun to shift the needle on wider

public opinion.”