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> Or is this in the UK different?

A bit; mostly as you say, but also it's a kingdom and has the House of Lords whose seats are partially heritable, partially religious appointments from the state religion with the monarch at the top, in addition to those appointed by the elected government.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lords_Spiritual

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lords_Temporal




> partially religious appointments from the state religion

There are also, in practice, a number of other religious appointments made to provide other religious groups with representation.

> in addition to those appointed by the elected government.

Those are the most problematic IMO. Businesspeople (because the rich do not have enough influence on politics and cannot get their voice heard?), and former politicians.

I think how it works is nicely summarised by the fact that at least one of the founders of an ecommerce website (lastminute.com) is a peer but no-one like (for example) Tim Berners-Lee is.


> no-one like (for example) Tim Berners-Lee is.

Alexandra Freeman [0] or Lionel Tarassenko [1] might fit your criteria as technocratic appointments to the peerage - just how "like" TBL do they have to be? Sir Timothy seems like the kind of character who could reasonably be appointed, too, if that's what he really wanted.

I agree with your point that it's dominated by businessmen and aristocrats, but maybe not quite as badly as you think.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Freeman,_Baroness_Fr...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Tarassenko


Tarassenko does.

Freeman, has spent most of her career as a science in science communication (director and producer of BBC documentaries, then a "communications" role at Cambridge).

I like TBL as an example partly because of his interest in the broader consequences of technology, and the contrast with people who have made money from the technology her inventented being peers.


TBL's work has also mainly been in the field of communications, of course.




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