[thaumasiotes]

It's worth considering that the life peers system is similar in many ways to the Roman Senate, which worked fine.

Senators got that way by popular election rather than by appointment, which is a significant difference.

Appointed life peers are even more similar, basically identical, to appointed officers in an imperial court. Courts operate on appointments as opposed to heredity when the throne is powerful.

It looks to me like only the king can create peers. If a British king was interested in reclaiming some power, that would be a promising place to start.