Keir Starmer’s major reform to the House of Lords will finally end the inherited right of hereditary peers to sit on the red benches and cast votes on government legislation
Hereditary peers will finally be booted out of the House of Lords before the next King’s Speech.
Ending a stand-off lasting several months, the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill cleared its passage through Parliament on Tuesday evening – ending the right to inherit a seat for life on the red benches. Tony Blair’s 1999 Lords reform massively reduced the number of hereditary peers – but 92 retained the right to sit in the chamber and cast votes on government legislation.
Keir Starmer’s new Bill effectively reduces this quota to zero. It also fulfills Labour’s 2024 election promise to voters to scrap the “indefensible” right of hereditary peers to sit in the Lords and vote. Their right to sit in the Lords will cease once the current parliamentary session ends, which is expected later this spring.
Lords Leader Baroness Angela Smith said: “This has never been about the contribution of individuals but the underlying principle that was agreed by Parliament over 25 years ago that no one should sit in our Parliament by way of an inherited title. Over a quarter of a century later, hereditary peers remain whilst meaningful reform has stagnated. We have a duty to find a way forward.”
The Cabinet minister said Government teams have “had constructive conversations” with the Conservatives, and had agreed to allocate the party “a number” of life peerages.
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“We appreciate the case that has been made by the official opposition that they rely significantly on the experience of hereditary peers, particularly on the front bench, but also in committees,” she said.
Of the 84 hereditary peers currently taking their seats, 42 take the Conservative whip while 31 are independent crossbenchers.
Baroness Smith added: “As always, it will be for the party opposite to decide which individuals, either from within or outside the House, they wish to nominate for peerages, subject to vetting by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.”
Lord True, the Conservatives’ shadow Lords leader, moaned the Bill as a “bitter pill” for many of his colleagues. For dozens of our fellows on this side and on the crossbenches, April will be a cruel month of cold going but that is how it will be,” he told the Lords.
Lord True continued: “For others, the passage of this Bill will be a matter of high satisfaction, and that too is how it will be, but let us treat each other’s feelings with respect.” He said: “So, here we are at the end of well over seven centuries of service by hereditary peers in this Parliament. They helped create our Parliament and they brought it back to life in 1660.”
Hereditary peer the Earl of Devon, a crossbencher, said he thought the Lords, Parliament and country would “miss” the departing members, “not as individuals but as an essential ancient thread in the complex and fragile constitutional fabric that supports our nation”.
Dr Jess Garland, Director of Policy and Research for the Electoral Reform Society, said: “There is no place in a modern democracy for people influencing our laws due to an accident of birth. The removal of the remaining 84 all-male hereditary peers, who were each gifted a job-for-life legislating in the House of Lords purely due to who their parents were, is a long-overdue reform. No part of Parliament should be a gated community from which the public are excluded.
“Ministers should be commended on the passing of this bill, which is a crucial first step towards reforming the Lords so it better reflects the country. Yet, progress must not stall here and the government now needs to move onto the next phase, as promised, and reform the Lords into a smaller, democratic chamber, with members chosen by and accountable to the people of this country.”