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House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

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House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleA Bill to Remove the remaining connection between hereditary peerage and membership of the House of Lords; to abolish the jurisdiction of the House of Lords in relation to claims to hereditary peerages; and for connected purposes.
Introduced byPat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Commons)
Baroness Smith of Basildon, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal (Lords)
Territorial extent United Kingdom
Other legislation
AmendsPeerage Act 1963
House of Lords Act 1999
Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010
House of Lords Reform Act 2014
Status: Pending
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill is a Bill of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Bill, if passed, will entirely remove hereditary peers from voting functions within the House of Lords.

House of Lords reform was included within the Labour Party's manifesto for the 2024 United Kingdom general election, which included an age cap on peers and the removal of hereditary peers entirely.[1]

Background

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Further information: History of reform of the House of Lords

Reform of the House of Lords has been a part of successive government policies since the early 19th century,[2] however the last major change was made in the House of Lords Act 1999 under the First Blair ministry, which provided that:[2]

No-one shall be a member of the House of Lords by virtue of a hereditary peerage.

— House of Lords Act 1999, Section 1, Exclusion of hereditary peers.

The Act then provided several exceptions, allowing 90 hereditary peers, as well as the Lord Great Chamberlain and the Earl Marshal, to remain in the House of Lords pending further reform. The Act originally eliminated hereditary peers entirely, however the exceptions made (section 2 of the Act) were as part of a compromise reached between the House of Lords and the House of Commons during the passage of the Bill.[3]

Provisions

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The Bill, if passed, will eliminate all 92 of the hereditary peers from the House of Lords; the Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain will continue their ceremonial functions in the House of Lords, but will cease to be members.[3] The sections of the Bill as introduced are listed below:[4]

  • Section 1: Exclusion of remaining hereditary peers. This section repeals section 2 of the House of Lords Act 1999, removing the exceptions for hereditary peers remaining in the House of Lords.
  • Section 2: Claims to hereditary peerages. This section removes the House of Lords' jurisdiction over claims to hereditary peerages.
  • Section 3: Consequential amendments
  • Section 4: Extent and commencement
  • Section 5: Short title

Criticism

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The Bill has been criticised by hereditary peer Lord Strathclyde, who said that to reduce the size of the House of Lords, peers who do not often attend debates should be removed instead of hereditary peers, some of whom were very active.[5] Minister for the Constitution and European Union Relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said that "The second chamber plays a vital role in our constitution and people should not be voting on our laws in parliament by an accident of birth".

University College London's constitution unit said that the only other country in the world with a hereditary element in the legislature was the hereditary chiefs in Lesotho's Senate,[6][7] though other countries have hereditary elements as well, such as the 18 chiefs in Zimbabwe's Senate, Tonga's 9 internally elected nobles in the Legislative Assembly, and Samoa's requirement to hold matai status to stand for election to the Fono.[8][9][10][11]

Others have said that other elements of House of Lords reform should be prioritised, such as the removal of the automatic right of Bishops to sit in the House,[12] as the only other country in the world in which clerics are automatically granted a seat in the legislature is Iran.[13]

Stages

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The Bill was introduced formally by Pat McFadden, receiving its first reading on Thursday, 5 September 2024,[14] with its second reading on 15 October 2024. The Bill then proceeded into committee stage, and due to its constitutional significance the Bill is subject to a Committee of the Whole House. The Committee of the Whole House, and then the Bill's third reading, took place on 12 November 2024 with the Bill passing into the House of Lords by a vote of 435-73.[14][15]

The Bill was introduced into the House of Lords by Baroness Smith of Basildon, and the Bill received its first reading in the House of Lords on 13 November 2024.[14]

Committee amendments
Amendment Ayes Nays Result
A25: Would delay commencement until a report by a joint committee of the Commons and the Lords 98 376 Not accepted
NC1: Exclusion of bishops 41 378 Not accepted
NC7: Duty to take forward proposals for democratic mandate for House of Lords 93 355 Not accepted
NC20: Purpose of the Bill 98 375 Not accepted

Future reform

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The Bill is part of a wider plan by Labour to replace the House of Lords with an “alternative second chamber” in the long term.[16] Part of Labour's plans include eventually replacing the House of Lords with an entirely elected Assembly of Nations and Regions,[17][18] however it has been stated that this would take more than a single term to accomplish.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Mason, Rowena (13 June 2024). "Change and growth: five key takeaways from the Labour manifesto launch". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b "House of Lords reform". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill: Explanatory Notes (PDF). Parliament of the United Kingdom. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  4. ^ House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill (PDF). Parliament of the United Kingdom. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  5. ^ Fisher, Lucy. "Senior Tory lord hits out at bill to abolish hereditary peers in UK". www.ft.com. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  6. ^ Courea, Eleni (4 September 2024). "Ministers introduce plans to remove all hereditary peers from Lords". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  7. ^ Hazell, Robert (January 2002). Commentary on the White Paper: The House of Lords - Completing the Reform (PDF). Univeristy College London.
  8. ^ "Nobles nobbled: Tonga gets a common man for prime minister". The Economist. 11 January 2015.
  9. ^ North, David (16 February 2015). "American Samoa's Government: "Don't Let Our People Be U.S. Citizens"". Center for Immigration Studies.
  10. ^ Hills, Rodney C. (December 1993). "Predicaments in Polynesia: Culture and Constitutions in Western Samoa and Tonga". Pacific Studies. 16 (4).
  11. ^ Russell, Meg (March 2023). House of Lords reform: navigating the obstacles (PDF). Institute for Government / Cambridge Bennett Institute for Public Policy.
  12. ^ "Calls to remove bishops from House of Lords as MPs support upper chamber reforms". www.expressandstar.com. 15 October 2024. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  13. ^ Cooke, Millie (15 October 2024). "Bishops' seats in House of Lords must be abolished, MPs tell Starmer". The Independent. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  14. ^ a b c House of Lords (Hereditaary Peers) Bill Stages
  15. ^ "House of Lords: MPs back ending all hereditary peers". BBC News. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  16. ^ Singh, Arj (6 September 2024). "Labour will abolish the Lords, minister confirms - but it will take 10 years". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  17. ^ "A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy". The Labour Party. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  18. ^ a b "What is the House of Lords, how does it work and how is it changing?". BBC News. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
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