The key vote on Tuesday could pave the way for the clear-out of seats in the House of Lords for people who inherit their titles through family ties by next year
MPs will this week finally vote to boot out the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords.
The key vote on Tuesday could pave the way for the clear-out of seats for people who inherit their titles through family ties by next year.
In 1999 the former Labour PM Tony Blair cut back the number of hereditary peers able to sit in the upper chamber – but 92 remained as a compromise.
Labour’s election manifesto described the lingering peers’ positions as “indefensible”. It added: “The next Labour government will therefore bring about an immediate modernisation, by introducing legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords.”
The first vote to remove the 700-year-old right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords is expected to easily clear the Commons – given Labour’s massive majority.
According to the Sunday Times, the Bill could reach the Lords by Christmas, with the hope of clearing all parliamentary stages by Easter.
The King’s Speech – setting out the new Labour government’s priorities – said earlier this year: “In the 21st century, there should not be almost 100 places reserved for individuals who were born into certain families, nor should there be seats effectively reserved only for men.”
It added: “No other modern comparable democracies allow individuals to sit and vote in their legislature by right of birth.” It also set out that removing the right of the remaining hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords would be a “first step” in reforming the chamber.
Labour’s election winning manifesto also promised to reduce the size of the Lords by bringing in a mandatory retirement age. It said: “At the end of the Parliament in which a member reaches 80 years of age, they will be required to retire from the House of Lords.”
Labour ’s plan would eventually see the upper chamber abolished and replaced with an “alternative chamber” that’s more representative of the UK.
