LONDON - All remaining hereditary peers will be removed from the House of Lords next summer, ministers announced as they said the “accident of birth” should not give people the right to make laws.
The Government will on Thursday introduce legislation to remove the right of the final 92 hereditary peers to sit and vote in the Upper Chamber.
Ministers said it would complete the process started a quarter of a century ago to “end appointments to the House of Lords based on the families select individuals are born into”.
The new legislation has to pass through the Commons and the Lords before receiving Royal Assent, meaning it will not be until the end of the parliamentary session next July that they will be removed.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, minister for the constitution, said: “This is a landmark reform to our constitution.
“The hereditary principle in law-making has lasted for too long and is out of step with modern Britain. 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.
“This Bill shows this Government’s commitment to delivering on our manifesto and is an important part of putting politics in the service of working people.”
Reductions to size of House planned
Ministers have also promised to further reduce the size of the House, such as by fixing a retirement age.
However, these reforms will be consulted on before being introduced in another bill later in Labour’s term of office.
Eventually, the Government wants to replace the Lords with an alternative second chamber that is more representative of the UK.
A separate House of Lords was created in the fourteenth century, made up of noblemen from throughout England, all of whom were male. Women were not admitted until 1963.
In 1999, Tony Blair’s government reached a deal with the Tories to massively reduce the number of hereditary peers from around 800 to 92.
He was fearful of going further lest the Conservatives use their huge majority in the Upper House to disrupt his legislative agenda.
The Tories made no major changes to the set-up, meaning the 92 hereditaries have remained until now.
It has therefore fallen to Sir Keir Starmer to end the situation where the UK is just one of two countries in the world to retain a hereditary element in its legislature.
Baroness Smith, leader of the House of Lords, said: “While recognising the valuable contributions many hereditary peers have made to Parliament, it is right that this reform is being brought forward now – completing work we began 25 years ago.
“Removing the hereditary principle from the Lords will deliver on a specific manifesto commitment. It will also help deliver on our commitment to reduce the size of the second chamber, as we bring forward further reforms.”
Ministers have already introduced a bill to increase the number of female bishops in the House of Lords.
It had been thought that the bill removing peers might keep two aristocrats – the Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain – in the House of Lords because of their positions in organising coronations and other major events.
But on Wednesday the Government said both would be excluded, vowing that it would not prevent them from carrying out their ceremonial functions.