Britain ousts hereditary peers from House of Lords
They will leave Parliament permanently this spring
What happened
Britain’s House of Lords, the unelected upper chamber of Parliament, will no longer include hereditary peers under a bill that gained final approval Tuesday night. Under the law, the remaining earls, viscounts and dukes who inherited their seats in the chamber along with their aristocratic titles will leave Parliament for good when the current session concludes this spring.
Who said what
The law was a priority for Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour Party, and its passage finalizes reforms begun 25 years ago under the Labour government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair. For most of the chamber’s 700-year-history, only “noblemen — almost never women” — and a “smattering of bishops” served in the House of Lords, until they were joined by politically appointed “life peers” in the 1950s, The Associated Press said. In 1999, Blair “evicted most of the 750 hereditary peers, though 92 were allowed to remain temporarily to avoid an aristocrats’ rebellion.”
The House of Lords “can amend but not block legislation” from the House of Commons, Reuters said, and under a deal to secure assent, “around 15 Conservative hereditary peers” will be allowed to keep their seats as newly minted life peers. “The Lords plays a vital role” in Parliament, “but nobody should sit in the House by virtue of an inherited title,” Angela Smith, leader of the upper chamber, said in a statement.
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What next?
The bill “will become law once King Charles III grants royal assent — a formality,” the AP said. Starmer’s government said the legislation was the “first step in wider reform to the House of Lords,” the “only legislative body that still contains a hereditary element” other than Lesotho’s Senate. With more than 800 members, the House of Lords is also larger than any legislative body except China’s National People’s Congress. Additional changes will involve “members’ retirement and participation requirements,” Smith said.
