Labour strikes deal to remove hereditary peers from Lords

Hereditary peers will no longer sit in the House of Lords after Labour struck a deal with rebels in the upper chamber.

Most hereditary peers were removed from the Lords by Sir Tony Blair’s government in 1999, but some were allowed to keep their seats.

Labour promised in its manifesto to abolish the remaining hereditary peers, but had been struggling to pass the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill amid significant opposition.

They will no longer sit in the upper chamber after the current session ends in May.

However, some Conservative and crossbench peers will be allowed to sit as life peers after ministers offered a compromise to get the bill passed.

The Conservatives dropped their opposition to the legislation once the concession had been made.

Baroness Smith, the Leader of the House of Lords, said: “The Lords plays a vital role within our bicameral Parliament, but nobody should sit in the House by virtue of an inherited title. That is why the Government committed to removing the remaining hereditary peerages, completing the reforms that were started over a quarter of a century ago.

“Getting this bill through is a major first step towards reform of the Lords, with further changes to follow – including on members’ retirement and participation requirements.”

Lord True, the Conservative leader in the upper chamber, told the BBC that he had accepted the compromise to end “eternal [parliamentary] ping-pong”.

The Government also plans to increase the number of paid ministers in the Lords.

One of the departing hereditary peers, the Earl of Devon, said he believes the public “will miss us”.

“We should be proud to sit here as embodiments of the hereditary principle dating back a millennium,” he told the BBC.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]