Torfaen MP welcomes passing of conclusion of Hereditary Peers Bill through Parliament
- Hereditary peers will no longer have the right to sit and vote in the House of Lords in one of the biggest reforms to Parliament in a generation.
- Fulfilling a key manifesto pledge of the current Government, the Hereditary Peers Bill will ensure that places in the Lords are not reserved for people born into certain families.
- The passage of the Bill completes a process started a quarter of a century ago to remove the hereditary principle from the House of Lords and bring the UK into line with other 21st century democracies.
The Hereditary Peers Bill concluded its passage through Parliament this week in one of the biggest reforms to Parliament and UK democracy in a generation.
The Bill, which was passed on Tuesday evening, fulfills one of the Government’s key manifesto pledges and marks the completion of work started over 25 years ago to remove the right for hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords.
The Bill is the first step in wider reform to the House of Lords which, besides Lesotho’s Senate, is the only legislative body that still contains a hereditary element.
Currently, 92 excepted hereditary peers, which include a range of Dukes, Viscounts, and Earls, can vote on legislation in the Lords. While over 600 hereditary peers were removed from the Lords in the House of Lords Act 1999, 92 were retained as an interim measure.
The Bill will come into effect at the end of this session of Parliament, after which no peer will be a member of the House of Lords on the basis of their hereditary peerage.
Torfaen MP and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said:
“Hereditary peerages are an archaic and undemocratic principle. I am proud that we have fulfilled a key manifesto pledge of this government.
Our Parliament should always be a place where talents are recognised and merit counts. It should never be a gallery of old boys’ networks, nor a place where titles, many of which were handed out centuries ago, hold power over the will of the people.
It sends a powerful message to people growing up in Torfaen and beyond you do not need to be born into certain families to make our laws.”