Calling time on hereditary peers? (Pt 4)

31 January 2025 / Neil Parpworth

Issue: 8102 / Categories: Features , Constitutional law

What do the peers make of the Bill seeking to reform hereditary peerage? Neil Parpworth reports back from the House of Lords

The government’s House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill received its second reading in the House of Lords in December last year.
It is of no surprise that many hereditary peers spoke against the Bill. It was criticised as a partisan measure, and framed as a breach of the undertaking given to the House by the Blair government in 1999.
Other issues raised included the continued presence of the Lords Spiritual, and non-participation by life peers.

As previously reported, the government’s House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill has passed all of its stages in the House of Commons without amendment (see ‘Calling time on hereditary peers? Pt 1’, 174 NLJ 8089, pp9-10; ‘Pt 2’, 174 NLJ 8093, pp11-12 and ‘Pt 3’, NLJ, 10 January 2025, pp13-14). On 11 December 2024, the House of Lords gave the Bill a second reading

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content

If you are already a subscriber sign in

...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

Calling time on hereditary peers? (Pt 4)

What do the peers make of the Bill seeking to reform hereditary peerage? Neil Parpworth reports back from the House of Lords

The government’s House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill received its second reading in the House of Lords in December last year.
It is of no surprise that many hereditary peers spoke against the Bill. It was criticised as a partisan measure, and framed as a breach of the undertaking given to the House by the Blair government in 1999.
Other issues raised included the continued presence of the Lords Spiritual, and non-participation by life peers.

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content

If you are already a subscriber sign in

...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

SourceURL:

Links:

E-newsletter Sign-Up

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS

Read All

NLJ this week: DNA evidence—justice on ice?

In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match

NLJ this week: Fraud claims climb as courts brace for AI threats

Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes

NLJ this week: Pro bono power without the red tape

Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ

NLJ this week: Trans pool player loses discrimination fight

Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ

NLJ this week: Traders’ convictions quashed in Libor shock

The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement

Error message

Calling time on hereditary peers? (Pt 4)

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan