Members debate House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the right of all but 92 'excepted' hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords.

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill will remove the 92-peer exemption and abolish the jurisdiction of the House of Lords in hereditary peerage claims.

Debate on the draft law

During second reading, members discussed the main topics in the bill and drew attention to specific concerns or areas where they think amendments (changes) are needed.  

Members speaking

Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour), Leader of the House of Lords, opened the debate and responded on behalf of the government. 

Over 80 members contributed to the debate, including:

• Lord Beith (Liberal Democrats), member of the Lord Speaker's committee on the size of the House
• Baroness Finn (Conservative), member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life
• Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour), member of the House of Lords Constitution Committee
• Lord Grocott (Labour), former MP and advocate for the abolition of hereditary peer by-elections
• Lord Inglewood (Non-affiliated), excepted hereditary peer, barrister and former member of the European Parliament
• Earl of Kinnoull (Crossbench), excepted hereditary peer and Convenor of the Crossbench Peers
• Lord Strathclyde (Conservative), author of the Strathclyde Review on the primacy of the House of Commons
• Viscount Thurso (Liberal Democrats), excepted hereditary peer, former MP and member of the joint committee on the draft House of Lords Reform Bill 2011-12.

Catch up

• Watch on Parliament TV: part one and part two
• Read the Lords Hansard transcript: part one and part two.

Explore further information

Find out more about the bill in the House of Lords Library briefing.

Next steps

Committee stage, line by line examination of the bill, is yet to be scheduled.

Image: House of Lords 2024 / photography by Annabel Moeller