Labour has also promised to introduce a retirement age of 80 for members of the Lords but that will happen later, after a consultation.
Hereditary peers are likely to be booted out of the House of Lords in just a matter of months, following the Labour government’s election manifesto pledge to abolish hereditary peers.
The Labour Party had promised in its manifesto to reform the House of Lords, with a new bill to scrap the 92 remaining hereditary seats in the Lords to be introduced in the Commons today.
The move finishes reforms started by the last Labour government, which reduced the number of hereditary peers from around 800 to 92, as part of a comprise with the Conservatives.
Labour has also promised to introduce a retirement age of 80 for members of the Lords but that will happen later, after a consultation.
Commenting on the latest moves to remove the 92 hereditary peers, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Minister for the Constitution, said: “This is a landmark reform to our constitution. The hereditary principle in law making has lasted for too long and is out of step with modern Britain.
“The second chamber plays a vital role in our constitution and people should not be voting on our laws in Parliament by an accident of birth.”
Sir Keir Starmer is in favour of abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with an elected Assembly of the Nations and Regions but that will not happen before the next election.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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