Hereditary Peers Bill completes Lords committee stage

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.

Line by line examination  

Committee stage is a thorough examination of the individual parts (clauses) of the bill. 

Starting from the front of the bill, members work through the clauses in order, considering changes (amendments) to the wording or proposals for new clauses. 

Five days of committee stage were scheduled: 

• Monday 3 March
• Monday 10 March
• Wednesday 12 March
• Tuesday 25 March
• Tuesday 1 April.

Proposed changes    

Members speaking on the fifth and final day of committee stage put forward amendments (PDF) to the bill on subjects including:

• appointment of Life Peers
• future composition of the House
• effectiveness of the House.

Catch up

• Watch the Parliament TV recording: 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

Report stage, a chance to closely scrutinise elements of the bill and make changes, is yet to be scheduled.

What's happened so far?

Committee stage day four: Tuesday 25 March

Members speaking on day four of committee stage put forward amendments (PDF) to the bill on subjects including:

• life peerages for senior judges
• government ministers in the Lords
• members from chartered professional bodies.

Catch up

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

Committee stage day three: Wednesday 12 March

Members speaking on day three of committee stage put forward amendments (PDF) to the bill on subjects including:

• minimum attendance and participation requirements
• bishops and other faith representatives
• ensuring no political party has a majority of members in the Lords.

Catch up

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

Committee stage day two: Monday 10 March

Proposed changes    

Members speaking on day two of committee stage put forward amendments (PDF) to the bill on subjects including:

• proposals for introducing directly elected members of the House of Lords
• preventing life peerages being given when the House of Lords Appointments Commission has recommended against the appointment
• 15-year terms for members.

Catch up

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

Committee stage day one: Monday 3 March

Members speaking on day one of committee stage put forward amendments (PDF) to the bill on subjects including:

• alternative systems for appointing members to the House
• hereditary principle in the UK constitution
• continuing membership of the House of Lords for current hereditary peers
• retaining Lords membership for the Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain.

Catch up

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

Second reading 

Second reading, a full debate on the key principles of the bill, took place on Tuesday 11 December 2024. 

Image: House of Lords 2024 / photography by Annabel Moeller