Suspension of hereditary peer by-elections extended as aristocrats face removal

The suspension of hereditary peer by-elections has been extended as legislation to expel those in the House of Lords by right of birth moves through its final stages.

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill is set to remove the right of bloodline peers to sit and vote in the upper chamber.

The Bill is currently going through so-called ‘ping-pong’, when legislation is batted between the two Houses of Parliament until agreement is reached.

Last year, hereditary peer by-elections were suspended for 18 months, pending this legislation.
I do have a sense of deja vu in moving this motion today

These by-elections involve aristocrats voting on who should fill any vacancy that appears in the 92 reserved seats, with only those on the register of hereditary peers eligible to stand.

As the 18-month moratorium has now elapsed with the Bill not yet passed, the Government has decided, in agreement with the Opposition, to extend it to a total of 36 months.

Lords leader Baroness Smith of Basildon told the unelected chamber: “I do have a sense of deja vu in moving this motion today.

“In July, following helpful and constructive discussions with the usual channels, the House agreed to suspend the hereditary peers by-elections for 18 months.

“That 18 months has now passed and, if we were to do nothing, they would have to restart.

“And I think all of us listening to discussions we’ve had recently, and agreed by the usual channels, that is not desirable to restart those by-elections and that suspension of the by-elections should continue to the end of this current session.

“So this motion therefore extends the suspension to the spring, when we expect the current session to end.”

Because of the suspension on by-elections, there are currently 85 sitting hereditary peers, as seven have either died, resigned or in any other way left the House of Lords.