Britain votes to oust hereditary peers from its upper house

The government called the measure “one of the biggest reforms to Parliament in a generation”. Read more at straitstimes.com.

LONDON - British hereditary peers will no longer be able to sit and vote in the House of Lords after a Bill to remove them cleared Parliament on March 10.

Britain’s upper house and Lesotho’s Senate are the only legislative bodies in the world that still contain a hereditary element, the government said.

But once this Bill comes into effect at the end of this session of Parliament later this year, all 92 hereditary peers who can still vote in the Lords, which include a range of dukes, viscounts, and earls, will lose their membership of the upper house. They can only get it back if they are made life peers.

The government called the measure “one of the biggest reforms to Parliament in a generation” and said it completes reform of the Lords which began under Tony Blair’s Labour government in the late 1990s.

“The Lords plays a vital role within our bicameral Parliament, but nobody should sit in the House by virtue of an inherited title,” said leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Smith.

“Getting this bill through is a major first step towards reform of the Lords, with further changes to follow - including on members’ retirement and participation requirements.”