Hereditary peers have left the Lords for the last timeSometimes change arrives with fanfare. Sometimes it arrives quietly, after years of argument, delay and unfinished business. This week, the final hereditary peers lost their automatic right to sit and vote in the House of...Posted 30 Apr 2026
The end of the Hereditary Peerage: A long campaign and an important victoryWe saw a big victory last night as the bill to remove the last hereditary peers from the House of Lords finally passed. The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill means the remaining 84 hereditary...Posted 11 Mar 2026
Hereditary peer ‘back door’ compromise risks undermining manifesto promiseIt seems the legislative game of hide and seek around the bill to remove the hereditary peers from the Lords is over and it is now entering its endgame. We highlighted recently that things had...Posted 09 Mar 2026
Missing, in-action: What happened to the bill to remove the Hereditary Peers?It is not often we get to indulge in the mystery genre here at the ERS; however, this blog will delve into the curious incident of the missing Hereditary Peers bill. The bill, a straightforward...Posted 25 Feb 2026
Legislative battles are renewing the focus on Westminster’s unelected upper chamberA common argument from defenders of the unelected Lords is that ministers should dedicate the entirety of their time to bread and butter policies that more immediately impact voters. The implicit basis here is that...Posted 04 Dec 2025
Sticking-plaster reforms won’t fix the absurd and undemocratic Lords – the real solution is obviousThe absurdity of how the House of Lords currently operates has been thrown up in technicolour over the last few days. Several issues have been garnering media attention as the end of recess approaches and...Posted 28 Aug 2025
Leading lord makes open threat to government in last ditch attempt to save hereditary peersFor weeks now we have watched the bill to remove the 88 remaining hereditary peers make slow progress through the House of Lords. Only last week did the legislation finish committee stage, but not before...Posted 08 Apr 2025
House of Lords spends forty hours debating themselvesLast night at 10.20PM, the committee of the whole House of Lords on the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill was finally adjourned. There were five days of committee, close to 150 amendments put forward,...Posted 02 Apr 2025
It’s not just hereditary peers that are ‘hard to justify’ – It’s the whole unelected chamberBefore Labour won the 2024 general election, the Labour leader in the House of Lords hinted that if Labour were to take power, we could finally see an end to the 92 hereditary peers in...Posted 30 Mar 2025
Hereditary Peers: Thank you for your contribution, and goodnightLast night, the first debate of the Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill happened in the House of Commons. The Bill, if passed, will remove the remaining 92 Peers who sit in our House of Lords purely...Posted 16 Oct 2024