Peerages and Membership of the House of Lords - a briefing

The House of Commons Library has published a Research Briefing (author David Torrance) -

Peerages and membership of the House of Lords - House of Commons Library

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 18 March 2026. This means that at the end of the 2024-26 parliamentary session, the remaining hereditary peers will no longer be entitled to sit and vote in the House of Lords by virtue of their hereditary peerage. The Upper House will instead comprise only life peers and the Lords Spiritual.

This briefing looks at peerages in general, both hereditary and life.

The State Opening of Parliament is on 13 May 2026.

Electing a Modern Second Chamber – Electoral Reform Society – ERS

Covid-19 Inquiry - Fourth Report published

The Covid - 19 Inquiry has published its fourth report - 

Inquiry Module Reports - UK Covid-19 Inquiry

The report follows the Inquiry's investigation into ‘Vaccines and therapeutics of the United Kingdom’ 

It considers and makes recommendations on a range of issues relating to the development of Covid-19 vaccines and the implementation of the vaccine rollout programme in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Issues relating to the treatment of Covid-19 through both existing and new medications were examined in parallel.

The report concludes that the development and rollout of Covid-19 vaccines was “an extraordinary feat” and the vaccine and therapeutic programmes were “two of the success stories of the pandemic” – but that governments and health services must now work to rebuild public trust in vaccines.

Overall Covid vaccine programme a "success story" but public trust in vaccines must be rebuilt, Inquiry finds - UK Covid-19 Inquiry

Of particular legal interest is the Inquiry finding that the current Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme is not sufficiently supportive of those who suffered serious harm as a result of vaccination and requires urgent reform. The detail of this is to be found in Chapter 8 of the Inquiry's fourth report.

Southport Inquiry - Phase 1 report and Terms of Reference for Phase 2

On 29 July 2024, Axel Rudakubana carried out a knife attack at a children’s dance club in Southport. He murdered 3 young girls, Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King, and injured 10 other people. Sixteen others survived the attack and they now live with serious emotional scars.

The Southport Inquiry was been set up to examine the circumstances surrounding the attack and the events leading up to it. This includes examining an overall timeline of the perpetrator’s history and interactions with various public bodies including criminal justice, education, social care, and healthcare, as well as decision-making and information-sharing by local services and agencies.

The Inquiry began formally on 7 April 2025 when the Home Secretary issued the Terms of Reference.

The Inguiry - chaired by Sir Adrian Fulford - has now issued its Phase 1 Report (2 volumes).

Previous post  25 January 2025 - Axel Rudakubana sentenced for three horrific murders, 10 attempted murders, and 3 further counts

Terms of Reference for Phase 2 of the Inquiry

Thirlwall Inquiry - brief update

Updated 14 April 2026

The Thirlwall Inquiry was set up to examine events at the Countess of Chester Hospital and their implications following the convictions of former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby.

Inquiry Terms of Reference

The evidence and submissions phase of the inquiry came to a close on 19 March 2026 and the closing remarks of the Chair may be seen HERE.

The Inquiry intends to publish its report in November 2026 but the actual date will be kept under review.

R -v- Letby Final Judgment - 02.07.24 - refusal of permission to appeal

Criminal Cases Review Commission - 13 February 2026

(Image: Crown Court at Manchester where Lucy Letby stood trial).

Update 14 April 2026:

Easter Break ....

English Law Terms are set out by the Judiciary - HERE. 

Blogging will resume about the time Easter Term begins - 14 April. 

House of Commons is in recess up to and including 12 April - HERE.

The King's Speech (State Opening of Parliament) is scheduled for 13 May. By then, we will know the outcome of the various elections to be held on 7 May. It is widely expected that national politics will be reflected in the results with the Labour Party losing many seats in local government but politics can of course surprise us.  BBC News 26 March 2026

The Judiciary website continues with news items, sentencing remarks etc.

The HOME page on this blog has a lengthy list of blogs and websites of interest - please explore. (The list will be reviewed during the second half of April).

There is a Selection Commission to choose the next President of the Supreme Court of the UK. No forecasts or guesses from me on that one.  The list of present Justices is HERE but the selection does not have to be from one of their number. 

I wonder whether ...