House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026

A major constitutional change came about this week with the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill receiving Royal Assent and becoming the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act. The Act removes the remaining connection between hereditary peerage and membership of the House of Lords; makes provision about resignation from the House of Lords; and abolishes the jurisdiction of the House of Lords in relation to claims to hereditary peerages.

This reform was a Labour Party manifesto commitment.

The Act will come into effect at the end of this session of Parliament, after which no peer will be a member of the House of Lords on the basis of their hereditary peerage.

See the Government announcement  which contains the following -

"Minister for the Cabinet Office, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said:

Hereditary peerages are an archaic and undemocratic principle. I am proud that we have fulfilled a key manifesto pledge of this government.

Our Parliament should always be a place where talents are recognised and merit counts. It should never be a gallery of old boys’ networks, nor a place where titles, many of which were handed out centuries ago, hold power over the will of the people.

In making this change, the Government is committed to ensuring that the House can continue to function effectively. The Government has therefore agreed to offer additional life peerages to the Official Opposition and Crossbenchers. As always, it will be for the Opposition to decide which individuals they wish to nominate for peerages.

The Bill is the first step in wider reform to the House of Lords ...."

Life Peers are of course appointed by a process described HERE. It seems inevitable that the majority of new life peers will be Labour Party supporters as the government seeks to address the political balance in the House. Nonetheless, the House will remain very large. At the time of writing there are 842 peers eligible to attend proceedings (274 women and 568 men) - see House of Lords Reform March 2026.

Additional information:

The Electoral Reform Society has published an interesting paper on House of Lords reform - Unfinished Business: Routes to an Elected Second Chamber

The paper is of interest but, in the current state of British politics, an elected second chamber is unlikely to come about. The political preference appears to favour a system of patronage. 

Canada - The 343 members of the lower house (the House of Commons) are styled as Members of Parliament (MPs), and each member is elected to represent an electoral district (also known as a riding). The 105 members of the upper house (the Senate) are styled senators and appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister.  

Australia - there is a bicameral Parliament with an elected Senate and a House of Representatives. The Senate consists of 76 senators, twelve from each of the six states and two from each of the mainland territories. The House of Representatives has 150 members.

New Zealand has a unicameral legislature consisting of the monarch (represented by the governor-general) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was established in 1854 and is one of the oldest continuously functioning legislatures in the world. It was bicameral until the abolition of the New Zealand Legislative Council at the end of 1950.