In a historic decision, the UK House of Lords approved the House of Lords Bill, which completely eliminates hereditary peers from the upper house of parliament. This reform completes a process begun in 1999, when more than 600 hereditary aristocrats were removed from the House of Lords under Tony Blair’s Labour government.
According to the adopted law, the remaining 92 hereditary peers will lose the right to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The changes will come into effect at the end of the current parliamentary session—expected to occur in May 2026, before the next King’s Speech.
Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Angela Smith called the bill “historic legislation” that fulfills a key election promise of Keir Starmer’s Labour government. “No one should sit in Parliament simply by birthright,” she emphasized.
To alleviate Conservative opposition, the government agreed to a compromise: some hereditary peers, primarily Tory MPs and crossbenchers, would receive life peerages, allowing them to retain their seats in the House. Thanks to this agreement, the Conservatives overcame their objections, and the bill passed without significant obstacles.
The reform became possible after the House of Lords had effectively stopped holding by-elections for vacant hereditary peerages in recent years. The new law eliminates the 92-seat quota and eliminates any connection between hereditary titles and membership in the upper house of parliament (except for purely ceremonial roles such as Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain, which do not automatically confer a seat).
Experts call this one of the most significant reforms of the British parliament in recent decades. Critics argue that it is a departure from a millennia-old British tradition, but most observers welcome this step toward modernizing the upper house.
The bill now awaits royal assent, which is considered a formality. After this, for the first time in nearly a thousand years, the House of Lords will no longer include members solely by birthright.