Hereditary peers in the House of Lords

House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026

The government took office in July 2024 on a manifesto commitment to reform the House of Lords. It introduced the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill in September 2024 to take forward this commitment by removing the exemption under which hereditary peers have membership of the House. The House of Lords Act 1999 had ended the sitting and voting rights for all but 92 hereditary peers. Allowing some hereditary peers to remain followed a cross-party compromise agreed during the 1999 act’s passage through Parliament. The House held by-elections to fill vacancies when a hereditary peer died or retired.

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 received royal assent on 18 March 2026. Its provisions to end the right of excepted hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords are due to come into force at the end of the current parliamentary session. The 81 hereditary peers who currently sit make up about 11 percent of the House’s membership. Around half sit as Conservatives and over a third as Crossbenchers. Some of the current excepted hereditary peers will remain in the House as life peers.

Lords Library research on the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

Ahead of Lords second reading

‘House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill: HL Bill 49 of 2024–25’, published ahead of second reading in the Lords, provides information on the background to the bill, its provisions and its passage through the House of Commons.

Overview of Lords second reading debate

‘House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill: Second reading in the House of Lords’ gives an overview of the Lords second reading debate.

Lords committee stage update

‘House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill: Committee stage’ summarises the status of the bill following the conclusion of committee stage in the House of Lords.

Amendments made in the Lords and Commons consideration of those amendments

‘House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026: How was it amended as it went through Parliament?’ looks at amendments made to the bill at report stage and third reading in the House of Lords, what happened during the bill’s ping pong stages, and which amendments were retained in the version of the bill that received royal assent.