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Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

I do not have the answer. I suspect that I know what the answer to the noble Lord’s question is and I will certainly answer it when I come to wind up the debate later today. Part 5 contains a package of measures which relate to your Lordships’ House. The Bill brings to an end the by-elections to replace hereditary Peers once they die. Those hereditary Peers who are currently Members of the House will, of course, not lose their seats. The Bill only abolishes the mechanism which allows further hereditary Peers to enter this House solely on the basis of their hereditary title. I recognise, as we all do, the interests of the House in these provisions. The Government have acted in good faith in taking forward reform of your Lordships’ House; demonstrably so, as we have worked closely with other parties to build consensus in cross-party talks. We made clear in 1999 that the by-election process was not intended to be a permanent arrangement and it has gone on now for over 10 years. At the last by-election, there were more candidates than electors—in fact, that is true of three of the last four of these elections—and that was an election for one of the larger groups in your Lordships’ House, the Cross Benches. This is not, we believe, a credible way of obtaining a seat in our legislature. Noble Lords will recall that the 92 hereditary Peers remained in the House as, in some ways, a guarantee of full reform. That is what the Government are committed to and that is why we will be bringing forward proposals very shortly.