Lords reform bill clears Commons after late concession on retirement age
Peers will be required to retire at 80 and the last hereditary seats will go; the bill now faces the chamber it is designed to shrink
The most significant reform of the House of Lords in a quarter of a century cleared the Commons on Thursday night after the government conceded a retirement age of 80 rather than 75 to secure the votes of its own backbenchers.
The bill removes the remaining 92 hereditary peers and, for the first time, sets an age at which members must leave. It does not change how peers are appointed, a point the opposition pressed throughout the debate.
The bill now goes to the Lords, which is expected to amend it heavily. Ministers have signalled they are prepared to use the Parliament Acts to force it through if necessary.
“This is the first step, not the last,” the leader of the House told MPs. Critics on both sides said that was what every government had said since 1911.
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