United Kingdom legislation
The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill is a Bill of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Bill, if passed, will entirely remove the 92 hereditary peers from voting functions within the House of Lords.
House of Lords reform was included within the Labour Party's manifesto for the 2024 United Kingdom general election, which included an age cap on peers and the removal of hereditary peers entirely.
Background.
Reform of the House of Lords has been a part of successive government policies since the early 19th century. The last major change was made in the House of Lords Act 1999 under the first Blair ministry, which provided that:
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;No-one shall be a member of the House of Lords by virtue of a hereditary peerage.
The Act then provided several exceptions, allowing 90 hereditary peers, as well as the Lord Great Chamberlain and the Earl Marshal, to remain in the House of Lords pending further reform. The Act originally eliminated hereditary peers entirely, however the exceptions made (section 2 of the Act) were as part of a compromise reached between the House of Lords and the House of Commons during the passage of the Bill.
Provisions.
The Bill, if passed, will eliminate all 92 of the hereditary peers from the House of Lords; the Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain will continue their ceremonial functions in the House of Lords, but will cease to be members. The 26 Lords Spiritual and a variable number of life peers would remain in the House. The sections of the Bill as introduced are listed below:
Criticism.
The Bill has been criticised by hereditary peer Lord Strathclyde, who said that to reduce the size of the House of Lords, peers who do not often attend debates should be removed instead of hereditary peers, some of whom were very active. Minister for the Constitution and European Union Relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said that "The second chamber plays a vital role in our constitution and people should not be voting on our laws in parliament by an accident of birth".
University College London's constitution unit said that the only other country in the world with a hereditary element in the legislature was the hereditary chiefs in Lesotho's Senate, though other countries have hereditary elements as well, such as the 18 chiefs in Zimbabwe's Senate, Tonga's 9 internally elected nobles in the Legislative Assembly, and Samoa's requirement to hold "matai" status to stand for election to the Fono.
Others have said that other elements of House of Lords reform should be prioritised, such as the removal of the automatic right of Anglican Bishops to sit in the House of Lords as Lords Spiritual, as the only other sovereign nation in which clerics are automatically granted a seat in the legislature is Iran. Harriet Harman subsequently introduced an amendment that would mandate the government to introduce proposals to remove the right for 26 Church of England bishops to sit in the Lords "ex officio" as Lords Spiritual, in line with Labour's manifesto commitment to consult on wider reforms of the upper chamber.
Stages.
The Bill was introduced formally by Pat McFadden, receiving its first reading on Thursday, 5 September 2024, with its second reading on 15 October 2024. 
The Bill then proceeded into committee stage, where, due to its constitutional significance, it was subject to a Committee of the Whole House. The Committee, and then the Bill's third reading, took place on 12 November 2024 with the Bill passing the House of Commons by a vote of 435-73.
The Bill was introduced into the House of Lords by Baroness Smith of Basildon, and the Bill received its first reading in the House of Lords on 13 November 2024, and its second reading in the House of Lords on 11 December 2024.
Future reform.
The Bill is part of a wider plan by Labour to replace the House of Lords with an "alternative second chamber" in the long term. Part of Labour's plans include eventually replacing the House of Lords with an entirely elected Assembly of Nations and Regions, however it has been stated that this would take more than a single term to accomplish.
References.
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