House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading

MPs voted on 15 October 2024 on a Conservative reasoned amendment (a procedural motion arguing a bill should not proceed as currently drafted) to the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill at its second reading. The amendment sought to block the Bill from advancing on the grounds that it was incomplete without wider Lords reform measures. It was defeated by 453 votes to 105. The Bill itself would remove the remaining 92 hereditary peers, including the 90 elected by their fellow peers and the holders of the offices of Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain, who had been preserved as members of the Lords under section 2 of the House of Lords Act 1999. By defeating this reasoned amendment, the Commons allowed the Bill to proceed to its committee stage. The vote directly advanced Labour's stated manifesto commitment to end the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in Parliament. The division split almost entirely along party lines. All 100 Conservative MPs who voted backed the amendment, joined by all 5 Reform UK MPs who voted and 2 independents. Every voting Labour, Labour and Co-operative, Liberal Democrat, Plaid Cymru, Green, and SDLP MP voted against, producing the 453-strong majority. There were no Conservative MPs voting No and no Labour MPs voting Aye.