House of Lords Reform (No. 2) Bill

Lord Cobbold Excerpts

Friday 28th March 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Cobbold (CB)]

My Lords, like other noble Lords, I welcome the Bill that we are considering today. It is an important step forward in the ongoing process of House of Lords reform.

My particular interest is in Clause 1, which permits a Peer to resign as a Member of the House by giving notice in writing to the Clerk of the Parliaments. It is an important step forward, and it will be interesting to see how many Peers make use of the option and whether it will reduce the number of Peers who rarely, if ever, visit the Chamber.

As for the 92 elected hereditary Peers who were exempted from Section 1 of the House of Lords Act 1999, of which I am lucky enough to be one, the situation up to now has been that a resignation by one of the 92 would reduce the size of the portfolio by one unless it was the result of the death of a Member, in which case the gap would be filled by a by-election to retain the 92 total. I am pleased to see that Clause 4(7) confirms that a by-election must be held to replace one of the 92 Members not only in the event of death but in the event of a formal resignation.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Steel, for his efforts on this subject and I wish him every success in the months to come.