House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) (Abolition of By-Elections) Bill [HL]
Debate between Lord Northbrook and Lord Campbell-SavoursFriday 15th March 2019
(5 years, 8 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) (Abolition of By-Elections) Bill [HL] 2017-19 View all House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) (Abolition of By-Elections) Bill [HL] 2017-19 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: HL Bill 144-I(a) Amendment for Report, supplementary to the marshalled list (PDF) - (14 Mar 2019)
Lord Northbrook
My Lords, I hope that this answers the point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Anderson of Swansea, who is not in his place. I remember well that in the original House of Lords Bill in 1999 we tried to get the amendment of my noble friend Lord Strathclyde added, but it was thrown out by the other place at the last minute. As other noble Lords have said, the non-statutory Appointments Commission, which was established in May 2000, has done a good job in connection with the non-political Peers.
Lord Campbell-Savours
My Lords, again, will the noble Lord declare an interest in this debate to help people outside understand where he is coming from?
Lord Northbrook
I apologise to the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours. I declare an interest as a hereditary Peer.
The House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee report of October 2013 has an interesting section discussing that.