House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) (Abolition of By-Elections) Bill [HL]
Debate between Viscount Trenchard and Lord GrocottFriday 7th September 2018
(6 years, 2 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 2-II Second marshalled list for Committee (PDF) - (5 Sep 2018)
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) (Abolition of By-Elections) Bill [HL]
Debate between Viscount Trenchard and Lord Grocott(6 years, 8 months ago)
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Viscount Trenchard
The noble Lord is quite correct that the original creations were due to prime ministerial patronage, but successive holders of the title who have sat in your Lordships’ House were not so obliged and did not owe their presence to the Prime Minister. In that sense, they were independent because they owed it to the random accident of birth. The by-election system is very competitive. It is a combination of random accident of birth, a bit of geographical coverage and competition.
The charge that the House as presently constituted gives these Benches an unfair political advantage—
Lord Grocott
The noble Viscount is speaking to Amendment 2. Will he remind the House of the wording of Amendment 2 and how his remarks relate to it?