Stages and muddles: the House of Lords Act 1999
Stages and muddles: the House of Lords Act 1999
As one of the most significant pieces of constitutional legislation enacted in the last century, the House of Lords Act 1999 radically reformed the membership of the second chamber of the Westminster parliament by removing almost all the hereditary peers who sat there. The act formed a key part of the constitutional reform agenda of the Labour government elected in 1997, but despite its massive majority in the house of commons, eliminating the hereditary peerage proved far harder than might first have been imagined. This article seeks to explore the events surrounding that act, the political machinations and deals leading up to it, the course of the legislation through parliament, and the intricacies of the process involved in securing constitutional reform of this magnitude. It concludes by examining the consequences of the act for subsequent attempts at further second chamber reform during the rest of the Labour government's time in office.
conservative party, elected upper house, hereditary peers, house of lords bill, labour government, legislation, parliament, royal commission on reform of the house of lords, weatherill amendment
101-113
Kelso, Alexandra
e9f198bb-27f8-412a-9360-aff01d578096
February 2011
Kelso, Alexandra
e9f198bb-27f8-412a-9360-aff01d578096
Kelso, Alexandra
(2011)
Stages and muddles: the House of Lords Act 1999.
[in special issue: A Century of Constitutional Reform]
Parliamentary History, 30 (1), .
(doi:10.1111/j.1750-0206.2010.00238.x).
Abstract
As one of the most significant pieces of constitutional legislation enacted in the last century, the House of Lords Act 1999 radically reformed the membership of the second chamber of the Westminster parliament by removing almost all the hereditary peers who sat there. The act formed a key part of the constitutional reform agenda of the Labour government elected in 1997, but despite its massive majority in the house of commons, eliminating the hereditary peerage proved far harder than might first have been imagined. This article seeks to explore the events surrounding that act, the political machinations and deals leading up to it, the course of the legislation through parliament, and the intricacies of the process involved in securing constitutional reform of this magnitude. It concludes by examining the consequences of the act for subsequent attempts at further second chamber reform during the rest of the Labour government's time in office.
Text
HoL1999, PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY 2011.pdf
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More information
e-pub ahead of print date: 24 January 2011
Published date: February 2011
Keywords:
conservative party, elected upper house, hereditary peers, house of lords bill, labour government, legislation, parliament, royal commission on reform of the house of lords, weatherill amendment
Organisations:
Politics & International Relations
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 152125
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/152125
ISSN: 1750-0206
PURE UUID: cbe4171a-a529-4de2-baf8-36c1fe638ccc
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Date deposited: 13 May 2010 14:36
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 01:22
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Author:
Alexandra Kelso
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