Peers defeat judicial reform plan

Lord Falconer drew up the government's constitutional reform plans

Peers have inflicted a double defeat on the government over its plans to shake-up the judicial system.

The Lords voted 215 to 199 to insist that the lord chancellor must be a member of the Upper House, in a debate on the Constitutional Reform Bill.

They later insisted by a majority of 14 that the job should go to a lawyer.

The government instead insists the post be taken by the "best person for the job". It is now set to ask MPs to overturn Tuesday's defeats.

Ministers have backed away from their original plan to scrap the lord chancellor title entirely.

But they want to separate the lord chancellor's roles as top judge, Lords speaker and government minister.

The current lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, drew up the government's reform plans.

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Constitutional reform

A spokeswoman for his department said the Lords' stance would unduly limit the prime minister's choice of candidates for the post.

She stressed that the Lords and Commons had backed the vast majority of the reform plans.