No fast exit for hereditary peers

Hereditary peers could remain in House of Lords despite reforms

Hereditary peers in the House of Lords could stay on for decades under the next stage of constitutional reform, according to a leaked paper.

The document, revealed in The Guardian newspaper, was prepared by Leader of the Commons Jack Straw.

It sets out ministers' ideas for the future powers and composition of the upper house of Parliament.

It has now been sent to Prime Minister Tony Blair and Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell for consideration.

The Lords is currently made up of appointed life peers, Church of England bishops, Law Lords - and 92 hereditary peers allowed to stay on after the Labour Government threw out over 600 dukes, earls, marquesses, viscounts and barons in November 1999.

Two options

The paper suggests two ways in which the hereditary peers could remain in the Lords after the second chamber is reformed with a large elected element and new powers.

There could be an end to the system which currently means that on the death of a hereditary peer a successor is chosen in an election from a pool of hereditaries not sitting in the House.

This would mean that through a process of natural wastage, hereditaries would eventually disappear from the Lords.

Or hereditaries could simply be turned into life peers through a change in the law. Either system would leave hereditaries in the House for several decades.

The National Coordinator of the Elect the Lords Campaign, Peter Facey said: "There is a clear consensus that the remaining hereditary peers should be removed from the Second Chamber and that the majority of its members should be elected.

"After the Government has spent much of this year being pummelled over the cash for peerages affair, it is frankly unbelievable that Mr Straw is attempting to water down proposals and slow down reform to a snail's pace."