House of Lords Bill — Exceptions from the rule that hereditary peers should be abolished — 10 Nov 1999

The majority Aye voters agreed to introduce a new clause into the House of Lords Bill. The clause details the conditions under which hereditary peers can be excused from the principle set out in section 1 that they should be abolished^[1].

This clause was implemented because of the Weatherill Amendment (introduced by Lord Weatherill in the House of Lords on 11 May 1999). The Weatherill Amendment enshrined a compromise between Tony Blair and Viscount Cranborne, the Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords from 1994 until 1998. This compromise was agreed in November 1998 where the government could remove the vast majority of hereditary peers from the House of Lords but 92 would still remain. These 92 would be chosen by their peers in the House of Lords.

The reason for this compromise was that Labour didn't want their legislative agenda continuously blocked by Lords unhappy at the removal of hereditary peers^[2].

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• [1] Margaret Beckett MP, 10 November 1999, House of Commons
• [2] Dennis Sewell, 16 October 1998, BBC News

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