House of Lords Act 1999

E17268

The House of Lords Act 1999 is a UK law that significantly reformed the composition of the House of Lords by removing most hereditary peers, marking a major step in modernizing the British Parliament’s upper chamber.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom
constitutional reform
allowedHereditaryPeersToRemain 92
chamberAffected House of Lords
citation 1999 c. 34
commencementDate 1999-11-11
containsProvision disqualification of most hereditary peers from voting in House of Commons elections
removal of most hereditary peers from membership of the House of Lords
retention of 92 hereditary peers on an interim basis
country United Kingdom
debatedIn House of Commons of the United Kingdom
surface form: House of Commons

House of Lords
doesNotAddress complete abolition of hereditary peers
introduction of an elected second chamber
governmentProgramme New Labour constitutional reforms
historicalSignificance first stage of a two-stage reform of the House of Lords proposed by the Labour government
major step in modernising the House of Lords
introducedBy Lord Irvine of Lairg
Tony Blair
surface form: Tony Blair government
jurisdiction England and Wales
Northern Ireland
Scotland
languageOfText English
legalEffect ended the automatic right of most hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords
limited membership of the House of Lords largely to life peers and bishops
legislativeBody British Parliament
surface form: Parliament of the United Kingdom
longTitle House of Lords Act 1999 self-linksurface differs
surface form: An Act to restrict membership of the House of Lords by virtue of a hereditary peerage; to make related provision about disqualifications for voting at elections to, and for membership of, the House of Commons; and for connected purposes.
monarchAtRoyalAssent Elizabeth II
partOf UK constitutional reform programme of the late 1990s
politicalPartyPromoting Labour Party (UK)
postReformHereditaryPeersNumber 92
preReformHereditaryPeersNumberApprox 750
primaryPurpose to reform the composition of the House of Lords
to remove most hereditary peers from the House of Lords
relatedTo Constitution of the United Kingdom
House of Lords Reform
Life Peerages Act 1958
replacedSystemOf automatic hereditary membership of the House of Lords
royalAssentDate 1999-11-11
sectionCount 4
selectionMethodForRemainingHereditaryPeers election by hereditary peers
ex officio positions for certain hereditary office-holders
shortTitle House of Lords Act 1999 self-link
status in force
subjectMatter hereditary peerages
membership of the House of Lords
parliamentary reform
typeOfReform composition reform
yearEnacted 1999

Referenced by (12)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Peerage Act 1963 amendedBy House of Lords Act 1999
Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 amends House of Lords Act 1999
Lord governedBy House of Lords Act 1999
House of Lords governingDocument House of Lords Act 1999
House of Lords Reform historicalPhase House of Lords Act 1999
British aristocracy legalFramework House of Lords Act 1999
House of Lords Act 1999 longTitle House of Lords Act 1999 self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: An Act to restrict membership of the House of Lords by virtue of a hereditary peerage; to make related provision about disqualifications for voting at elections to, and for membership of, the House of Commons; and for connected purposes.
Lords of Parliament reformAffectedBy House of Lords Act 1999
Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 relatedLegislation House of Lords Act 1999
Life Peerages Act 1958 relatedTo House of Lords Act 1999
Peerage Act 1963 relatedTo House of Lords Act 1999
House of Lords Act 1999 shortTitle House of Lords Act 1999 self-link