When a democratic tradition that has lasted for 800 years is brought to an end, you expect something of a fanfare, or at least an acknowledgement. But when the last hereditary peer walks out of the House of Lords in the next couple of weeks, it will be against a backdrop of insouciance and indifference – even apathy. This is a big moment for the Mother of Parliaments, but it will go largely unnoticed.

There are reasons for this. Set alongside global events, it hardly registers on the political Geiger counter. And also, it’s been a long time coming. In 1999, former prime minister Tony Blair’s government abolished all but 92 of the 750 members of the Lords who were there through birthright or clerical association, and it has taken 27 years for the remaining hereditary peers to be shown the second chamber’s Gothic, solid brass door.

Some will be given life peerages, but Labour’s Bill, passed in March, effectively seals the fate of the remaining Dukes and Duchesses, Earls and Countesses, and Barons and Baronesses who, through their birthright, were allowed to be part of our law-making process.

In........

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