Share this Story : National Post Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Colby Cosh: The death of another British tradition — hereditary peers

The British have turned the House of Lords into the ... Canadian Senate

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

Let us pause today and send congratulations, ironic or otherwise, to the United Kingdom. On Tuesday, they finally became a grown-up-enough country to have their own version of the Canadian Senate. The U.K. House of Lords voted to complete the sorta-kinda-democratizing reforms of Tony Blair first initiated a quarter-century ago, and to eject the last remnant of the purely hereditary peerage from the chamber.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.

Unlimited online access to National Post.

National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.

Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

Support local journalism.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.

Unlimited online access to National Post.

National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.

Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

Support local journalism.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account.

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.

Enjoy additional articles per month.

Get email updates from your favourite authors.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments

Enjoy additional articles per month

Get email updates from your favourite authors

Sign In or Create an Account

Blair had left room in the House for 92 voting hereditary peers, who have been selected in the meantime by election within the Lords. Once Keir Starmer’s new bill is given royal assent — no trouble in that quarter being expected — these representatives of old families will be thrown out on their ears, with the exception of a few “hybrids” who will be chosen by the various political parties to receive meritorious life peerages to brandish along with their unearned, inheritable ones.

Colby Cosh: The death of another British tradition — hereditary peers Back to video

This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)

There was an error, please provide a valid email address.

By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Platformed will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Interested in more newsletters? Browse here.

The voting activity that happened Tuesday was a sort of last-ditch test of some amendments to the main House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act, which passed in the Commons in late 2024. There was a proposal to allow the elected hereditary peers to keep their Lords privileges for the remainder of their own lives, but this compromise was defeated 336 to 77. (Bishops of the Church of England, in constitutional mufti as the Lords Spiritual, remain in House for now along with the 750 or so life peers elevated by governments since the concept was created in 1958.)

As a weird consequence, there is no longer any elected element at all in the Lords. Viva democracy! The Labour government’s long-term plan is to create a popularly elected upper house, and they might go whole hog and actually rename it the Senate. But there are serious doubts about Labour having any long-term future in power whatsoever, and any rebalancing of the Constitution that affects the primacy of the Commons will actually be much more difficult than tossing out the old families. (Most readers will know too well how experiments with Senate elections in Canada have fared.)

There is in fact not all that much fuss, even among the newly fired hereditary peers, about the end of close to a millennium of tradition. The great change is not, by any means, sure to be conducive to good government. The old pre-1958 peerage was always full of the senile and the daft, but the Blair compromise led to a situation where the voting hereditary peers had to win an election and impress their colleagues. It was now the older life peers who were more likely to display torpor, drunkenness or extreme eccentricity.

In Tuesday’s debate, the Conservative life peer Lord Moore of Etchingham — better known as the newspaper editor and author Charles Moore — wondered if the Labour government isn’t migrating ever further from a political optimum.

“I have a little theory about your lordships’ House. Once you feel you lack legitimacy, or your legitimacy is in question, you behave a bit better because you are a little doubtful about whether you should be there and so are on your best behaviour.… Ill feeling against the House of Lords was incredibly rare in the second half of the 20th century — it was hardly an issue at all. It is rather noticeable that, since the Blair reforms of 1999, the reputation of this House has become more and more contested, and people have got crosser and crosser.

Hellboy fans take note: Canadian piracy police are taking names Canada

Hellboy fans take note: Canadian piracy police are taking names

What we know about Mark Carney shows how little we know our Canadian PM Canada

What we know about Mark Carney shows how little we know our Canadian PM

Advertisement 1Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.document.addEventListener(`DOMContentLoaded`,function(){let template=document.getElementById(`oop-ad-template`);if(template&&!template.dataset.adInjected){let clone=template.content.cloneNode(!0);template.replaceWith(clone),template.parentElement&&(template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected=`true`)}});

NP View: Iran is no longer a foreign war NP Comment

NP View: Iran is no longer a foreign war

'Bad idea': Quebec Tory MPs slam Don Cherry’s Order of Canada nomination News

'Bad idea': Quebec Tory MPs slam Don Cherry’s Order of Canada nomination

Canadian-American icon honours Trump for 'standing up to keep biological women in women's sports' World

Canadian-American icon honours Trump for 'standing up to keep biological women in women's sports'

“This presents a challenge to us. The danger is that, rather than recovering legitimacy in the public mind by what is happening, we are actually hollowed out in people’s minds — we have some trappings but are not the real thing and are not something else.… People are going to go on saying, ‘Why are you here? What right have you to be here?’ I hope that we will have an answer.”

We shall conclude by quoting the last sad peal of oratory to be heard in the House from someone who is both a hereditary peer and a defender of the hereditary principle in the Constitution — the 19th Earl of Devon, who is (for a very little while longer) a “crossbench” non-partisan member rather than the Conservative you might expect.

“My lords, given that this is the final time we will consider this bill, I offer some concluding words as a departing hereditary — as a defender of the indefensible who has long championed our presence in this House and has sought to shine a light on the value of our long period of public service. I say to the noble lord, Lord Strathclyde, that that is approaching 900 years for some of us.

“The passage of this bill is regrettable. I believe that this House, Parliament and the country more widely will miss us, not as individuals but as an essential, ancient thread in the complex and fragile constitutional fabric that supports our nation. It is ironic that a government who pride themselves on improving employee rights and enhancing the security of those who work should choose to offer the longer-serving members of our constitutional workforce a mere seven weeks’ formal notice of termination — notably less than the statutory minimum. His Majesty’s government will argue that we have been on notice for 27 — or, perhaps, over 100 — years. Yet, as every employment lawyer knows, it is one thing to work under threat of redundancy but quite another for that threat to be formalized, as when this bill receives its royal assent.

“However, this is not a matter of employment law. If it were, there would be discriminatory concerns, given the regrettable commonality of protected characteristics among our hereditary peers. Instead, we serve at His Majesty’s pleasure, summoned pursuant to a writ by which we are commanded to attend this Parliament in Westminster and provide counsel. I am concerned that His Majesty, in losing his longest-serving constitutional counsellors, will be left considerably exposed at a vulnerable time for our hereditary monarchy. I repeat my very real worry that his institution may be next, given the treatment meted out to us, his hereditary partners.”

Share this Story : National Post Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Best Amazon Canada deals this weekend: Home, tech and more Take advantage of these Amazon Canada deals before they're gone 16 hours ago Deals

Best Amazon Canada deals this weekend: Home, tech and more

Take advantage of these Amazon Canada deals before they're gone

Trying to ditch your phone before bed? We tested the Hatch Restore 3 smart clock Sleep testing the smart clock that helps build phone-free bedtime routines 20 hours ago Sleep

Trying to ditch your phone before bed? We tested the Hatch Restore 3 smart clock

Sleep testing the smart clock that helps build phone-free bedtime routines

The Canadian-made storage bed that finally fixes bedroom clutter Sundays’ Dream Bed has a large hidden storage compartment 22 hours ago Sleep

The Canadian-made storage bed that finally fixes bedroom clutter

Sundays’ Dream Bed has a large hidden storage compartment

Advertisement 2Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.document.addEventListener(`DOMContentLoaded`,function(){let template=document.getElementById(`oop-ad-template`);if(template&&!template.dataset.adInjected){let clone=template.content.cloneNode(!0);template.replaceWith(clone),template.parentElement&&(template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected=`true`)}});

Collecting travel rewards? Avoid these mistakes for a better payoff In the world of travel points, hoarding is a trap and 'earning and burning' is the only winning strategy 1 day ago Travel

Collecting travel rewards? Avoid these mistakes for a better payoff

In the world of travel points, hoarding is a trap and 'earning and burning' is the only winning strategy

Endy's first Toronto warehouse sale offers up to 60 per cent off mattresses and more Take advantage of limited-time deals from March 12 - 15 1 day ago Deals

Endy's first Toronto warehouse sale offers up to 60 per cent off mattresses and more

Take advantage of limited-time deals from March 12 - 15

© National Post