Tag Archives: hereditary peers

Depeerage packages

By The Voice | Wed 1st April 2026 - 7:30 am

Ninety-two hereditary Peers of the Realm are packing up their ermine and saying farewell to their traditional home from home. As Liberal Democrats we are pleased that Parliament has taken one more step towards the full reform of the House of Lords – although we won’t rest until we have a fully elected Upper House.

But spare a thought for those departing peers. They are the product of families who have served this country for many hundreds of years, with many lifetimes of experience in scrutinising legislation. Many of them have been highly effective members and will be missed as individuals. Some will, no doubt, be returning as appointed life peers but the majority will just have to leave that exciting life behind them and go back to their mundane homes and families. We should acknowledge the contribution they have made to our country and help them to make the transition.

Liberal Democrats are proposing that departing hereditary peers should be offered a Depeerage Package. The exact contents are under debate but are expected to include the following:

Free lifetime access to the bars and dining rooms in the Palace of Westminster
Counselling services and yoga therapy for withdrawal symptoms
Access to a specialist private care home if needed
Severance lump sum calculated as two daily allowances for each year of service in the Lords.
Dedicated 24 hour help line – at least for the first year.
A farewell goodie bag containing aromatherapy oils, Jaffa cakes and a House of Lords teddy bear.

If you have any suggestions for additional items please tell us in the comments below.

Posted in Op-eds | 8 Comments

What this country needs: the conversion of life peerages into hereditary ones

By Michael Hall | Fri 26th February 2016 - 3:56 pm

The House of Lords (Maximum Membership) Bill was published only yesterday and was scheduled for a second reading today.

It is one of a number of Bills introduced by backbench Conservative MPs listed for second reading which seem off the wall and it is a wonder that they were scheduled for second reading debate without having first been printed.

One would assume from its title that this Bill has the sole purpose of limiting the number of active peers. It does that and, no doubt because the Bill has been rushed into print at the last minute, the dates for it to take effect are all in the past.

It provides for a maximum number of 650 peers, and it also provides for compulsory retirement in order of seniority to reduce the number of active peers to that magic figure.

Posted in News | Also tagged Lords | 11 Comments

Lord Paul Tyler writes…Farce in the Lords

By Paul Tyler | Thu 23rd October 2014 - 8:00 pm

Any interested fellow citizen who was told how the latest recruit to their Parliament was chosen would be first baffled, then outraged. Is it any wonder that there are more electors who favour the complete abolition of the House of Lords than support retention of the existing arrangements?

The provisions for the replacement of one of our hereditary Peers, when deceased, are confusing, complicated and downright contradictory.

The latest election result, announced by the Lord Speaker on Wednesday afternoon, may seem to be relatively simple: our new Liberal Democrat colleague will be Raymond Asquith, otherwise known as the Earl of Oxford and Asquith and descendant of the distinguished Liberal Prime Minister. He was chosen in an AV election, but gained 50%+ on the first count, so no reallocation of the votes of lower scoring candidates was required.