Starmer restores powers to ousted hereditary peers in Lords shake-up

Dozens of hereditary peers whose seats have been abolished have had their lawmaking powers restored as Keir Starmer seeks to accelerate changes to the House of Lords.

It is understood that 15 Conservative hereditary peers, two Labour and nine crossbenchers have been handed life peerages, enabling their return to the red benches.

The apparent concession was made in a bid to end a long battle over Starmer’s plans to remove the right of the last remaining hereditary peers to sit in the Lords, a commitment made in Labour’s 2024 manifesto.

A government source described the parliamentary session that has just ended as “tortuous” given that every stage of the bill to abolish hereditary peers has resulted in considerable disruption in the Lords, as well as demands in private meetings for compensation for removed peers.

The peers have already been subject to a due diligence process run by the House of Lords appointment commission, which includes a check by HM Revenue and Customs.

It comes as 92 hereditary peers lost their seats in the House of Lords this week, which left No 10 forced to strike a deal with opposition parties in a bid to get the legislation through. In return, the Conservative party has agreed to speed up the retirement of about half of its existing life peers.

The Scottish National party has criticised Starmer’s move, claiming the government is focused on “saving hereditary Lords” rather than focusing on the cost-of-living crisis.

Jenni Minto, the SNP candidate for Argyll and Bute, said: “It will be very telling if Anas Sarwar fails to condemn this move, with speculation growing that he is lining up a place in the Lords for himself after being projected to lead Labour to their worst ever result in Scotland.”

The move is set to be announced before the king’s speech, with the government expected to push through further updates to the Lords including a participation requirement for members and a retirement age. But it will be select committees that will report on the changes later this year.