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The Lords were once the stronger of the two houses of Parliament. A slow process of evolution moved political control of England, first from the Sovereign to the House of Lords and then from the Lords to the House of Commons. Prior to the House of Lords Act 1999 the power of the Lords was diminished by the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 which stripped the Lords of their ability to block adoption of most bills; at most they could delay them for one session. Furthermore, the Commons have absolute power when it comes to money bills.
In 1997, after nearly two decades of Conservative rule, a Labour government, led by Tony Blair, was elected. The Labour Party had for years endorsed abolition of the unelected House of Lords in its election manifestos until 1992, when it dropped the idea in favour of reforming the House.
The Government proposed many bills that were opposed by the traditionally Conservative House of Lords. In the first session of Parliament, which included a part of 1997 and most of 1998, the Lords rejected Labour bills thirty-nine times. The most contentious of the rejections was of the European Elections Bill , which the Lords voted down an unprecedented five times. Blair attacked the Lords for thwarting the will of the democratically elected House of Commons. He also found an opportunity to deliver on Labour's campaign promise to reform the Lords. On November 24, in opening the second session of Parliament, the Queen delivered her annual Speech from the Throne outlining her Government's agenda for the upcoming year. In it, she suggested that her Government would pursue a reform of the House of Lords. Her remarks were followed by shouts of "Hear! Hear!" from supportive Labour Members of Parliament, and by similar shouts of "Shame! Shame!" from Conservative peers; such outbursts were unprecedented, for the Queen's Speech is traditionally heard by a silent and dignified Parliament.
The House of Lords Bill was expected to face a tough fight in the House of Lords. Several Lords threatened to disrupt the Government's other bills if they continued with the plan to abolish the hereditaries' right to sit in the House of Lords. The Earl of OnslowThe title of Earl of Onslow was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1801. Lord Onslow bears the subsidiary titles of Viscount Cranley of Cranley in the County of Surrey ( 1801), in the Peerage of the UK, and Baron Onslow of Onslow in the Count, for instance, said, "I'm happy to force a divisionA Division is a procedure by which the votes of the members of a legislature may be recorded, as opposed to a voice vote, wherein votes are unrecorded. The United Kingdom House of Commons In the House of Commons, the Speaker states "The Question is that…" on each and every clause of the Scotland Bill. Each division takes 20 minutes and there are more than 270 clauses." Lords had plenty of other means by which they could obstruct the Government's programme.
In order to convince some peers to vote for reform, Tony Blair announced that he would compromise by allowing a number of hereditary peers to remain in the House of Lords on an interim basis. On December 2December 2 is the 336th day (337th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 29 days remaining. Events 1409 The University of Leipzig opened. 1755 The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire. 1804 At Notre Dame Cathedral in, 1998, the Conservative Leader of the Opposition, William HagueThe Right Honourable William Hague (born March 26, 1961) is a British politician and former leader of the Conservative Party (UK). Hague was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, a strongly working-class area, and caused a sensation at the age of sixteen by, rose in the House of Commons to attack Tony Blair's plans. He suggested that Mr Blair's changes indicated his lack of principles. Hague further suggested that the Conservative Party would never agree to such constitutional reforms that were "based on no comprehensive plan or principle". Mr Hague's remarks backfired when Blair revealed that the Conservative Party in the House of Lords, rather than oppose his reforms, would definitely support them , and that he had done a secret deal with the Conservative leader in the House of Lords, Viscount Cranborne. Mr Hague immediately removed Viscount Cranborne from office, but, in protest, several Conservative Lords who held front-bench positions resigned.
On January 19January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 346 days remaining (347 in leap years) Events 1419 Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England which makes Normandy a part of England. 1764 John Wilkes is expelled, 1999For the album by Prince, see 1999 (album 1999 is a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the UN. Events Kosovo War Former child star Gary Coleman files for bankruptcy Y2K prep, the Prime Minister introduced the House of Lords Bill into the House of Commons. On March 16, the House of Commons passed the bill by a vote of 340 to 132. On the next day, it was presented to the House of Lords, where the bill took far longer to debate. One significant amendment made to the Bill was the so-called Weatherill Amendment , named for the Lord Weatherill, the former Speaker of the House of Commons. The Weatherill Amendment put into place the deal agreed to by the Prime Minister and Viscount Cranborne, and allowed ninety-two hereditary peers to remain members of the House of Lords.
Several controversies relating to the technicalities of the bill were brought up in the House of Lords. One issue was related to the Treaty of Union of 1707 uniting Scotland and England into Great Britain. After lengthy debates, the matter was referred to the House of Lords Committee on Privileges .
Under the Articles of Union agreed to in 1707, Scottish Lords would be entitled to elect sixteen representative peers to sit on their behalf in the House of Lords. In 1963, the Peerage Act was passed, allowing all Scottish peers to sit in the House, not just sixteen of them. It was felt that removing all Scottish representation would breach the Articles. The Government, however, responded that the Articles did envisage a change in the election of representative peers. It was argued that some portions of the Treaty were "entrenched," while others were not. For instance, Scotland and England were united "forever," the Scottish Court of Session was to "remain in all time coming within Scotland as it is now constituted," and the establishment of the Church of Scotland was "effectually and unalterably secured." However, it was suggested, the election of Scottish representative peers was not "entrenched," and therefore could be amended. Furthermore, the Government argued that Parliament was entirely sovereign and supreme, and could at its will change the Articles of Union. For example, the Treaty of Union joining Great Britain and Ireland required that the two nations be united "forever". Nonetheless, in 1922, by an Act of Parliament, most of Ireland was made independent as the Irish Free State. Thus, even "entrenched" clauses were argued to be open to amendment by the authority of Parliament. The Committee agreed and reported to the House on October 20 that the Bill was indeed lawful in this regard.
After the reports were considered, on October 26, the Lords passed the bill 221 to 81. After the Lords settled the differences between their version of the bill and the Commons version thereof, the Bill received Royal Assent on November 11.