Britain scores a win for equality
Parliament鈥檚 vote to end a centuries-old tradition of inherited seats in the House of Lords reflects a country eager to curb divisions and disparities.
Each year, the British monarch conducts the State Opening of Parliament. Here, Charles III, with Queen Camilla seated beside him, delivers the King鈥檚 Speech in the House of Lords, in London, July 2024.
Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool/AP/File
Britain鈥檚 parliamentary democracy, one of the oldest in the world, has its quirks. For more than 1,000 years, its kings and queens have presided atop a pyramid of lords, earls, viscounts, and other layers of nobility. Alongside elected members of the House of Commons, these titled (and often wealthy) peers have held hundreds of hereditary seats in Parliament鈥檚 upper House of Lords for centuries.
鈥淯ndemocratic, overcrowded, dominated by silly archaic practices and unrepresentative of the British population,鈥� is how one reform-minded member has described the chamber.
But all that is about to change: On Tuesday, Parliament adopted a bill abolishing the remaining quota of 92 seats that can be automatically filled by the heirs of titled peers. The act fulfills one of Prime Minister Keir Starmer鈥檚 election pledges, completing a process started by his predecessor Tony Blair, who removed more than 600 seats in 1999.
This week鈥檚 shift signifies a major break with the past. Supporters have argued that nobility鈥檚 relative independence from shifting electoral politics and interests has provided stability and safeguarded democracy. The change raises questions for those concerned about Britain鈥檚 storied traditions. But it also offers the opportunity to align politics and society with more egalitarian values that acknowledge equality and intrinsic worth of each individual.
Amid increasing cultural diversity and economic inequality, dissolving hereditary privilege could help further dissolve entrenched class divisions and gender disparities dating from feudal times. (Titles have typically passed only to men, limiting women鈥檚 presence until the late 1950s, when prime ministers began nominating 鈥渓ifetime peers鈥� whose titles could not be passed on.)
鈥淭he principle of hereditary legislating has now been vanquished,鈥� declared the Electoral Reform Society on its website this week. However, it is pushing for more: an elected, representative upper house that 鈥渂etter reflects the country it serves.鈥�
This sentiment reflects growing public demand for more say in effective governing. Surveys in recent years showed that 28% of British people were dissatisfied with how their government works, and 15% would choose to abolish the monarchy. The royal family appears increasingly responsive to this sentiment. King Charles III has moved to curtail costs and has recently stripped his brother Andrew of all titles and benefits, over alleged connections to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. And Parliament is considering a Representation of the People Bill, to extend the vote to 16- and 17-year-olds and widen the range of accepted voter ID.
鈥淲e have a duty to find a way forward,鈥� the leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Angela Smith, said this week. The change is not about 鈥渋ndividuals,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut [about] the underlying principle that ... no one should sit in our parliament by way of an inherited title.鈥�
By its nature, democracy is rarely a 鈥渇inished鈥� project. It might now be time for ordinary Britons to claim a greater role in shaping and safeguarding their nation鈥檚 unique governing system.