Peers who do not participate enough in House of Lords face sack

The leader of the House of Lords, Angela Smith, said a select committee would consider the next stage of Lords reform after the abolition of hereditary peers.

Lady Smith stressed eliminating the last hereditary peers was “far from the extent of the government’s Lords reform ambitions,” adding a newly established committee would examine how the next phase should continue.

The bill, which will remove the 86 remaining hereditary peers from the chamber, is set to complete its final stages in parliament later this year.

Writing for The Telegraph, she explained: “I hope the select committee will also anticipate any unintended consequences.

"With retirement age, for example, Labour’s manifesto is clear that a peer should leave by the end of the Parliament in which they have their 80th birthday.

“To avoid any possible cliff-edge moment, the committee may want to consider ways of achieving the same objective while delivering the effective change.

“Similarly, when considering a ‘participation requirement’, those who regularly contribute to the work of the Lords have a clear feel for what this might be. It would recognise contributions in the main chamber as well as the solid, often unnoticed, work done in our impressive system of committees – but it is hard to quantify.

“The work of the House isn’t just about the loudest or most public voices, so what are the options for this to be achieved fairly?”

She has called for the Lords, which has 830 active members, to be shrunk to the same size as the Commons, which has 650 MPs.