Legislation to axe seats in the House of Lords

The UK government on Thursday introduced legislation to axe seats in the House of Lords retained for hereditary lawmakers as it moves to reform parliament's unelected upper chamber. The bill will remove the 92 seats reserved for peers who inherited their position as a member of an aristocratic family. Britain is an anomaly among western governments in having such lawmakers.

The move was a manifesto commitment of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party ahead of its landslide general election win in July. It resurrects reform of the Lords that started under Tony Blair's Labour government in the late 1990s. "This is a landmark reform to the constitution," constitution minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said in a statement.