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{{Short description|Proposed Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=
{{Infobox legislation
|short_title = House of Lords Reform Bill 2012-13
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{{Politics of the United Kingdom}}
The '''House of Lords Reform Bill 2012''' was a proposed [[Act of Parliament]] of the United Kingdom introduced to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in June 2012 by [[Nick Clegg]]. Among other reforms, the bill would have made the [[House of Lords]] a mostly elected body.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2012-13/houseoflordsreform/documents.html |title=Bill documents – House of Lords Reform Bill 2012–13 |publisher=House of Commons Information Office |accessdate=27 June 2012}}</ref> It was abandoned by the [[British Government]] in August 2012 and formally withdrawn on 3 September 2012,<ref>[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120903/debtext/120903-0001.htm#1209038000001 Hansard – House of Commons 3 September 2012] Parliament.uk</ref> following opposition from within the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]].
==Background==
In the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], the Conservatives and the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] mentioned an elected upper chamber in their manifestos. The Conservative Party manifesto stated:
{{
The Liberal Democrat manifesto said the party would:
{{
When the two parties formed the [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|Coalition Government]], their [[
{{
The Government published a draft bill for House of Lords reform on 17 May 2011.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/house-of-lords-reform-draft-bill.pdf | title=House of Lords Reform Draft Bill | publisher=Cabinet Office | date=17 May 2011 | accessdate=11 August 2012}}</ref>
A [[Joint committee (legislative)|Joint Committee]] was established on 23 June 2011 to examine the draft bill. It consisted of twenty-six members: thirteen peers and thirteen MPs.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/joint-select/draft-house-of-lords-reform-bill/membership/ | title=Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill – membership | publisher=UK Parliament | date=6 July 2011 | accessdate=11 August 2012 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528101556/http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/joint-select/draft-house-of-lords-reform-bill/membership/ | archivedate=28 May 2012
The final bill was published on 27 June 2012.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2012-13/houseoflordsreform.html | title=House of Lords Reform Bill 2012–13 | publisher=UK Parliament | accessdate=11 August 2012}}</ref>
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===Membership of the House of Lords===
Part I of the bill provided for the composition of the reformed
*120 elected members
*30 appointed members
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*up to eight ministerial members
*a number of transitional members equal to two-thirds the membership of the House on 27 June 2012.
Following the hypothetical 2020 election, the number of elected and appointed members would have increased to 240 and 60, respectively; the number of bishops would have fallen to 16; and the number of transitional members would be reduced to half (relative to before the election). At the hypothetical 2025 election, the House would have comprised 360 elected members, 90 appointed members, up to 12 bishops, and up to eight additional "ministerial members" appointed to serve as
====Elected members====
Each elected member would have served for three "electoral periods", which effectively would have been the same as a single 15-year term. Elections to the reformed House would have been called for the same day as the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|next
The voting system was set out in Part 2 and Schedule 3 of the bill. It provided for a [[Open list#More open list|semi-open list]] system, allowing voters to choose a party or an individual, in Scotland, Wales, and England (which would have been divided into regions as
In the case of a [[casual vacancy]], an interim replacement would have generally filled the seat until the next House of Lords election. In Northern Ireland, members who were in a party (at the time of their election) would have their replacement chosen by the party, while [[Independent politician|independents]] simply would have had their seat remain vacant. In the rest of the UK, the next person available to be selected on the party list would have become the interim replacement. If there was no one left on the list or the person did not belong to a registered party, the next person who would have been elected and still wants to join the House of Lords would have been the replacement member.
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====Transitional members====
Part 6 of the bill provided for some members of the pre-reform House of Lords to remain during the first two electoral periods, i.e., until 2019/25. The number of transitional members was computed with reference to the number of peers entitled to a [[Hereditary peer#Writs of summons|writ of summons]] at the beginning of 27 June 2012 (i.e. the members of the House of Lords excluding the Lords Spiritual). For the first electoral period (2015–17/20), the number of transitional members would have been equal to two-thirds of that total. The number for the second period would be one-third of the total. According to the House of Lords website, there were 790 peers with the right to a writ of summons,<ref>660 active [[life peer]]s, 89 active
===Other provisions===
The bill contained various other elements:
*In section 2, the bill explicitly provided that the [[Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949]] would continue to apply following reform.
*The [[Parliamentary Standards Act 2009]] would have been amended to bring the House of Lords under the authority of the [[Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority]], and renamed the [[Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority|Speaker's Committee for IPSA]] as the ''Speakers''' Committee for IPSA and made it a joint committee.
*The bill also provided for the expulsion and suspension of members of the House of Lords.
*Provision was made for the disclaiming of life peerages.
==Progress through Parliament==
The bill was introduced (given its [[Reading (legislature)|first reading]]) on 27 June 2012.<ref>[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120627/debtext/120627-0001.htm#12062759000008 Hansard 27 June 2012] Parliament.uk</ref> The Opposition [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] supported the bill at second reading debate whilst opposing the time allocation motion (known as the "programme motion" immediately thereafter).<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jul/10/lords-reform-labour-lib-dems Labour reform: Labour to reject any Lib Dem deals]. ''The Guardian'', 10 July 2012</ref> The Labour Party stated that they would only support the bill if it consisted of: a 100% elected upper chamber, the removal of the Lords Spiritual, clarification about the relationship between the Houses of Parliament, and for the bill to be subject to a referendum.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Labour plans to side with Tory rebels to disrupt coalition's Lords reform bill|url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/may/09/labour-lords-reform-bill-timetable|website = The Guardian|accessdate = 2015-10-21|first1 = Patrick|last1 = Wintour|first2 = Juliette|last2 = Jowit|date = 9 May 2012}}</ref> [[David Cameron]] was reported to support a referendum, but [[Nick Clegg]] rejected a referendum as unnecessary, arguing that House of Lords reform had been included in all three parties' manifestos.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jun/23/coalition-referendum-house-lords-reform|title=Coalition decides against referendum on House of Lords reform|last1=Batty|first1=David|date=2012-06-23|last2=Watt|first2=Nicholas|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-08-08}}</ref> Labour leader [[Ed Miliband]] countered: "I am sure for some people House of Lords reform was uppermost in their mind at the time of the election, but I don't think that applies to the majority. I don't think it was the decisive issue at the general election and therefore I think it is quite hard to argue against a referendum."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/apr/20/ed-miliband-referendum-lords-reform|title=Ed Miliband backs referendum on Lords reform|last=Wintour|first=Patrick|date=2012-04-20|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-08-08}}</ref>
On 9 July 2012 Clegg put forward the bill to a vote on the programme motion and the Second Reading. Clegg stated that the government's position was that the [[Parliament Act 1911]] would be invoked if the Bill was rejected by the [[House of Lords]]. The legality of this, however, was a matter of debate.<ref>[https://academic.oup.com/slr/article-abstract/24/3/237/1606303?redirectedFrom=PDF Is the Parliament Act 1949 valid?]</ref>
Before the bill was debated, Conservative MP [[Jacob Rees-Mogg]] raised a [[
Labour called for more scrutiny of the bill and said it would vote against the programme motion, along with several Conservative MPs. On 10 July 2012, it became clear that the Government was going to lose the vote on the programme motion and it was withdrawn. At the vote that evening on whether to give the bill a second reading, 91 Conservative MPs voted against the three line whip,<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coalition-shaken-as-cameron-ducks-out-of-vote-on-lords-7932344.html Coalition shaken as Cameron ducks out of vote on Lords] The Independent</ref> while 19 more abstained.<ref>{{cite news |last=Barrett |first=Matthew |date=11 July 2012 |title=80 Tory backbenchers voted for Lords reform last night. 110 did not. |work=ConservativeHome |url=http://conservativehome.blogs.com/parliament/2012/07/80-tory-backbenchers-voted-for-lords-reform-last-night-110-did-not-.html |url-status=dead
The Leader of the House of Commons, [[
On 3 August 2012, it was reported that the Prime Minister was to announce that the bill would be dropped after negotiations with Conservative rebels broke down.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/9447897/David-Cameron-retreats-on-House-of-Lords-reform.html | title=David Cameron retreats on House of Lords reform | work=The Daily Telegraph
==See also==
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==References==
{{reflist
[[Category:Proposed laws of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning the House of Lords]]
[[Category:Reform in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:2012 in British politics]]
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