Closed petition Allow parliamentary time for a Bill for democratic reform of the House of Lords

Closed on 11 April 2019

Between 2001 and 2015 successive parliaments failed to agree on Bills to complete the work of the 1999 House of Lords Act by creating a democratic elected Second Chamber. In the last parliament a House of Lords Reform Bill passed its Second Reading in the Lords but was given no further time.

An elected Second Chamber was first discussed in the 1911 Parliament Act, and again in the 1999 House of Lords Act. In 2015 all the major parties promised Lords reform in their election manifestos, but only a Private Members Bill was brought forward. That Bill was a compromise proposal aimed at finding the consensus which had eluded the attempts of the previous Coalition and Labour Governments. That consensus can only be found if sufficient time is allowed for debate.