Phil Brickell

Phil Brickell

Labour — Bolton West

Speaking in the House of Commons on 4 September 2025

Debate

House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

Contribution

My hon. Friend makes a very good point; indeed, he talks of one of my all-time favourite comedies. It speaks to the need for drastic reform of the other place, which is long overdue. In a Tory by-election in the other place, another peer asserted that fellow Members should vote for him because he “races on the Solent and gardens enthusiastically”. The electorate for that vote were a grand total of 43. These are not truly democratic contests. They do not seek to promote those with the very best talent and expertise to serve this country. Such by-elections lack the fundamentals of what should be at the heart of this mother of Parliaments: transparency, accountability and scrutiny. Since 1999, there have been over 30 of these bizarre contests, all with vanishingly small electorates—a process that is, frankly, long overdue reform. They have all produced lawmakers by accident of birth, and that is the principle to which I and many Members on the Labour Benches object. That is why I will be voting against the Lords amendments today.

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