Member

However, I believe that that, too, is based on a mistaken assumption. There have been many attempts to end these by-elections; they have always faltered because they were not accompanied by the other half of the Minister’s noble and learned friend’s guarantee. The first attempt was made by Lord Wetherill in 2003 through a Private Member’s Bill that sought to end the by-elections and drive progress on further reform, but that did not go beyond First Reading. Other attempts have been made through private Bills brought by Lord Avebury and Lord Steel of Aikwood, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Hayman and Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, among others. Each of those has demonstrated the difficulty and perhaps even the undesirability of trying to deliver constitutional change through Private Members’ Bills. An attempt to end the by-elections and deliver stage 2 reforms was made in a Government Bill brought by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition in 2012, but that did not secure cross-party support, particularly in another place, and foundered.