Sir Oliver Dowden

Sir Oliver Dowden

Conservative — Hertsmere

Speaking in the House of Commons on 15 October 2024

Debate

House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

Contribution

I will make some progress and then I will give way. In 1999, Baroness Jay, the then Leader of the House of Lords, said that a partly reformed Lords with only excepted hereditaries remaining would be “more legitimate, because its members have earned their places” and would have more authority. That was termed the Jay doctrine at the time. If the excepted peers go, what other conventions are at risk of change—the Salisbury convention, or the restraint against vetoing secondary legislation? The lack of consultation and scrutiny, and the Government’s piecemeal approach to reform, has meant such questions have the potential to be reopened.

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