Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

A carpet of bluebells in vivid purple covers a sunlit meadow in the foreground, framed by two trees in fresh spring leaf. Beyond a post-and-wire fence, gorse blazes yellow across the hillside. In the background, the distinctive conical rocky summit of Roseberry Topping rises sharply against a clear blue sky, with a small stone building visible near its base.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The Last of the Lords

Roseberry Topping, North Yorkshire, 29 April 2026 — a perfect English spring morning. Out there, bluebells. In Westminster, history.

Today, the current Parliament ended.1Hansard Society. “What’s Coming Up in Parliament This Week? 27–30 April 2026.” Hansard Society, 27 Apr. 2026, https:www.hansardsociety.org.uk/news/parliament-matters-bulletin-27-april-2026. And with that, seven centuries of hereditary peers sitting in the House of Lords came to a quiet end.2NPR. “No Nobles Day: Britain’s Parliament Boots Its Last Hereditary Lords After 700 Years.” NPR, 11 Mar. 2026,https://www.npr.org/2026/03/11/g-s1-113300/britain-parliament-hereditary-house-of-lords-aristocrats-duke-earl-viscount.

No fanfare. No farewell parade. Just the music stopping.

The story begins in 1999, when Tony Blair evicted most of the 750 hereditary peers, though 92 were allowed to remain — temporarily — to avoid an aristocrats’ rebellion.3Ibid. That temporary arrangement lasted 27 years.

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 finally finished the job.4House of Lords Library. “House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026: How Was It Amended as It Went Through Parliament?” House of Lords Library, Apr. 2026, https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/house-of-lords-hereditary-peers-act-2026-how-was-it-amended-as-it-went-through-parliament. The remaining hereditary peers lose their seats the moment Parliament is prorogued — actually expected sometime between today and 6 May, ahead of the King’s Speech on 13 May.5Wikipedia contributors. “House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026.” Wikipedia, 25 Apr. 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Lords_(Hereditary_Peers)_Act_2026.

Supporters called it overdue. Critics called it expulsion from a sitting Parliament without precedent.6House of Lords Library. “House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026: How Was It Amended as It Went Through Parliament?” House of Lords Library, Apr. 2026, https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/house-of-lords-hereditary-peers-act-2026-how-was-it-amended-as-it-went-through-parliament. Both are probably right.

Here is the part worth remembering.

The hereditary peers are gone. But the House of Lords is not suddenly a chamber of saints.

Life peers — appointed under the Life Peerages Act 1958 — remain entirely at the gift of the Prime Minister of the day.7Life Peerages Act 1958. https://legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/6-7/21. The House of Lords Appointments Commission can raise concerns. It cannot block appointments.⁸ It is, at best, a speed bump.

Baroness Mone — appointed by Boris Johnson and the subject of considerable evidence of impropriety — still sits.8Numerous reports, for example: The Guardian. 18 Dec 2025. “PPE company linked to ex-Tory peer Michelle Mone goes into liquidation.” https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/dec/18/ppe-medpro-company-liquidation-tory-michelle-mone

Seven centuries of inherited privilege, cleared out. One phone call from an unscrupulous Prime Minister, and a replacement walks straight in.

Meet the new Lords. One step removed from the old Lords.

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