This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Seventy Tory MPs have signaled on Monday their intention to challenge the Government and vote against a vital motion on House of Lords reform that could split the Coalition.
They will cast vote late Tuesday on the House of Lords Reform Bill, which would create a smaller and mainly elected upper house. The draft legislation has given rise to divisions within the Conservative-led coalition.
Under the proposed reforms, 80 percent of the upper chamber would be elected, while its 800-strong membership would face a cut down to 450. The remaining 20 percent, or 90 peers, would include 12 Church of England bishops and 78 appointed peers. A commission would be devised to ensure peers were not appointed on party lines.
The plans are facing an angry rebellion from some of David Cameron’s Conservatives, with up to 100 lawmakers from the centre-right party expected to oppose the bill.
Around 70 Conservative MPs have backed a letter warning that the reforms threaten to “pile a constitutional crisis on top of an economic crisis”. They also want the bill to undergo “full and unrestricted” scrutiny, saying they need more time than the 10 days allocated by the government.
A spokesman for Cameron has stated he would stand firm on the changes: “No-one should be in any doubt about his position on Lords reform. He is committed to these reforms.”
Critics are doubtful that elected membership of the House of Lords, which scrutinises legislation before it passes, could undermine the supremacy of the House of Commons.
The law would complete the process of abolishing the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, which began under the previous Labour government in 1999, when their number was frozen at 92.
Ministers aiming to pass the Bill into law by May next year, but the opposition could significantly delay its passage through parliament.
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