# The House of Lords 1911-2011. A Century of Non-Reform - Portail Universitaire du droit

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> Description : the house of lords 1911-2011. a century of non-reform, chris ballinger the house of lords 1911-2011 a century of non-reform oxford, hart publishing ( hart studies ...

## Parution

- **ISBN** : 978-1-849-46289-1
- **Éditeur** : Hart

## Résumé

Chris BallingerThe House of Lords 1911-2011A Century of Non-ReformOxford, Hart Publishing (Hart Studies in Constitutionnal Law n°1), oct. 2012, 264 p., ISBN:9781849462891, £30.Présentation éditeurHouse of Lords reform is often characterised as unfinished business: a riddle that has been left unanswered since 1911. But rarely can an unanswered riddle have had so many answers offered, even though few have been accepted; indeed, when Viscount Cave was invited in the mid-1920s to lead a Cabinet committee on Lords reform, he complained of finding 'the ground covered by an embarrassing mass of proposals'.That embarrassing mass increased throughout the twentieth century. Much ink has been spilled on what should be done with the upper House of Parliament; much less ink has been expended on why reform has been so difficult to achieve.This book analyses in detail the principal attempts to reform the House of Lords. Starting with the Parliament Act of 1911 the book examines the century of non-reform that followed, drawing upon substantial archival sources, many of which have been under-utilised until now. These sources challenge many of the existing understandings of the history of House of Lords reform and the reasons for success or failure of reform attempts. The book begins by arguing against the popular idea that the 1911 Act was intended by its supporters to be a temporary measure.'No one – peers included – should be allowed to pronounce about the future of the House of Lords without reading Chris Ballinger's authoritative, shrewd and readable account about reform attempts over the past century. He punctures several widely-held myths and claims in the current debate.'Rt Hon Peter Riddell CBEDirector, Institute for Government and former Hansard Society chairSommaireAcknowledgements vii Tables xiiiIntroduction: Reform and Non-reform 1 Reform and Non-reform 1A Century of Non-reform 3The Evolution of the House of Lords 4Twelve Instances of Reform and Non-reform 11 1  Veto Limitation over Reform: The Parliament Act 1911 15 The Political Situation, 1906–07 15Cabinet Discussions on Lords Reform, 1907 16Budget Rejection, 1909 20Between the 1910 Elections 23The Parliament Bill 1911 28Reform following Veto Limitation? 1911–14 30Conclusion 31 2  ‘The Battle is Over’: House of Lords Reform, 1917–45 35 The Bryce Conference, 1917–18 35Cabinet Committees, 1921–22 39The Cabinet Committee, 1925–27 43Lords reform in the 1920s 46Avoiding Reform, 1928–45 46 3  A Pre-emptive Strike: The Parliament Act 1949 51 Labour and the House of Lords 52Moves Towards reform, 1943–47 54Nationalisation and House of Lords Reform 56The Parliament Bill 1947 59The Party Leaders’ Conference 1948 64The Parliament Bill Resumed 69The Iron and Steel Bill 71Conclusion 73 4  Diluting the Hereditary Principle?: The Life Peerages Act 1958 75 Life Peers 77Inter-Party Discussions 77Discussions, 1953–55 81Limiting the Hereditaries: Proposals 83Wider Reform: The Cabinet Committee, 1955–56 85Short and Long Bills 87The Life Peerages Bill 93Limiting the Hereditary Peers 94Conclusion 97 5  ‘The Wedgwood Benn Enabling Bill’: The Peerage Act 1963 101 A Hereditary Life Peerage 103Earlier Attempts at Renouncing Peerages 104The Persistent Commoner 106Fears over Loss of the Hereditary System 107Party Support for Benn 108The Committee of Privileges 109‘Re-election’ 110Seating the ‘Defeated’ Candidate 113The Joint Select Committee 114The Peerage Bill 118Conclusion 122 6  Adding to Wilson’s Strife: The Inter-Party Conference and the Parliament (No 2) Bill [1968–69] 127 Abandoning the Unilateral, Two-Stage Approach 131The Inter-Party Conference 133The Southern Rhodesia (United Nations Sanctions) Order 1968 137The White Paper and the Decision to Proceed with the Bill 140The Parliament (No 2) Bill 142Abandoning the Bill 150 1970 153Conclusion 153Epilogue: House of Lords Reform, 1970–74 154After 1974 158 7  Stage One of Two?: The House of Lords Act 1999 159 Turning the Tide of Constitutional Reform 160John Smith’s Leadership 162Tony Blair and House of Lords Reform 162Post-election 1997 163Priorities for the First Session 164The Cabinet Committee 166The Queen’s Speech 1998 169The Weatherill Amendment: Origins 169The House of Lords Bill 173By-elections for Hereditary Peers 174Conclusion 177 8  The Long Stage Two: The Wakeham Commission and Beyond 179 The Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords 179Follow-up to the Royals Commissions’s Report 1892001–05: Indecision, then a Surprising Move on Reform 190Lords Reform in Labour’s Third Term 2002010: General Election and Coalition Government 204Conclusion 209 9  Reasons for Reform and Non-reform 211 How and Why Does House of Lords Reform Reach the Cabinet’s Agenda? 214How Do Proposals Change When Under Consideration? 215How and Why Do Proposals Succeed or Fail? 216Conclusion 219 Further Reading 221Bibliography 225Index 241 Source: http://www.hartpub.co.uk/books/details.asp?isbn=9781849462891


## Métadonnées

- **Catégorie** : Parutions
- **Publié** : 2012-10-18

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