Constitutional Reform

Why was reform needed? 

One of the main factors for Parliamentary reform was that Labour was afraid its legislative programme might be obstructed by the 2nd chamber which was mainly Conservative; Labour had a massive majority which meant it would have been easy push the reforms through Parliament. As well as this, it was unacceptable in 1997 for a Liberal Democracy to have a part of the legislature be unelected. 

What reforms occured? 

The number of hereditary peers was reduced from several hundred to nighty two by the House of Lords Act 1999 and this removed the Conservative majoirty in the House of Lords. Other reforms to Parliament have remained unfinished as shown by the histroic vote in March 2007 in which the House of Commons voted for a full elected House of Lords by a majoirty of 113. 

Effects of the Reform: 

- Reduced number of hereditary peers to 92  - Enhanced democratic legitmacy.