Summary and Background
3.This Act was brought forward as a Private Member’s Bill, which was introduced into the House of Commons by Dan Byles MP on 19th June 2013, through the ballot procedure. It contains three substantive provisions about the circumstances in which people cease to be members of the House of Lords.
4.Similar provisions to those in the Act were contained in Private Members’ Bills introduced into the House of Lords in the 2008/09 and 2010/12 Sessions by Lord Steel and in the House of Lords Reform Bill introduced by Baroness Hayman in the 2013/14 Session. The 2010/12 Bill, as passed by the House of Lords, is substantially the same as this Act. The 2013/14 Bill was not proceeded with. Provisions on resignation and on disqualification for a serious offence were also included in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill in 2010, but were subsequently withdrawn, and in the House of Lords Reform Bill in 2012, which was withdrawn after being given a second reading in the House of Commons.