The House of Lords Act 1999 (1999 c. 34) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. It was a major constitutional enactment that greatly reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats; the Act removed such a right. However, as part of a compromise, the Act did permit ninety-two ...
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The House of Lords Act 1999 (1999 c. 34) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. It was a major constitutional enactment that greatly reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats; the Act removed such a right. However, as part of a compromise, the Act did permit ninety-two hereditaries to remain in the House on an interim basis. The Act decreased the membership of the House from 1,330 (October 1999) to 669 (March 2000). As another result of the Act, the majority of the Lords were now life peers, whose numbers had been gradually increasing since the Life Peerages Act 1958.
The Lords was once the stronger of the two houses of Parliament. A process of gradual evolution combined with such moments of crisis as the English Civil Wars transferred the political control of England, first from the Crown to the House of...
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