March 10, 2026 - The British Parliament voted to end centuries of political tradition by removing hereditary aristocrats from its unelected House of Lords, ousting dozens of dukes, earls, and viscounts who inherited their seats along with their aristocratic titles. [article]
Ministers are looking at further reforms with a possible retirement age and minimum participation rates. For hundreds of years, hereditary peers had the right to make and debate laws in Parliament, a right they generally inherited from their fathers and passed on to their sons. [...] One of the departing hereditaries, the Earl of Devon, said the bill was regrettable. He said his family had been in the Lords for 900 years - and complained the notice period was less than required in employment law. "I think this House, Parliament, and the public more widely will miss us," the Earl of Devon said. He said hereditary peers should be "proud to sit here as embodiments of the hereditary principle dating back a millennium".
