LABOUR will achieve parity with the Tories on the number of peers it has in the House of Lords for the first time today.
The introduction of Derek Foster, a former Labour Chief Whip, and Alan Howarth, the former Arts Minister who defected from the Conservatives ten years ago, will leave both parties with 208 peers.
But the landmark is unlikely to prompt celebration among ministers who regard the House of Lords with, in the words of one aide yesterday, “a mixture of anger and fear”.
Not only has the Government suffered more defeats at the hands of peers than any of its predecessors, it is also divided on the issue of Lords reform.
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Indeed, the Tories will briefly regain their lead over Labour on July 6 when Sir Brian Mawhinney and Virginia Bottomley, two former Cabinet ministers, are added to their ranks. The balance between the two parties will ebb and flow until July 13 when Clive Soley and Lynda Clark, former Labour MPs, are introduced, taking Labour to 209 peers — one more than the Conservatives. By July 20 Labour will have 214 peers, six more than the Tories.
But Lord Rooker, the Deputy Leader of the Lords, said last night that even with these reinforcements Labour peers would still comprise only 30 per cent of the total, leaving the Government about 150 peers short of an overall majority.
“People should not make too big a thing of achieving parity because it creates an illusion we’re now ruling the roost,” he said. “But everyone forgets the 180 crossbenchers who, if they bother to vote, do so against us by a margin of four to one.”
Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the Lord Chancellor, has also said that the new peerages will not change the “basic arithmetic” of the House where, “if the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives unite against a particular proposal, they can defeat it”. In the last Parliament, the Government lost 245 votes in the House of Lords, thought to be the most to date.
In this Parliament, opposition parties have indicated that they will no longer abide by the Salisbury convention that they do not block Bills that were in the Government’s manifesto.
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Lord Falconer has promised that legislation to be introduced in the next session will curtail the power of peers to delay or reject government Bills, as well as abolish the remaining 92 hereditary members, only four of whom are Labour.
A joint committee of both Houses will be set up soon to draw up proposals on revising the powers and functions of peers. However, the question of the composition of the House of Lords threatens to cause rows within Labour. Tony Blair has promised that MPs will get another free vote on the issue.
But there are signs that senior ministers are plotting to scupper any attempt to revive the proposal. They are expected to encourage the maximum number of amendments so that options include having only elected peers, a fully appointed second chamber, various combinations of the two, as well as “indirectly elected” members appointed in line with votes cast for parties at the previous general election.