Peers reject reforms to Lord Chancellor role
The House of Lords has set up another constitutional clash with the Government by voting down plans to reform the post of Lord Chancellor.
Peers voted by 209 to 195 to insist that the Lord Chancellor should always be a senior lawyer.
Later, they voted by 215 to 199 to insist that he should be a member of the House of Lords.
The Government is seeking to reform the position of Lord Chancellor as part of its Constitutional Reform Bill, which would also establish a Supreme Court.
It wants to separate the current roles of the Lord Chancellor as a Government minister, Speaker in the Lords, and a senior judicial figure.
But peers argued that it was vital that the Lord Chancellor remained independent from the executive and had legal training.
The Government though believes the current qualifications reduce the pool of eligible candidates and is set to ask its MPs to amend the bill in the Commons. It has already backed down on plans to abolish the office of the Lord Chancellor entirely.
The Commons and the Lords must come to agreement before the general election if the bill is not to be lost.
