Archer to keep title after Lords reform dropped
Lord Archer will keep his title, despite having spent time in jail, after the government dropped plans for reform of the House of Lords.
Proposals to strip peers convicted of serious offences of their titles had formed part of the House of Lords Reform Bill.
However, the Bill, which the government had hoped to push through Parliament this session, was dropped earlier this month after the Lord Chancellor decided it would falter under opposition from peers.
The Lords Reform Bill would have also removed the last 92 hereditary peers.
Announcing the move last September, Lord Falconer said: “Parliament is a privilege, not a possession. We therefore propose that in the future, such peers will forfeit their membership of the House exactly as they would if they were MPs. In addition, they will be deprived of their peerage.”
The constitutional affairs department has confirmed Lord Archer will keep his title, at least for the time being. Any future bill on the House of Lords is expected to contain provision to strip jailed peers of their titles.
The House of Lords Reform Bill was included in last year’s Queen’s Speech.
Lord Archer served two years of a four-year prison term for perjury and would have been the first peer to have been affected by the new legislation.
The disgraced politician and writer has not yet commented on the decision.
