Labour was accused of a ‘power grab’ yesterday as its bid to banish hereditary peers was backed by MPs.

It wants to end the right of hereditary peers to sit in the Lords, believing places should not be ‘reserved for those born into certain families’.

But Tory shadow deputy prime minister Sir Oliver Dowden said the Government was motivated by ‘optics’ and making ‘change for change’s sake’.

During the second reading of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, he said the legislation was not driven by ‘considered and enlightened principle’.

‘Labour want to remove the independent and experienced voices of excepted peers so that they can parachute in a wave of new Labour cronies,’ he added.

‘Change in the name of executive power grab, not change to serve the British people.’

He has tabled an amendment to the Bill which argues it could hinder proper scrutiny of measures and change the relationship between the Lords and Commons.

Sir Oliver said: ‘The checks and balances of the Lords, its tried and tested conventions, work.

‘The Lords does not claim to be a democratic chamber, and that is the key point, this elected House has primacy.

‘Now, of course, the British Constitution does and should continue to evolve, but we should only fix what is broken and be cautious about rushing into change.

‘Our evolution should start with questions of efficacy, not optics.’ But Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said it was a ‘matter of principle’ for Labour.

He said a person’s ancestry should not determine whether they have a place in the Lords, and change is ‘long overdue’.

‘It isn’t personal, it isn’t a comment on the contribution or service of any individual hereditary peer past or present, we are grateful to all peers who commit their time to valuable public service.

‘What we do not accept is that in this era, as a matter of principle, anyone should have a position in either House on the basis of their ancestry.’

Sir Keir Starmer has previously pledged to replace the Lords with an elected second chamber.

However Labour’s election manifesto only promised to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the Upper Chamber, and to impose a retirement age of 80 on members of the Lords.

At present, 88 hereditary peers are eligible to sit in the Lords. Just over half are Conservatives, while only four are Labour. They sit alongside 692 life peers, and 26 bishops and archbishops.

Sir Gavin Williamson will table an amendment to the bill to block hereditary peers that would see bishops removed from the Lords. He will point out that Iran has the only other parliament in the world that reserves space for clergy.

The Tory MP – who is expecting cross-party support for the change – said it was wrong that he as an Anglian had greater representation than his Catholic children.

He will urge Labour to meet its manifesto commitment to bring about significant reform to the House of Lords.

If Sir Gavin’s amendment is selected, Labour MPs will have to vote it down in favour of retaining the bishops, which will be uncomfortable for many who want to keep their party’s manifesto pledge.

… meanwhile PM’s party is packed out with ‘nepo babies’ 

Labour’s opposition to hereditary peers appears to conflict with its fondness for promoting MPs and Lords with a strong political lineage. No fewer than eight Labour frontbenchers are related to senior political figures from the past, sparking accusations that the party is crowning ‘red princes’.

Yesterday Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said it was ‘indefensible’ that ‘there are seats in our legislature allocated by an accident of birth’. But some political dynasties have spanned generations in the Labour Party.

Last night Sir Oliver Dowden, the Shadow Deputy Prime Minister, told the Commons: ‘The elevation of the Nepo babies of north London, the coronation of the red princes… the Falconers, the Kinnocks, the Benns, the Eagles, the Reeves, many of them distinguished members, but under Labour’s closed shop it’s hereditary peers out, hereditary MPs in.’

This includes newly appointed ministers (and new MPs) Georgia Gould, daughter of Labour grandee Lord Gould and Baroness Rebuck, and Hamish Falconer – the son of Lord Falconer, Tony Blair’s Justice Secretary.

Parliamentary Private Secretary Liam Conlon is the son of recently deposed Chief of Staff Sue Gray. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn’s father is veteran socialist MP Tony Benn. 

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is the grandaughter of Liberal MP Lord Byers, and Health Minister Stephen Kinnock’s father is former Labour leader Lord Kinnock.