Private members’ bills in the House of Lords

Approximate read time: 20 minutes

1. Key points

• On average, 47 private members’ bills are introduced in the Lords per session. However, only a very small minority of these become law. Over the last 10 sessions, only four private members’ bills starting in the House of Lords became acts.
• Private members’ bills face several procedural hurdles including limited parliamentary time, the need to complete all stages in both Houses, and the requirement to finish before the end of a session. Government support can substantially improve a bill’s chances of success.
• Private members’ bills can cover any subject, but successful bills are typically short, focused, and aimed at addressing gaps or anomalies in existing legislation.
• Members of the Lords introduce private members’ bills for a variety of purposes other than passing legislation. They can be used to influence government policy, raise awareness of an issue, secure repeated parliamentary debate, engage public attention, or promote reforms that may later be adopted by the government.

2. What issues do private members’ bills cover?

There is no limit to the scope or subject matter of private members’ bills introduced in either the House of Lords or the House of Commons. Private members’ bills are introduced on a broad range of topics. Nicolas Besly and Tom Goldsmith, the authors of the book ‘How Parliament Works’, note the subjects covered by successful private members’ bills are therefore difficult to categorise given their wide variety.^[1] However, they identify two broad groups. The first includes bills that seek to address social issues. During the 20th century, private members’ bills were used to make significant social changes. For example, in the 1960s, private members’ bills were passed to abolish the death penalty, to legalise abortion, to enact a partial legalisation of homosexuality and to end theatre censorship.^[2]

The second group included bills intended to tidy up anomalies or gaps identified in the statute book. Recent private members’ bills introduced in the House of Lords that received royal assent all match the description of legislation seeking to address what their proposers saw as gaps in existing legislation. For example, the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023, introduced by Lord Hayward (Conservative) during the 2022–23 session, created a new offence of ‘family voting’, where more than one voter is present in a polling booth at the same time thereby violating the principle of voter secrecy.^[3] The Children Act 1989 (Amendment) (Female Genital Mutilation) Act 2019, introduced by Lord Berkeley of Knighton (Crossbench) during the 2017–19 session, sought to close a gap in the law in relation to proceedings for female genital mutilation protection orders to improve the ability of the courts to protect children at risk of female genital mutilation.^[4]

3. What are the common characteristics of a typical private member’s bill?

3.1 Short and simple

The House of Lords Constitution Committee has described it as common for private members’ bills introduced in either House to be “short and not […] contain detailed schedules”.^[5] This is partly a practical consideration given the many hurdles which a private member’s bill must overcome before it can become an act, as described in section 7 of this briefing. The average length of private members’ bills introduced in the Lords since the 1999–2000 session achieving royal assent was four pages.^[6]

3.2 Uncontroversial

Professor Meg Russell, in her 2013 study ‘The Contemporary House of Lords’, characterised most private members’ bills introduced in the House of Lords as being similar to their House of Commons counterparts in that they are on “small and non-controversial” areas of law.^[7]

While private members’ bills tend to be uncontroversial, this is not exclusively the case. For example, in the last few decades there have been attempts to introduce assisted dying for the terminally ill through various private members’ bills. Professor Russell cited Lord Joffe’s (Labour) bills on assisted dying introduced in the 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06 sessions as contemporary examples of private members’ bills that have raised a controversial issue. A bill on this issue, entitled the Assisted Dying Bill [HL], was also sponsored during the 2015–16 and 2019–21 sessions by Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour), during the 2016–17 session by Lord Hayward (Conservative), and during the 2021–22 session by Baroness Meacher (Crossbench). None of these bills progressed beyond the House of Lords stages.

During the 2024–26 session, Lord Falconer introduced the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill [HL]. Lord Falconer said he would not proceed with this bill following the confirmation that a date had been set for second reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the House of Commons, a private member’s bill introduced by Kim Leadbeater (Labour MP for Spen Valley). The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill completed it stages in the House of Commons on 20 June 2025 and was introduced in the House of Lords on 23 June 2025.^[8] It was then sponsored in the Lords by Lord Falconer. The bill did not complete all its stages in the House of Lords and fell at the end of the session.^[9]

4. How many private members’ bills are introduced each session?

Over the last 10 full sessions, an average of 47 private members’ bills were introduced in the House of Lords per session.^[10]

The right of members of the House of Lords who are not in government to introduce legislation is similar to their counterparts in the House of Commons.^[11] However, the average number introduced in the House of Commons each session is higher. Over the last 10 sessions an average of 180 private members’ bills were introduced in the Commons per session. In the House of Commons, private members’ bills include balloted bills, ten-minute rule bills and presentation bills. As discussed in section 7, while the number of private members’ bills introduced per session tends to be higher in the House of Commons, the proportion of those bills that are debated is higher in the Lords.

5. How many private members’ bills become acts?

Only a minority of private members’ bills from either House receive royal assent to become acts. Of these, the majority that received royal assent originated in the House of Commons. For example, during the last 10 sessions, only four private members’ bills starting in the House of Lords completed all of their stages and became acts. During the same period, 97 private members’ bills starting in the House of Commons became acts.

Table 1 provides the total number of private members’ bills introduced in each House per session during the last 11 sessions and the number that became acts. This includes the short 2019 session.

Table 1. Private members’ bills per session, 2013–14 to 2023–24

(House of Lords, ‘Public bill statistics’, accessed 10 October 2025; and House of Commons, ‘Sessional returns’, accessed 10 October 2025)

6. Which Lords private members’ bills have become acts?

Table 2 lists those private members’ bills introduced in the House of Lords since the 1999–2000 session that have received royal assent.

Table 2. Private members’ bills starting in the Lords receiving royal assent since the 1999–2000 session

7. What hurdles does a Lords private member’s bill need to overcome to become law?

The most significant hurdle for any private member’s bill is the limited parliamentary time available to consider such bills. More time is allocated to government business in both the Commons and the Lords. In the Lords, over the past 10 sessions before the 2026–27 session, on average 4% of time in the main chamber is spent on private members’ bills compared to 42% on government legislation.^[12]

Opportunities to debate private members’ bills are therefore limited in practice and, unlike government bills, private members’ bills originating in either House cannot be carried over from one session into another.^[13] Consequently, any private members’ bills that fail to complete all their stages in both Houses before the end of a session must start the legislative process again in any subsequent session.

There are differences in each House’s procedural rules for private members’ bills. In the House of Commons, a set number of sitting Fridays each session is allocated for scrutiny of private members’ bills and, on those Fridays when such time is reserved, business cannot proceed beyond a certain time.^[14] In addition, there are different types of private members’ bill in the Commons, which are subject to different procedures. Balloted bills are more likely to become acts than ten- minute rule bills and presentation bills. They are given priority when time is allocated for debating private members’ bills in the Commons.^[15] Balloted bills are, however, limited in number, restricted to one for each of the 20 MPs drawn from the ballot at the start of the session. Private members’ bill in the Commons face other procedural hurdles, including MPs attempting to bring second reading debates to a close before the end of their allotted time by an MP moving “that the question be now put”, known as ‘moving for closure’.^[16]

In the House of Lords, there is, by comparison, greater opportunity for a private members’ bill to at least be debated. For example, there are no specific times allocated for debates on private members’ bills, although private members’ bills tend to be debated on sitting Fridays.^[17] There is also no limit on the number of Friday sittings that can be used for debating private members’ bills and no set time at which the House of Lords must adjourn during Friday sittings ^[18] Over the last 10 sessions up to the 2024–26 session, the House of Lords sat on an average of 13 Fridays each session.^[19] While this is the same as the number of sitting days set in the House Commons, there is greater variation, with the number of sitting Fridays ranging from nine in the 2012–13 session to 23 in the 2017–19 session. Members will often consider three or four private members’ bills during a Friday sitting. The initial order in which these private members’ bills are introduced at the start of each session is determined by ballot.^[20] Twenty-five bills are drawn from the ballot at the start of each session. However, private members’ bills may be introduced at any time during a session.^[21]

Exceptionally, during the 2024–26 session there were more sitting Fridays than the average for previous sessions. The Lords sat on 40 Fridays during that session out of a total of 304 sitting days. Additional sitting Fridays were allocated during this session for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. For example, in November 2025, eight additional sittings were allocated for the bill’s committee stage.^[22] The government said this was necessary because of the large number of amendments tabled in the House of Lords which had yet to be debated.

Analysis shows that a larger proportion of the private member’s bills introduced in the House of Lords each session are debated compared to those introduced in the House of Commons. In the 10 sessions prior to the 2026–27 session, 26% of private member’s bills first introduced in the House of Lords were debated at second reading, compared to 16% of private member’s bills first introduced in the House of Commons.^[23]

However, while there may seem to be more favourable conditions for Lords private members’ bills, this does not mean a Lords private member’s bill is more likely to reach royal assent. The tabling and debating of amendments can affect a bill’s ability to progress, especially if those amendments are opposed by the sponsor of the bill. The number of amendments tabled also matters, as each tabled amendment can be debated in the Lords. Of the 12 private members’ bills introduced in the House of Lords that received royal assent since the 1999–2000 session, three passed without any amendments being tabled. A further six did have amendments tabled, but these were accepted by the sponsor. There were only three bills to which amendments were tabled and not accepted: the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill [HL], introduced during the 2006–07 session, and the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill [HL] and the National Heritage Bill [HL], both introduced during the 2001–02 session.^[24]

Most notably, the chances of a private member’s bill progressing are improved if the bill receives the government’s support. The Cabinet Office’s guidance to ministers and civil servants on legislation states the government should agree a handling position on private members’ bills before second reading of that bill.^[25] However, although the bill may receive government support, only a minority ever receive government time, which given the time constraints on private members’ bills would increase its chances of reaching the statute book.^[26]

Finally, if a private member’s bill completes all its stages in the House of Lords, it must then be considered in the House of Commons. Here it will face similar time constraints as private members’ bills starting in the Commons, but will also be affected by:

• The need for a sponsor: Bills must be sponsored by an MP to be able to proceed in the Commons.
• Being a lower priority: Priority is given to balloted private member’s bills introduced in the Commons on the first seven sitting Fridays each session.^[27]

8. Do the Parliament Acts apply to private members’ bills?

The Parliament Acts can be used to pass a public bill which originates in the House of Commons, has been rejected in the House of Lords and meets the other requirements set out in those acts. A private member’s bill could be eligible for the procedure for passing bills under the acts if it met these requirements. However, to date the Parliament Acts have only been used to pass government bills. During the passage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the 2024–26 session, it was suggested that the Parliament Acts could be used to pass the bill if it was rejected in the House of Lords. The bill fell at the end of the 2024–26 session. At the start of the 2026–27 session, Lauren Edwards (Labour MP for Rochester and Strood) introduced the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill which she said was the same bill as that introduced in the previous session. It is for the House of Commons Speaker to determine whether the requirements of the Parliament Acts have been met, including whether a bill is identical to one introduced in the previous session. At the time of writing, the bill has yet to be debated in the Commons.((Further information on private members’ bills and the Parliament Acts is provided in the House of Lords Library briefing ‘Private members’ bills and the Parliament Acts’ (2 February 2026).))

9. Why do members introduce private members’ bills?

Although only a minority of private members’ bills starting in the House of Lords become law, a member of the House of Lords might still wish to table a private member’s bill for reasons beyond seeking a change in the law. In its 2011 report on private members’ bills in the House of Commons, ‘Enhancing the role of backbench MPs: Proposals for reform of private members’ bills’, the Hansard Society identified a number of aims an MP might seek to achieve by tabling a private member’s bill, some of which also might apply to those starting in the House of Lords. One was for private members’ bills being used to ‘prod’ the government into changing a policy.^[28] The Hansard Society suggested this might lead to a minister agreeing to bring forward their own legislation to avoid the passage of an unwanted private member’s bill, or to increase awareness of a particular issue, encouraging the government to introduce its own legislation in the future. Professor Meg Russell, Daniel Gover and Kristina Wollter of University College London, in their study of the influence of Parliament on the executive, identified this process as one of a number of ways in which Parliament influences policy before the formal legislative process begins.^[29]

David Natzler and Douglas Millar, in their chapter for the 1993 publication ‘The House of Lords at Work’, identified a number of advantages for a member in tabling a private member’s bill as a tool for furthering debate on an issue.^[30] They argued that the successive stages of a bill in the Lords allow for a subject to be debated numerous times each session and require the government to respond in detail to a specific set of proposals. This also allows for the possibility of a vote on a substantive issue. Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative) has also commented that private members’ bills can often be a means of airing issues that are likely to engage the public, claiming that “members of the public are sometimes more engaged with issues raised in private members’ bills than they are with the normal run of government legislation”.^[31]

Finally, a private member’s bill can be used to introduce legislation proposed and supported by the government, yet which has not been introduced as part of the government’s own legislative agenda.^[32] Such private members’ bills are often described as ‘handout bills’ and are drafted by the government or with the government’s aid. However, the Cabinet Office’s guidance to ministers and civil servants on legislation encourages handout bills to be given to MPs in the first instance, noting that a bill starting in the House of Lords is less likely to become an act.^[33]

10. Read more

• House of Lords Library, ‘Private members’ bills with government support lost at dissolution 2024: How close was Parliament to changing the law on licensing hours, puppy smuggling, virtual court hearings and more?’, 27 August 2024

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Image © House of Lords 2024 / photography by Roger Harris.

This briefing was updated on 10 September 2026. It was originally published on 13 October 2025.