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This Library Note provides background information on the disqualification of Peers from voting at elections to the House of Commons, in anticipation of the second reading of Lord Dubs’ Private Member’s Bill on this issue on 5 July. It sets out the current common law position on the disqualification and summarises some of the recent debates that have taken place on the subject. It concludes with further historical background, summarising debates in Parliament since the 1850s on this issue, which reflect, to an extent, wider reforms to Parliament and the franchise.


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