Parliament Act 1911

The statute that ended the House of Lords' veto over most legislation and confirmed Commons supremacy

Overview

When the Lords rejected David Lloyd George's People's Budget in 1909, breaking a long convention against interfering with finance, the Liberal government fought two general elections in 1910 and secured King George V's promise to create new peers if necessary. The resulting act removed the Lords' power to block money bills, allowing only a one month delay, and replaced its veto over other public bills with a power to delay them for about two years. It also cut the maximum life of a Parliament from seven years to five. The Parliament Act 1949 shortened the delay further, and the procedure has been used to pass measures such as the Hunting Act 2004.