The administration unveiled plans to remove the last of the hereditary peers from the House of Lords, reorganizing Parliament in a way not seen in 25 years.

One of Labour's election pledges was to remove the 92 seats set aside for hereditary peers, who get their titles through family.

The goal is to complete the reforms put in place by the previous Labour government, which eliminated all 700-year-old hereditary lords' ability to serve in the Lords in 1999, leaving only 92 as a concession to the Conservatives.

Tory Lord Strathclyde, one of the 92 and a former leader of the Lords, denounced the action as a "high-handed, shoddy political act".

Speaking in the Lords chamber, he argued it should be peers who rarely took part in debates who were removed, not hereditary ones, many of whom he said were very active participants and "some of our most senior and experienced" members.

Lords leader Baroness Smith noted that the measure had featured in Labour's manifesto and in the King’s Speech, which outlined the government's programme of laws.

She said there was nothing in the legislation to stop hereditary peers who were removed being nominated for life peerages in future.

She also observed that none of the remaining hereditary peers were women.

Labour has also promised to introduce a retirement age of 80 for members of the Lords, but says that move will follow later after consultation.

Another Conservative former cabinet minister, Lord Forsyth, described the removal of hereditary peers as a “naked attempt to disable opposition in this House”, because - given the size of Labour's majority in the Commons - it was the only part of Parliament that would properly scrutinise legislation.

Earlier, constitution minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said the measure to remove hereditary peers from Parliament was a "landmark reform to our constitution".

"The hereditary principle in law-making has lasted for too long and is out of step with modern Britain.

"The second chamber plays a vital role in our constitution and people should not be voting on our laws in Parliament by an accident of birth.

"This bill shows this government's commitment to delivering on our manifesto and is an important part of putting politics in the service of working people," he added.

Sir Keir Starmer is in favour of abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with an elected Assembly of the Nations and Regions, but that will not happen before the next election.

Labour’s election manifesto called House of Lords reform "long overdue" and "essential" as the chamber is too large and many peers fail to serve democracy.

Several attempts have been made to change the upper chamber over the years, but reforming the House of Lords is notoriously difficult as peers themselves must approve any changes.

Sir Tony Blair's Labour government reached a deal with the Tories to massively reduce the number of hereditary peers from around 800 to the current 92.

During the coalition government, an attempt by the Liberal Democrats to replace the House of Lords with an elected chamber collapsed after talks with Conservative rebels failed.

About half of hereditary peers still in the chamber are Conservatives, with the rest mainly independent crossbenchers, and a small number of Labour and Liberal Democrat peers.

On the Conservative benches is Lord Attlee - grandson of Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee.

Viscount Stansgate, whose father Tony Benn renounced his peerage to sit in the Commons, is one of four Labour hereditary peers.

The Duke of Wellington, whose great-great-great-grandfather defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, and Lord Ravensdale, the great-grandson of Oswald Mosley who founded the British Union of Fascists in 1932, both sit as crossbench peers.

Due to their ceremonial roles during state occasions, the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain were supposed to remain seated; nonetheless, the plans also call for their removal.

For each sitting day they attend, the majority of Lords are entitled to a daily stipend of £342, however they are free to refuse it.

Instead, certain people get paid, such as the Lord Speaker, who gets £106,363.

Ministerial salary, external, for government ministers in the Lords is payable; however, the actual amount claimed is marginally less than the range of £66,884 to £106,363.