Parliament Act of 1906

Parliament Act of 1906
Short title	Parliament Act 1906
Long title	An Act to make provision with respect to the powers of the House of Lords in relation to those of the House of Commons, and to limit the duration of Parliament.
Statute book chapter	6 Edw. 7. c. 40
Introduced by	Herbert Henry Asquith
Territorial extent	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Royal assent	18 December 1906
Commencement	18 December 1906
Repealed	1 January 2000
Related legislation	Parliament Act 1911
Status	Repealed

Parliament Act of 1906. The Parliament Act of 1906 was a significant, though ultimately unsuccessful, piece of proposed legislation in the United Kingdom intended to curtail the legislative power of the House of Lords. Introduced by the Liberal government of Herbert Henry Asquith following the landslide election of 1906, the bill sought to resolve the constitutional crisis arising from the Lords' veto over legislation passed by the elected House of Commons. Although it passed the Commons, the bill was rejected by the Lords, setting the stage for the more famous Parliament Act 1911 that ultimately achieved its core objectives.

Background and Context

The political landscape was dominated by the conflict between the Liberal government and the Conservative-dominated House of Lords, which frequently blocked or amended Liberal reforms. This struggle, often called the Peers versus the People crisis, was rooted in the Lords' rejection of the 1909 People's Budget championed by David Lloyd George. Earlier tensions included the Lords' obstruction of measures like the Education Act 1906 and Irish Home Rule bills. The constitutional doctrine of the mandate, emphasized by figures like Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, argued that the elected Commons' will must prevail. The general election of January 1910 was fought on this specific issue, returning a hung parliament where the Liberals relied on support from the Irish Parliamentary Party and the Labour Party.

Provisions of the Act

The proposed act contained several key provisions designed to limit the power of the House of Lords. Most significantly, it aimed to replace the Lords' absolute veto over public legislation with a suspensive veto, allowing the Lords to delay a bill for a defined period. After this time, if the House of Commons passed the bill in three successive sessions over two years, it would become law without the Lords' consent. The act also sought to explicitly exclude Money Bills from amendment or veto by the Lords, following the precedent of the 1911 Act. Furthermore, it proposed to reduce the maximum duration of a Parliament from seven to five years, a measure intended to increase democratic accountability.

Legislative History and Passage

The bill was introduced by Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith and his Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, following their electoral mandate. It passed through the House of Commons with the support of the Irish Parliamentary Party and the Labour Party. However, it faced vehement opposition in the House of Lords, where Conservative peers, led by the Marquess of Lansdowne, denounced it as an attack on the British Constitution. The Lords rejected the bill, leading to a protracted stalemate. This impasse prompted George V, on the advice of Herbert Henry Asquith, to threaten to create hundreds of new Liberal peers to force the bill through, a plan modeled on the earlier 1832 Reform Act crisis.

Immediate Impact and Use

The immediate impact of the **Parliament Act of 1906** was its failure, as it never received Royal Assent. Its rejection by the House of Lords intensified the constitutional crisis, leading directly to the second general election of 1910. The continued deadlock forced the government to pursue a different, successful legislative strategy. The principles and mechanisms of the 1906 bill, however, were directly channeled into the Parliament Act 1911, which was passed using the very threat of mass peerage creation that had been developed during the 1906 bill's struggle.

Constitutional Significance

The proposed act was a landmark in the evolution of the British Constitution, formally establishing the principle of the supremacy of the elected House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. It marked a decisive shift from a bi-cameral legislature of near-equal power to a model where the Lords became a revising chamber. The crisis it provoked led to the precedent of using the monarch's power to create peers as a constitutional weapon to break parliamentary deadlocks, a tactic last seriously contemplated during the Passing of the Parliament Act 1911. It also reinforced the convention that the Lords could not obstruct the financial business of the government.

Aftermath and Legacy

The legacy of the 1906 bill is intrinsically tied to the Parliament Act 1911, which enacted its core provisions. The 1911 Act was used to pass major legislation opposed by the Lords, including the Government of Ireland Act 1914 and the Welsh Church Act 1914. The suspensive veto framework established by these acts was later modified by the Parliament Act 1949, which reduced the Lords' delaying power. The fundamental relationship between the two Houses, defined by this struggle, was further reformed by the House of Lords Act 1999, which removed most hereditary peers. The events of 1906-1911 remain a critical case study in British political history and constitutional change.

Category:1906 in British law Category:Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning the House of Lords Category:United Kingdom constitutional laws