Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron speaking in the Lords (Image: Parliament TV)

       The House Lords has the power to derail Government legislation, especially in the last year of a Parliament - but “self-interest” is likely to prevent peers from doing so, a constitutional expert has said.

       Professor Tony Travers was speaking after a treaty underpinning Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill was voted down in the unelected Upper House by 214 votes to 171, despite Foreign Secretary David Cameron urging them not to do so. The Bill itself will be debated in the Lords next week.

       Prof Travers, Visiting Professor at LSE Department of Government and Director of LSE London, told Express.co.uk: “Completely overwhelming the will of the elected House, whether it's for a year or less than a year, has all sorts of implications, not least about the future of the Lords itself.

       “There is always a veiled threat hanging over the Lords, that if they are too obstructive, then a government would eventually feel justified by radically reducing their powers or abolishing them.

       “In fairness to Rishi Sunak, he hasn't said that, but it doesn't need to be said, especially from a government which has been quite willing to take on the courts and other parts of the establishment since 2016.

       “I think the Lords from a sort of self-preservation point of view, will tread particularly carefully when it comes to an issue of this kind.”

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       Voting in the House of Lords last night (Image: Parliament TV)

       Considering the role of the Lords, Prof Travers continued: “In theory, the process is exactly the same in the Lords as the Commons.

       “However, because of the unelected nature and the fact that no party has a majority, there are conventions in effect and agreements and also common sense which apply.

       “The opposition, not just this one, any opposition, hopes to get into Government.

       “So the rule broadly boils down to the Lords can delay, and they can propose amendment but what they can't do for more than a period of one year is to stop legislation going through.”

       Sir Keir Starmer, critical as he has been of the Bill, which he has branded a “gimmick”, also had good reason to be careful, Prof Travers stressed.

       Rishi Sunak leaves Number 10 today (Image: PA)

       He said: “With this particular high-profile piece of legislation, I think I've read that Sir Keir Starmer is wary of using his troops in the Lords to over thwart the elected House, therefore the will of the majority in the elected House, to the point that it's possible for the Conservatives to point to the Lord's and say, ‘Look, Labour are thwarting the will of the people, the elected House’.

       “What I think last night was evidence of is that the Lords will show its displeasure, and make proposed amendments, but in a sense, they're probably not going to undermine Government policy completely.

       “Because if they did, so, you know, firstly it looks at this they are thwarting the elected House on a very high-profile subject, and second, Labour might be in power this time next year and the last thing they want to do is point to a precedent, where the then opposition, ie their voters in the Lord’s, thwarted the Government.”

       The power of the Lords to delay becomes “much more problematic” in the last year of a Parliament, Prof Travers acknowledged.

       He said: “In the last year of a Parliament the delay of a year issue becomes much more problematic although normally, the Lords doesn't do that.

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       “They rarely, if ever, absolutely vote against a piece of legislation and force the government to reintroduce it in the next year.

       “So although in the last year of our Parliament, the use of delaying powers effectively would kill the law, it’s rare for the opposition to do that anyway.”

       The Lords’ power to kill off legislation was effectively abolished by the House of Lords Act 1911, while its power of delay was reduced from two to one year by the House of Lords Act 1949.

       Prof Travers said: “Since then, just looking at the Lord's own website, the House of Lords agreed to a government concession on the common frameworks process in the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill on December 15, 2000.

       “Sometimes governments accept Lords' amendments, because the Lords is actually full of people who are quite expert, regardless of their politics, and the Lords can improve things.

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       “The Lords also delayed the Brexit bill on EU citizens rights, I notice looking back.

       “The Hunting Act 2004, with the Lords and Commons unable to come to an agreement by the end of the parliamentary year, the then Speaker of the House of Commons Michel Martin invoked the Parliament Act 1911-49 and infrequently used legislative device that allows the Commons to overrule the Lords when agreement cannot be reached.

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       “So the Hunting Act of 2004 appears to be one where the Lords effectively used its power to override the Commons.

       Prof Travers concluded: “The other thing to mention, of course, is the famous Salisbury convention, a constitutional doctrine under which the House of Lords will not oppose the second or third reading of any government legislation promised in its election manifesto.”

       Former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage reacted furiously after last night’s decision, posting on X, formerly Twitter: “We must sack all current members of the House of Lords. It is beyond parody.”

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