Laws allowing the government to strip the likes of Peter Mandelson of his peerage will not be introduced before May, it is understood.
Long-promised legislation to make it easier to kick disgraced peers out of the House of Lords is set to be included in the King’s Speech, in two month’s time.
It will give the Lords greater power to remove titles from peers they believe have brought the upper chamber into disrepute.
The legislation will not focus on specific people – but will create a new mechanism that allows Lords to be removed if they are found guilty of misconduct.
At present, peers can step down from the House of Lords but retain their titles for life, meaning there is no straightforward way to strip them of their peerage.
The 2024 Labour Party manifesto promised to introduce new powers to throw out Lords considered to have behaved badly.
After Labour peer Lord Mandelson was sacked as US Ambassador over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, and later arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the Government kickstarted the process.
Police arrested Mandelson in February after he was accused of passing sensitive information to Epstein when he was Business Secretary from 2008 to 2010.
He has since been released from his bail conditions while the investigation continues. Mandelson is cooperating with the police probe and has maintained his innocence.
He announced earlier this year he would be stepping down from the House of Lords but, due to the nature of peerages, will automatically retain his title.
Sir Keir Starmer’s government said before Mandelson’s arrest that it was planning to bring forward legislation to ensure to allow peerages to be removed from disgraced Lords as quickly as possible.
First law to strip peers of titles since the First World War
But doing so requires an act of parliament – something that has not been done since a law was passed to strip titles from nobles who sided with the Germans in the First World War.
And No10 has been working with relevant Whitehall departments to draw up a Bill that has the scope to do this, sources said.
But it is taking time because it is a complex piece of legislation which raises questions about the workings of the British constitution.
“This is technically complex because of constitutional issues. We want to take the time to get it right so it applies to all disgraced peers and not just Mandelson,” a Government source said.
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The Government, meanwhile, expects a Bill designed to reform the rights of hereditary peers to get over the line in the coming weeks, it is understood.
The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, which will remove the remaining links between hereditary peerage and membership of the House of Lords, will be before Parliament for its final stages this coming week.
Lord Mandelson’s representatives were contacted for comment.
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