Inside the House of Lords crackdown on long speeches, chatting, and scruffy clothes

The House of Lords has told its members to dress properly, stop chatting in the Chamber and keep their speeches short, in a sweeping new report on behaviour and courtesy.

The recommendations come from the Procedure and Privileges Committee, chaired by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede, in its first report of the 2026 to 2027 session, published on Tuesday (21 July).

The committee considered a package of changes proposed by the party whips, known as the Usual Channels, aimed at upholding standards in the Chamber. The House must now agree the changes before they take effect.

A dress code in writing for the first time

The committee recommends a new paragraph in the Companion to the Standing Orders stating that members are expected to wear business attire in the Chamber, Grand Committee, select committees and the division lobbies.

Until now, the House relied on an unwritten understanding that members should dress in a manner that shows respect for Parliament.

The committee also wants peers to stop talking to each other while the House sits.

It points to Standing Order 20, which dates from 1620 and instructs any Lord wishing to speak with another to retire to the Prince’s Chamber rather than converse behind the Woolsack.

The report reminds members that conversations in the Chamber distract those taking part in debate and the member presiding, and tells peers who want to chat to leave the room.

Shorter speeches and faster questions

Backbench speaking time at Report stage and all later amending stages of a bill drops from 10 minutes to eight under the recommendations.

The 10-minute advisory limit, introduced in March 2024, cut average speech lengths at Committee stage but had less impact elsewhere. Opening and winding speakers keep their 15 minute allowance, and ministers winding up keep 20 minutes.

Oral questions face stricter time limits too. The first supplementary question should not exceed 45 seconds and subsequent supplementaries should not exceed 30 seconds, while ministers’ initial answers stay capped at 75 words and their answers to supplementaries should also be brief.

The committee said long questions and answers reduce the number of supplementaries asked, cutting opportunities to scrutinise ministers.

Members pressing or withdrawing an amendment must now be brief and should not summarise the debate or revisit points they made earlier.

The committee also targets the tradition of valedictory thank yous when a bill passes, recommending a footnote stating that members should not thank lists of named people or House staff.

The report calls the practice a poor use of the House’s time, however well-intentioned.

Reading speeches and saying “you”

The report strengthens the convention that peers address the House rather than each other.

It recommends new wording making clear that members use expressions such as “Your Lordships” and “the noble Lord”, never “you”, noting that many legislatures use third-person address to depersonalise debate.

Peers have also been told to stop reading out prepared speeches. The committee recommends replacing the current guidance with a new paragraph describing the Lords as a debating chamber where members should engage actively with other speakers, with exceptions for ministerial statements and extended notes.

Alongside the behaviour changes, the committee approved a new printed edition of the Standing Orders, the first since 2021.

That edition repeals Standing Order 83, which still refers to “noblewomen” and states that privilege should not extend to the widow of a peer who marries a commoner, wording the committee notes has no practical meaning today.

Now read: New Chancellor Healey inherits £10 billion headache from Iran war