British Parliament | Good News For Humankind

The Palace of Westminster at dusk for an article about hereditary peers reform in Britain

Britain ends 700 years of birthright rule in Parliament for hereditary peers

By Peter Schulte / March 12, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Hereditary peers reform reached a historic milestone when the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2024 received Royal Assent, removing the final 92 peers who held legislative seats by birthright. This ended a system stretching back to the 14th century, when Edward III first allowed nobles to pass parliamentary seats to their sons. A 1999 reform had eliminated most hereditary peers but left 92 as a temporary compromise that somehow survived 25 years. For the first time in seven centuries, no one shapes British law simply because of the family they were born into.

More details Countess Constance Markiewicz, for article on women elected to UK Parliament

Constance Markievicz becomes first woman elected to UK Parliament

By Peter Schulte / January 1, 1918 / Archive of Human Genius

Constance Markievicz won a seat in the British House of Commons on December 28, 1918, becoming the first woman ever elected to Parliament. She was sitting in Holloway Prison at the time, and as a Sinn Féin candidate, she refused to take the seat. Still, the door she opened never closed.

Stowage of a British slave ship, for article on Atlantic slave trade abolition

British Parliament bans the Atlantic slave trade after 20 years of campaigning

By Peter Schulte / March 25, 1807 / Archive of Human Genius

Britain’s Atlantic slave trade abolition became law on 25 March 1807, when King George III signed the Slave Trade Act after two decades of failed attempts. The final Commons vote was 283 to 16, the culmination of a campaign carried by Quakers, formerly enslaved writers like Olaudah Equiano, and petitioners across the country. It was the first time a major empire legislated against its most profitable trade on moral grounds.