One of the UK's most senior hereditary peers, who had been a leading critic of reform, has performed an about turn by calling for a change in law so daughters can inherit their titles.

Despite voting down such a Bill in 1994, the Earl of Shrewsbury will use a debate on Tuesday to insist the system "should and must" be changed.

There are around 2,000 hereditary titles in the UK and, apart from some Scottish titles, virtually all can only be handed down to sons, not daughters.

Lord Shrewsbury, recorded by Debrett's as the Premier Earl of England and Ireland, will say: "I am fully aware of the imbalance of the genders within the hereditary peerage, and the need in the modern day for that to be addressed.

“We are now in 2020, and the whole world has changed even though my loathing of political correctness hasn’t, as my friends will confirm.

"In my view, male primogeniture is one of those remaining bastions of the hereditary system which should and must be changed.”

Lord Shrewsbury - whose eldest child is his daughter Victoria - previously voted against the Hereditary Peerages Bill in 1994, leading him to receive "a substantial bag of unpleasant mail referring to me as a misogynist".