Background on Hereditary Peers By-elections

Jess Garland, Research Advisor, Electoral Reform Society July 2017

The result of the most recent hereditary peer by-election will be announced on Wednesday 19 July.

This by-election was called following the retirement of Lord Walpole. As a Crossbench Peer, his replacement will be selected by hereditary peers of the Crossbench group – 31 in total.

Eligible candidates are drawn from the Register of Hereditary Peers held by the Clerk of Parliaments. This list contains any hereditary peer who has expressed an interest in standing in a by-election.

Peers can join or leave the list at any time and the list is published annually. Available here.

There were 10 candidates in this Crossbench group by-election (and 31 eligible voters). On the basis of recent turnout, around 25 Peers will decide which aristocrat remains in Parliament to vote on our laws, for the rest of their lives.

Here are some of the statements for this by-election:

Background

The 1999 House of Lords Act removed all but 90 of the hereditary peers (plus holders of the offices of Earl Marshall and Lord Great Chamberlain) – 92 in total. 667 hereditary peers lost their right to sit in the Lords in these reforms.

Subsequently, vacancies that result from death (or retirement, resignation or exclusion since the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 and House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015) are filled by by-election.

By-elections take place within party groups (except for 15 hereditary peers, originally elected to serve as office holders, whose successors are elected by the whole house). These party groups reflected the proportion of party affiliation at the time of the 1999 reforms. There are 49 Conservative hereditary peers, 4 Labour, 4 Liberal Democrat and 31 Crossbench hereditary peers (1 UKIP, 1 non-affiliated). See full breakdown here.

Where are the women?

There is only one female hereditary peer currently sitting in the House of Lords (The Countess of Mar). 

Three of the original five female hereditary peers that remained following the 1999 reforms have since died and one retired in 2014. All four were replaced by male peers and there is only one female hereditary peer listed on the register of future candidates (June 2017). No female hereditary peer has been admitted to the House of Lords by by-election.

Previous hereditary by-elections

Elections to the House of Lords use the Alternative Vote. 

• The first hereditary by-election was held in 2003 following the death of Viscount Oxfuird

• The average turnout for by-elections is 82%. Three by-elections have had 100% turnout (all of which have had an electorate of 4 or fewer).

• At its highest, the electorate was 803, at its lowest just 3.
• Four by-elections have had more candidates than electors. Including the only by-election within the Labour group of hereditary peers for which there were 11 candidates and only 3 voters.