The result of the most recent hereditary peer by-election will be announced on Wednesday 23 January.
This by-election was called following the death of Lord Skelmersdale on 31 October 2018. As one of the 15 hereditary peers elected by the whole house in 1999, his replacement will be elected by the whole house.
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. Out of 198 on the list, there is only one woman.
There were 16 candidates in this by-election and 785 peers were eligible to vote. To date, turnout at the seven by-elections where the whole house was eligible to vote has only averaged around 48%.
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 – since the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 and House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015 – retirement, resignation or exclusion are filled through a by-election.
By-elections take place within party groups – except for 15 hereditary peers, such as Lord Skelmersdale, 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 47 Conservative hereditary peers, four Labour, four Liberal Democrat and 31 Crossbench hereditary peers (one UKIP, one 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 most recent register of eligible candidates of June 2017. No female hereditary peer has been admitted to the House of Lords through a 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.
Hereditary by-elections: the figures
The 35 hereditary by-elections to date have had an average turnout of just 28 voters, excluding elections by the whole house (the average is 94 including whole house elections).
This compares to an average of 28,823 votes cast over the last 35 Commons by-elections – a larger democratic mandate by a factor of 1,000.
Excluding whole house elections, the average electorate for ‘normal’ by-elections is just 32 (this is 175 if we include whole house elections).
3,288 votes have been cast in total for the 35 peers elected in hereditary by-elections since 2003.
By contrast, over a million – 1,008,808 – votes have been cast in the last 35 House of Commons by-elections.
At its highest, the electorate has been 803, at its lowest just three.
Four by-elections have had more candidates than electors. This includes the only by-election within the Labour group of hereditary peers for which there were 11 candidates and only three voters (30th October 2003).
The average turnout for by-elections is 84%. Three by-elections have had 100% turnout, all of which have had an electorate of four or fewer.
Hereditary Peer By-Elections since 2013
|
Previous
Peer
|
Reason
|
Electorate
|
Date of Results
|
No. of Candidates
|
Electorate
|
Turnout
|
Turnout %
|
Winning Candidate
|
|
Earl Ferrers
|
Died
|
Conservative
|
06/02/2013
|
27
|
48
|
46
|
96%
|
Viscount Ridley
|
|
Lord Reay
|
Died
|
Whole House
|
17/07/2013
|
23
|
753
|
334
|
44%
|
Lord Borwick
|
|
Lord Moran
|
Died
|
Crossbench
|
09/04/2014
|
13
|
29
|
27
|
93%
|
Lord Cromwell
|
|
Lord Methuen
|
Died
|
Whole House
|
22/10/2014
|
15
|
776
|
283
|
36%
|
Earl of Oxford and Asquith
|
|
Viscount Allenby of Megiddo
|
Died
|
Crossbench
|
10/12/2014
|
18
|
27
|
25
|
93%
|
Lord Russell of Liverpool
|
|
Lord Cobbold
|
Retired
|
Crossbench
|
10/12/2014
|
18
|
27
|
25
|
93%
|
Duke of Somerset
|
|
Lord Chorley
|
Retired
|
Crossbench
|
03/02/2015
|
18
|
28
|
26
|
93%
|
Lord Thurlow
|
|
Lord Saltoun of Abernethy
|
Retired
|
Crossbench
|
03/02/2015
|
18
|
28
|
26
|
93%
|
Earl of Kinnoull
|
|
Viscount Tenby
|
Retired
|
Crossbench
|
07/07/2015
|
19
|
28
|
25
|
89%
|
Lord Mountevans
|
|
Lord Luke
|
Retired
|
Conservative
|
16/09/2015
|
16
|
48
|
41
|
85%
|
Duke of Wellington
|
|
Viscount Mountgomery of Alamein
|
Retired
|
Crossbench
|
20/10/2015
|
17
|
29
|
26
|
90%
|
Lord Oaksey
|
|
Lord Montagu of Beaulieu
|
Died
|
Conservative
|
24/11/2015
|
14
|
48
|
44
|
92%
|
Lord Fairfax of Cameron
|
|
Lord Avebury
|
Died
|
Lib Dem
|
19/04/2016
|
7
|
3
|
3
|
100%
|
Viscount Thurso
|
|
Lord Bridges
|
Non-Attendance
|
Crossbench
|
12/07/2016
|
17
|
31
|
27
|
87%
|
Earl of Cork and Orrery
|
|
Lord Lyell
|
Died
|
Whole House
|
27/03/2017
|
27
|
803
|
346
|
43%
|
Lord Colgrain
|
|
Lord Walpole
|
Retired
|
Crossbench
|
19/07/2017
|
10
|
31
|
27
|
87%
|
Lord Vaux of Harrowden
|
|
Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
|
Retired
|
Crossbench
|
04/07/2018
|
19
|
31
|
26
|
84%
|
Earl of Devon
|
|
Lord Glentoran
|
Retired
|
Conservative
|
18/07/2018
|
11
|
47
|
43
|
91%
|
Lord Bethell
|
|
Lord Northbourne
|
Retired
|
Crossbench
|
28/11/2018
|
11
|
31
|
29
|
94%
|
Lord Carrington
|