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Under the reforms of the House of Lords Act 1999, the majority of hereditary peers became ineligible to be members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 2 of the Act, however, provides an exception from this general exclusion of membership for up to 92 hereditary peers: 90 to be elected by the House, as well as the holders of two royal offices, the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain, who sit as ex officio members. The initial cohort of excepted hereditary peers were elected in the 1999 House of Lords elections. Between 1999 and November 2002, vacancies among this group were filled by runners-up in the 1999 election. Since then, by-elections to the House of Lords have filled vacancies.

Candidature for both the 1999 elections and subsequent by-elections is restricted to peers in the Peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Peers in the Peerage of Ireland are only eligible for election if they hold a title in one of the other peerages, but if successful may use their Irish peerage title as a member of the House. The electorates are either the whole membership of the House of Lords (including life peers), or a party group of sitting hereditary peers. A standing order of the House, approved prior to the commencement of the House of Lords Act 1999, mandates that the 90 elected hereditary peers consist of:

• 2 peers elected by the Labour hereditary peers
• 42 peers elected by the Conservative hereditary peers
• 3 peers elected by the Liberal Democrat hereditary peers
• 28 peers elected by the crossbench hereditary peers
• 15 peers elected by the whole House

By convention, whole-House elections elect members of the same affiliation as the departed peer.

These numbers elected by each group reflected the relative strengths of the parties among hereditary peers in 1999; this allocation has remained unchanged since then. The fifteen peers elected by the whole House were intended to provide a group of experienced members ready to serve as deputy speakers or other officers.

A small number of hereditary peers sit in the Lords by virtue of their being granted life peerages (see listing). These are not listed below.

Ex officio members

Earl Marshal

The Earl Marshal is an hereditary post held by the Duke of Norfolk.

Lord Great Chamberlain

The Lord Great Chamberlain is a hereditary office in gross post among the Cholmondeley, Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby and Carington families.

In 1902 it was ruled by the House of Lords that the then joint office holders (the 1st Earl of Ancaster, the 4th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and the Earl Carrington, later Marquess of Lincolnshire) had to agree on a deputy to exercise the office, subject to the approval of the Sovereign. Should there be no such agreement, the Sovereign should appoint a deputy until an agreement be reached.

In 1912 an agreement was reached. The office, or right to appoint the person to exercise the office, would thereafter rotate among the three joint office holders and their heirs after them, changing at the start of each successive reign. Cholmondeley and his heirs would serve in every other reign; Ancaster and Carrington would each serve once in four reigns.

Elected by the whole House

Sitting

Deceased

Resigned

Pursuant to section 1 of House of Lords Reform Act 2014

Elected by the Conservative hereditary peers

Sitting Conservative peers

Deceased Conservative peers

Resigned Conservative peers

Pursuant to section 1 of House of Lords Reform Act 2014

Removed Conservative peers

Pursuant to section 2 of House of Lords Reform Act 2014

Elected by the Crossbencher hereditary peers

Sitting Crossbench peers

Deceased Crossbench peers

Resigned Crossbench peers

Pursuant to section 1 of House of Lords Reform Act 2014

Removed Crossbench peers

Pursuant to section 2 of House of Lords Reform Act 2014

Elected by the Labour hereditary peers

Sitting Labour peers

Deceased Labour peers

Elected by the Liberal Democrats hereditary peers

Sitting Liberal Democrats peers

Deceased Liberal Democrats peers

Current party composition

As of July 2024, the party affiliations of the elected hereditary peers are as follows:

1. ^ Lord Inglewood and Lord Ashton of Hyde were elected by Conservative hereditary peers but now sit as non-affiliated peers.
2. ^ Earl Peel and Duke of Wellington were elected by Conservative hereditary peers but now sit as Crossbenchers.
3. Number includes Lord Carrington, who would otherwise be an ex officio member by virtue of holding the office of Lord Great Chamberlain.
4. ^ Earl of Oxford and Asquith was elected by the whole House as a Liberal Democrat but now sits as a Crossbencher.

• One additional hereditary peer is an ex officio member of the Lords: Duke of Norfolk (Earl Marshal).

See also

• 1999 House of Lords elections
• By-elections to the House of Lords
• List of hereditary peers in the House of Lords by virtue of a life peerage
• List of hereditary peers removed under the House of Lords Act 1999
• Peerage of the United Kingdom
  • Hereditary peerage

References

1. "Hansard, Vol 604 No 126 Cols 1290–1292". 26 July 1999. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
2. For example:
   • "By-elections to replace six hereditary peers" (PDF). parliament.uk. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2023. Under the terms of an informal agreement amongst the parties and groups in the House of Lords, it is expected that this vacancy will be filled by an hereditary peer who will sit as a crossbench member of the House
   • Lord True (10 November 2021). "Hereditary Peers: By-elections". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. col. 1703. Yes, there is a by-election today. I have voted in it and, in accordance with the Carter convention, I voted for a Labour Peer. I have kept to the agreements made in 1999.
3. "Office Of Lord Great Chamberlain". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. 6 May 1902. Archived 2021-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
4. Great Officers of State: The Lord Great Chamberlain and The Earl Marshal Archived 6 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine. The Royal Family. debretts.com Archived 2019-08-24 at the Wayback Machine. Debrett's Limited. Accessed 17 September 2013.
5. "House of Lords, Official Website – Eal of Oxford and Asquith". Retrieved 9 September 2019.
6. "House of Lords, Official Website – Viscount Falkland". Retrieved 5 April 2012.
7. "Earl Peel". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
8. "Lord Inglewood". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
9. "Duke of Wellington". UK Parliament. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
10. "Earl of Selborne". UK Parliament. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
11. "UKIP members in the House of Lords". ukipderbyshire.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
12. "Lord Willoughby de Broke". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
13. "Lords by party, type of peerage and gender". UK Parliament.

• Excepted hereditary peers
• Lists of legislators in the United Kingdom
• House of Lords-related lists