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Research & Analysis Published 26 Jul 2024 House of Lords Library ↗ View on Parliament

Hereditary by-elections: Results

Type: Lords Library Note (LLN-2018-0129) Hereditary peer by-elections are held to replace excepted hereditary peers who have retired or died. In July 2024, the House agreed to pause by-elections. The Labour government has committed to passing legislation that would end them permanently. This Lords Library briefing provides a list of by-election results since the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, including information on turnout and the number of candidates.

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1. What are hereditary by-elections?

The
House of Lords Act 1999
removed most hereditary peers from the House of Lords. Under the act, 90 hereditary peers retained their places, elected by their fellow party/group colleagues to remain as members. In addition to these 90 members, two peers—the earl marshal and the lord great chamberlain—remained members of the Lords by virtue of the royal offices they held. These peers are referred to as excepted hereditary peers. Some hereditary peers who were members of the House prior to the 1999 act were also given life peerages.

Since the start of the 2002–03 session, when one of the excepted hereditary peers who is not a royal office holder dies, retires or is excluded, a replacement is chosen in a by-election. Prior to the 2002–03 session, any vacancy that arose amongst this group was filled by the nearest runner-up in the original ballots, held in October and November 1999. Hereditary peers wishing to stand in a by-election are listed in a register of hereditary peers, maintained and published by the clerk of the parliaments.

There are currently 91 excepted hereditary peers in total, including the two royal office holders. Following King Charles III coming to the throne, the holder of the office the lord great chamberlain changed. The new lord great chamberlain is Lord Carrington (Crossbench). Lord Carrington was already a member, having joined the House following a by-election in 2018. Under the 1999 act, this did not trigger a new by-election. Therefore, since 8 September 2022, there have been only 89 excepted hereditary peers who can be replaced through a by-election.

2. Who votes in by-elections?

The House of Lords Act 1999 requires that the process for replacing hereditary peers should involve by-elections. However, beyond this requirement, the act said the process for replacing members should be agreed by the House in the standing orders. Under standing order 9, agreed by the House of Lords on 26 July 1999, there are two different types of by-election.

Replacements for most peers (75 seats) are voted for by the other hereditary peers in a particular party or by the Crossbench hereditary peers. In 1999, this group of excepted hereditary peers were allocated proportionally to reflect the affiliations of the hereditary peers who sat prior to the 1999 act. Consequently, for the purposes of by-elections:

42 are elected by Conservative hereditary peers

two are elected by Labour hereditary peers

three are elected by Liberal Democrat hereditary peers

28 are elected by Crossbench hereditary peers

As a result of Lord Carrington becoming lord great chamberlain, the total figure for Crossbench hereditary peers is currently 27.

Under the
standing orders
, 15 peers are elected by the whole House. These 15 were originally elected “from among those ready to serve as deputy speakers or in any other office as the House may require”. However, hereditary peers standing in by-elections to replace one of these 15 are
not expected to serve as a deputy speaker
. In accordance with an
informal agreement
between the parties and groups in the House of Lords, it is expected that their successor will sit as a member of the same party or group as the member they replace. To date, the successful candidates in by-elections among the 15 have been members of the same party or group as the hereditary peer being replaced.

3. How many by-elections have been held?

Prior to 2002, two vacancies arising amongst the then 90 hereditary peers were filled by the nearest runner-up in the original ballots. When Baroness Wharton (Crossbench) died in May 2000, she was replaced by Lord Cobbold (Crossbench). Similarly, when the Earl of Carnarvon (Crossbench) died in September 2001, he was replaced by Lord Chorley (Crossbench).

Since 2002, there have been 49 by-elections. This includes by-elections where multiple candidates were selected on the same ballot. This occurs following the creation of two or more vacancies in close succession for the same group.

Over the same period, 57 hereditary peers have joined the House of Lords following by-elections. Of these, 42 were elected following by-elections involving only hereditary peers of the relevant party or by the Crossbench hereditary peers. The remaining 15 were elected following by-elections involving the whole House.

The Excel table provides details of by-elections held since 2002.

4. Pausing of by-elections

In its manifesto to the 2024 general election
, Labour committed to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The government announced in
the 2024 King’s Speech
that it would introduce the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, a bill to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords. The
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill
was introduced in the House of Commons on 5 September 2024.

In July 2024, the
House of Lords passed an amendment to the standing orders
changing the requirement to hold a by-election within three months of a vacancy to 18 months. This would pause by-elections during the period when the House is expected to be debating the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill. Introducing the motion to amend the standing orders, Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Smith of Basildon described the change as a “temporary measure” which reflected the fact the House would be debating the wider issue of the continued membership of the excepted hereditary peers in more detail in the “near future”. She also said the amendment had received the support of the “
usual channels
” including the Crossbench convener and the leader of the Conservatives in the House of Lords. The Crossbench group and Conservatives both had vacancies that would normally be filled by by-elections.

These two vacancies were created following:

The retirement of the Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench) on 20 May 2024.

Lord Willoughby de Broke (non-affiliated) ceasing to be a member on 9 July 2024 due to non-attendance during the 2023–24 session. Lord Willoughby de Broke had been a Conservative previously.

At the time of writing, the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill is still progressing through Parliament. On 4 September 2025, the House of Commons debated amendments made to the bill in the House of Lords. No date had yet been set for the bill’s next stage in the Lords. Further information on the most recent stages of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill is provided in the House of Lords Library briefing ‘
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill: Amendments made in the House of Lords and Commons consideration of those amendments
’ (29 September 2025).

On 22 October 2025, the
House of Lords passed a further amendment to the standing orders
to extend the period for which by-elections would be paused from 18 months to 36 months. When introducing the motion to amend the standing orders, Baroness Smith of Basildon told the House this extension had been agreed by the usual channels.

5. Recent by-elections

The most recent by-election took place on 21 and 22 November 2023. This was a by-election in which the whole House could vote and was to replace Lord Brougham and Vaux (Conservative), who had died. The successful candidate was Lord Camoys (Conservative).

Two other by-elections took place in 2023:

On 12 and 13 June 2023, a by-election took place to replace Viscount Falkland (Liberal Democrat) following his retirement. This was a vote involving the whole House. The successful candidate was Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat).

On 19 September, a by-election took place to replace Lord Palmer (Crossbench), who had died and Lord Hylton (Crossbench), who had retired. This was a vote involving Crossbench peers only. The successful candidates were Lord Meston (Crossbench) and Lord de Clifford (Crossbench).

6. Suspension and resumption of by-elections in 2020 and 2021

On 23 March 2020,
the House of Lords agreed a motion to suspend the standing order
requiring that a hereditary by-election be held within three months of a vacancy occurring. This was one of several measures recommended by the House of Lords Procedure and Privileges Committee in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This suspension was extended several times. On 7 September 2020, the House agreed a motion to
extend the suspension of hereditary by-elections until 31 December 2020
. On 14 December 2020, the House agreed a motion to
extend the suspension of hereditary by-elections pending a further report
from the Procedure and Privileges Committee in the new year.

On 8 February 2021,
the House of Lords Procedure and Privileges Committee published a report
recommending the continuation of the suspension of by-elections. It also recommended that the position should be reviewed after Easter 2021. On 22 February 2021, the House of Lords approved a motion to
suspend by-elections pending a review
by the Procedure and Privileges Committee after the Easter recess. The Procedure and Privileges Committee
announced on 26 April 2021 that hereditary by-elections would resume
. It also announced
by-elections would be held electronically
.

Four vacancies occurred during the period in which by-elections were suspended. These were:

The Earl of Selborne (non-affiliated), who retired on 26 March 2020. The Earl of Selborne had been a Conservative member prior to becoming non-affiliated.

The Countess of Mar (Crossbench), who retired on 1 May 2020.

Lord Rea (Labour), who died on 1 June 2020.

Lord Elton (Conservative), who retired 29 October 2020.

Following the end of their suspension, the first by-election took place on 14 June 2021. Conservative hereditary peers voted to replace the Earl of Selborne. They also voted for the replacements for Lord Denham (Conservative) and Lord Selsdon (Conservative). Lord Selsdon ceased to be a member on 11 May 2021 following his non-attendance during the 2019–21 session and Lord Denham retired on the by-elections resumed. Lord Sandhurst (Conservative), the Earl of Leicester (Conservative) and Lord Altrincham (Conservative) were elected.

The following by-elections also took place in June and July 2021:

The Countess of Mar was replaced by Lord Londesborough (Crossbench).

Lord Rea was replaced by Viscount Stansgate (Labour). A ballot did not take place as Viscount Stansgate was the only candidate.

Lord Elton was replaced by Lord Harlech (Conservative).

7. Read more

UK Parliament, ‘
By-elections in the House of Lords
’, accessed 30 March 2022

House of Lords Library, ‘
House of Lords Act 1999: Twenty years on
’, 5 November 2019

House of Lords Library, ‘
Hereditary peers in the House of Lords since 1999
’, 27 March 2014