By-elections to the House of Lords

Following the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, the number of hereditary peers entitled to sit in the House of Lords was reduced to ninety-two. Ninety of the first ninety-two were elected by all the hereditary peers before the passing of the reform. Since November 2002, by-elections have been held to fill vacancies left by deaths of those peers. Since the passing of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014, by-elections have also been held to fill vacancies left by the retirements of those peers.
Before the passing of the 1999 Act, the Lords approved a Standing Order stating that the remaining hereditary peers shall consist of:
Elections must be held within three months of a vacancy occurring (though this rule is currently suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020), and they take place under the Alternative Vote system. All those on the Register of Hereditary Peers are eligible to stand, but only sitting (the "excepted") hereditary peers may vote for the 75 seats reserved for a single parliamentary group (which can result in very small electorates, such as three voters in the 2003 election of Lord Grantchester); for the 15 peers elected by the whole house, life peers may also vote.
As of 2020, there have been 17 by-elections among Crossbench peers; 9 by-elections among Conservative peers; 2 among Liberal Democrat peers and 1 among Labour peers. In addition, there have been 8 by-elections by the whole House.
Current composition.
, the party affiliations of the elected hereditary peers are as follows:
By-election results.
2004.
After the death of Lord Vivian:
2005.
After the death of the Earl Russell:
After the death of Lord Burnham:
After the death of Lord Aberdare:
After the death of Baroness Strange:
2007.
After the death of Lord Mowbray and Stourton:
2008.
After the death of the Baroness Darcy de Knayth:
2009.
After the death of the Viscount Bledisloe:
2010.
After the death of the Viscount Colville of Culross:
After the death of the Earl of Northesk:
2011.
After the death of the Lord Strabolgi:
After the death of the Lord Monson:
After the death of the Earl of Onslow:
After the death of the Lord Ampthill:
2013.
After the death of the Earl Ferrers:
After the death of the Lord Reay:
2014.
After the death of the Lord Moran:
After the death of the Lord Methuen:
After the death of the Viscount Allenby of Megiddo:
After the retirement of the Lord Cobbold:
2015.
After the retirement of the Lord Chorley:
After the retirement of the Lady Saltoun of Abernethy:
After the retirement of the Viscount Tenby:
After the retirement of the Lord Luke:
After the retirement of the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein:
After the death of the Lord Montagu of Beaulieu:
2016.
After the death of the Lord Avebury:
After the removal for non-attendance of the Lord Bridges:
2017.
After the death of the Lord Lyell:
After the retirement of the Lord Walpole:
2018.
After the retirement of the Earl Baldwin of Bewdley:
After the retirement of the Lord Glentoran:
After the retirement of the Lord Northbourne:
2019.
After the death of the Lord Skelmersdale:
After the death of the Viscount Slim:
Forthcoming by-elections.
Normally, by-elections must be held within three months of a vacancy occurring. But on 23 March 2020 a motion was passed by the House to suspend any by-elections until 8 September 2020, as part of revised working arrangements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. On 7 September, a further motion was passed by the House to continue the suspension of by-elections until 31 December 2020. On 14 December, a further motion was passed by the House to suspend by-elections pending a report from the Procedure and Privileges Committee. On 22 February 2021, a motion was passed by the House to continue the suspension pending a further review by the Committee after any adjournment of the House for Easter. On 26 April, a report of the Committee was published. The Committee announced that by-elections will resume and anticipated that pending by-elections will be held before the summer recess of the House.
Three of the 42 elected Conservative hereditary peers have ceased to be members of the House: The Earl of Selborne, who latterly sat as non-affiliated, retired on 26 March 2020. The Lord Denham retired on 26 April 2021. The Lord Selsdon was removed for non-attendance on 11 May 2021. A by-election to replace them will be held on 14 June 2021, with the result announced on 17 June.
The Countess of Mar, a Crossbench peer and one of the 15 hereditary peers elected by the whole House, retired from the House on 1 May 2020. A by-election to replace her will be held from 15 to 16 June 2021, with the result announced on 17 June.
The Lord Rea, one of the 2 elected Labour hereditary peers, died on 1 June 2020. A by-election to replace him is due to be held on 12 July 2021.
The Lord Elton, a Conservative peer and one of the 15 hereditary peers elected by the whole House, retired from the House on 29 October 2020. A by-election to replace him is due to be held from 13 to 14 July 2021.
Historical by-elections.
From the 1707 Act of Union to the passing of the Peerage Act 1963, peers in the Peerage of Scotland elected sixteen representative peers to sit in the House of Lords. Unlike Irish peers, however, Scottish representative peers only sat for the duration of one parliament before facing re-election. By-elections were held in the Palace of Holyroodhouse to replace deceased peers. After the passing of the Peerage Act 1963, all Scottish peers were entitled to sit in the House of Lords and the election procedure was abolished.
Also, from the 1801 Act of Union to Irish independence, 28 representative peers were elected from and by the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Like current hereditary peers, these representative peers sat for life terms and deceased peers were replaced in by-elections. Unlike modern hereditary peer by-elections, all peers in the Peerage of Ireland, even those who did not sit in the House of Lords, were entitled to vote. Upon the creation of the Irish Free State, the officers required to officiate these by-elections were abolished and thus no more were held, but those peers already elected kept their seats for the remainder of their lives. The last to sit in the Lords was Francis Needham, 4th Earl of Kilmorey, who died in 1961.