By-elections to the House of Lords

A number of by-elections to the House of Lords occurred between the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999 and the coming into effect of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026.

They occurred when vacancies arose among seats assigned to hereditary peers due to death, resignation, or disqualification. Candidates for these by-elections were limited to holders of hereditary peerages, and their electorates were made up of sitting Lords; in most cases the electorate were those sitting hereditary peers of the same party affiliation as the departed peer. Following the enactment 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. The Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain were entitled to sit ex officio; the remaining ninety were elected by all the hereditary peers before the passing of the reform.

Before the passing of the 1999 Act, the Lords approved a Standing Order stating that the remaining hereditary peers shall consist of:

2 peers to be elected by the Labour hereditary peers 42 peers to be elected by the Conservative hereditary peers 3 peers to be elected by the Liberal Democrat hereditary peers 28 peers to be elected by the Crossbench hereditary peers 15 peers to be elected by the whole House By convention, whole-House elections elect members of the same affiliation as the departed peer.For example:

The holders of the offices of Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain to be ex officio members. The current holder of the office of Lord Great Chamberlain was previously elected to the House of Lords in a by-election.

Prior to November 2002, vacancies were automatically filled by the highest performing unsuccessful candidate in the 1999 House of Lords election that elected the departed peer.

Elections were normally required to be held within three months of a vacancy occurring, but until the end of 2024–2026 parliamentary session, elections must be held within 36 months—in practice suspending by-elections whilst the role of hereditary peers in the Lords was debated (see House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026).

The elections took place under the Alternative Vote system for elections to individual vacancies and the Single Transferrable Vote for elections to fill multiple vacancies. All those on the Register of Hereditary Peers were eligible to stand, but only sitting (the "excepted") hereditary peers of the group in question could vote for the seats reserved for a single parliamentary group. This could result in very small electorates, such as only three voters in the 2003 election of Lord Grantchester. For the 15 peers elected by the whole House, life peers could also vote.

There were 18 by-electionsIncluding a single vote in June 2021 which filled three vacant seats, and two votes in July 2022 and October 2022 which filled two vacant seats each. among Conservative peers; 19 by-electionsIncluding a single vote in September 2023 which filled two vacant seats. among Crossbench peers; 2 among Liberal Democrat peers; and 2 among Labour peers. In addition, there have been 14 by-elections by the whole House.

List of by-elections

Whole House

2000s After the death of the Viscount of Oxfuird

|! style="background:white;"| | Others | 37 others | style="text-align:right;"| 0 | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| -

After the death of Lord Aberdare:

|! style="background:white;"| | Others | 10 others | style="text-align:right;"| 0 | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| -

2010s After the death of the Lord Strabolgi:

After the death of the Lord Ampthill:

|! style="background:white;"| | Others | 2 others | style="text-align:right;"| 0 | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| -

After the death of the Lord Reay:

|! style="background:white;"| | Others | 4 others | style="text-align:right;"| 0 | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| -

After the death of the Lord Methuen:

After the death of the Lord Lyell:

After the death of the Lord Skelmersdale:

|! style="background:white;"| | Others | 3 others | style="text-align:right;"| 0 | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| - | style="text-align:right;"| -

2020s After the retirement of the Countess of Mar:

After the retirement of the Lord Elton:

After the death of the Viscount Simon:

After the retirements of the Viscount Ullswater, and the Lord Colwyn:

After the retirement of the Viscount Falkland:

After the death of the Lord Brougham and Vaux:

Crossbench

2000s After the death of Baroness Strange:

After the death of the Baroness Darcy de Knayth:

After the death of the Viscount Bledisloe:

2010s After the death of the Viscount Colville of Culross:

After the death of the Lord Monson:

After the death of the Lord Moran:

After the death of the Viscount Allenby of Megiddo:

After the retirement of the Lord Cobbold:

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 Viscount Montgomery of Alamein:

After the removal for non-attendance of the Lord Bridges:

After the retirement of the Lord Walpole:

Viscount Hill originally announced his candidacy but later withdrew. After the retirement of the Earl Baldwin of Bewdley:

David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon originally announced his candidacy but later withdrew.

After the retirement of the Lord Northbourne:

After the death of the Viscount Slim:

2020s After the retirement of the Earl of Listowel:

After the death of the Lord Palmer and the retirement of the Lord Hylton:

Conservative

2000s After the death of Lord Vivian:

After the death of Lord Burnham:

After the death of Lord Mowbray and Stourton:

2010s After the death of the Earl of Northesk:

After the death of the Earl of Onslow:

After the death of Earl Ferrers:

After the retirement of the Lord Luke:

After the death of the Lord Montagu of Beaulieu:

After the retirement of the Lord Glentoran:

2020s Normally, by-elections must be held within three months of a vacancy occurring, but in response to the COVID-19 pandemic the House resolved in March 2020 to suspend any by-elections. Although this initial suspension was only until 8 September 2020, successive further motions extended this arrangement. Ultimately by-elections resumed in June 2021 with multiple elections held to fill six vacancies.

After the retirements of the Earl of Selborne and the Lord Denham, and the removal for non-attendance of the Lord Selsdon:

After the retirement of the Viscount Ridley:

After the retirement of the Lord Rotherwick:

After the retirement of the Lord Brabazon of Tara, and the death of the Lord Swinfen:

After the retirement of the Lord Astor of Hever, and the death of the Earl of Home:

The Earl of Minto and Lord Roborough initially announced their candidacies, but subsequently were elected at a by-election earlier the same week.

Liberal Democrats After the death of the Earl Russell:

After the death of the Lord Avebury:

Labour After the death of Lord Milner of Leeds

After the death of the Lord Rea:

End of by-elections

The Labour government elected in July 2024 stated an aim to remove of the right of hereditary peers to sit in the Lords. In anticipation of imminent legislative debates, and reflecting views that "ongoing by-elections during the parliamentary consideration of a Bill would be deeply undesirable in this context", on 25 July 2024 the House of Lords passed a motion to extend the deadline for holding a by-election to 18 months. This was later extended to 36 months, as the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill was debated in Parliament.

The Bill received royal assent on 18 March 2026, at which time there were 6 vacant seats for which by-elections had been deferred. This number subsequently grew to 11 vacancies by 29 April 2026 when the session ended and the removal of hereditary peers took effect.

The following 11 vacancies were not filled via by-election: Party Date vacated Cause Original by-election deadline Revised by-election deadline(as per 25 July 2024 motion) Re-revised by-election deadline(as per 22 Oct 2025 motion) Crossbencher 20 May 2024Resignation of the Earl of Sandwich 20 August 2024 20 November 2025 20 May 2027 Conservative 9 July 2024 Removal for non-attendance of Lord Willoughby de Broke 9 October 2024 9 January 2026 9 July 2027 rowspan=3 Crossbencher 31 March 2025 Death of Viscount Craigavon 30 September 2026 31 March 2028 23 June 2025 Resignation of Viscount Waverley 23 December 2026 23 June 2028 31 August 2025 Resignation of Lord Aberdare 28 February 2026 31 August 2028 rowspan=2 Conservative Resignation of Earl Attlee 26 February 2029 Resignation of Lord Trefgarne 27 March 2029 rowspan=2 Crossbencher Resignation of Lord St John of Bletso Resignation of the Earl of Lytton 28 March 2029 rowspan=2 Conservative Death of Viscount Bridgeman9 April 2029 Resignation of the Earl of Liverpool17 April 2029

Scottish and Irish by-elections

By-elections to the House of Lords

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