Table of contents
The source of the data in this article is the House of Lords membership data on the UK Parliament website and House of Lords Library records.
1. How many members does the House of Lords have?
As of 27 September 2022, the total membership of the House of Lords was 798, of which 755 were eligible to attend proceedings. Members ineligible to attend include those on leave of absence or disqualified from sitting. Of the total membership of 798, 229 were women (29%).
Most of the 755 eligible members were life peers (645). The remaining members comprised 24 bishops and 86 ‘excepted hereditary’ members, both categories of which have a reserved number of places. There were two bishop vacancies to be filled and five hereditary byelections scheduled to take place in October 2022.
Of the total membership, the average (mean) age was 71, an increase from the average age of 70 in 2020. Of the current total membership, the oldest member was Lord Christopher (Labour) at 97. The youngest member was Lord Harlech (Conservative) at 36.
1.1 Party/group composition
Figure 1 shows the composition of the 755 current eligible members by their party or group.
Figure 1: Eligible membership of the House of Lords by party/group, September 2022
2. How has the size of the House changed over time?
Figure 2 shows the total membership and the eligible membership of the House of Lords for each parliamentary session since 1992–93. It also shows the average daily attendance in each session.
Figure 2: Size of the House of Lords and average daily attendance, 1992–2021
The graph shows a significant decline in the total membership following the removal of most of the hereditary peers by the House of Lords Act 1999. Since then, the membership has gradually increased, from around 700 members in 2000 to almost 800 at present. Since 2010, following the formation of the coalition government, average daily attendance increased from approximately 400 to 500 and has remained broadly at that level since. The reduction in daily attendance during the 2019–21 session was largely due to coronavirus restrictions which placed limits on the number of members who could attend the House in person.
3. How has party/group composition changed over time?
Figure 3 shows the proportion of the different parties/groups in the House of Lords for each parliamentary session between 1984–85 and 2019–21.
Figure 3: Party/group composition as percentage of eligible membership, 1984–2021
The data shows that the Conservatives and the Crossbenchers were the dominant groups in the House in the 1980s and 1990s. The proportion of Conservative and Crossbench-affiliated members dramatically reduced when most hereditary peers were removed by the House of Lords Act 1999. Labour increased its membership in the late 1990s and the 2000s and overtook the Conservatives as the largest group in the 2005–06 session. The group peaked at the end of the 2010–12 session. However, since then Labour’s membership has reduced, and the Conservatives and Crossbench groups have regained their position as the largest groupings.
4. Members leaving and joining the House
Since 2014, peers have been able to resign from the House of Lords. Members also lose their seat upon death, or due to not attending during the previous parliamentary session (subject to certain exceptions). Members may also be expelled from the House.
In recent years, concerns have been raised about the increasing size of the House of Lords. In response, the previous Lord Speaker, Lord Fowler, set up a committee to look at the issue in December 2016. The committee, chaired by Lord Burns (Crossbench), published a report in October 2017 setting out recommendations for how the size of the House could be reduced to and maintained at a membership of 600. It called for a “two out, one in” system of departures and new appointments.
Figure 4 shows the number of members who joined or left the House in each calendar year since 2014 (data for 2022 is accurate up to 27 September 2022).
Figure 4: Number of members leaving and joining the House of Lords, 2014–22
The data shows that in most years over the 2014–22 period the number of members leaving the House outnumbered those joining. The exceptions were 2014, 2015 (in which there was a general election), and in 2020 and 2021 (following the December 2019 general election).
4.1 Composition of retirements
Of those members retiring from the House, the table and graph below show a breakdown of their party/group affiliation for each calendar year since 2014 (data for 2022 is accurate up to 27 September 2022).
Table 1: Retirements from the House of Lords by party/group, 2014–22
| Year | Conservative | Labour | Lib Dem | Crossbench | Other/Non-affiliated | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 2015 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 33 |
| 2016 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 18 |
| 2017 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 21 |
| 2018 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 13 |
| 2019 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 14 |
| 2020 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 24 |
| 2021 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 16 |
| 2022 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 18 |
| Total | 57 | 28 | 15 | 51 | 10 | 161 |
Figure 5: Retirements from the House of Lords by party/group, 2014–22
5. Read more
- House of Lords Library, ‘House of Lords data dashboard: Peerage creations’, 4 May 2022
- House of Lords Library, ‘Representation of women in the House of Lords’, 24 February 2021
- House of Lords Library, ‘Lords appointments: Life peerages created since 1958’, 20 January 2021
Image: Copyright House of Lords 2019 / Photography by Roger Harris