House of Lords reform: Hereditary members at the end of the 2024–26 session

Approximate read time: 10 minutes

1. Background to the departure of hereditary members

The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the right to sit in the House of Lords for the majority of hereditary peers. However, under provisions of the act, up to 92 ‘excepted’ hereditary peers could remain in the House of Lords, including two hereditary peers holding the offices of earl marshal and lord great chamberlain.^[1] When any of these excepted hereditary members subsequently left the House, they were replaced through by-elections.^[2]

The government introduced the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill in September 2024 to fulfil a manifesto commitment to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House. The House had earlier agreed to pause by-elections while the House debated the future of hereditary peerages.

The bill reached its final stages in the House of Lords on 10 March 2026 and received royal assent on 18 March 2026.^[3] Under the terms of the act the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords ceased at the end of the 2024–26 parliamentary session, which took place on 29 April 2026.

However, four members chose to retire between the act passing and the end of the session. Other departing members were set to return to the House of Lords following the government’s decision to offer additional life peerages.^[4] During the bill’s final stage the leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Smith of Basildon, said:

[…] we are committed to ensuring that the House can continue to function effectively. I have been consistently clear that this has never been about hampering the ability of the opposition to scrutinise the government. The government have had constructive conversations with the official opposition on completing the passage of this legislation. Having had those discussions, we appreciate the case that has been made by the official opposition that they rely significantly on the experience of hereditary peers, particularly on the front bench but also in committees. Therefore, an agreed number of life peerages will be allocated to the official opposition—and to the crossbenchers, who made a similar case in relation to experience.

As always, it will be for the party opposite to decide which individuals, from within or outside the House, it wishes to nominate for peerages, subject to vetting by the House of Lords Appointments Commission on the basis of propriety.

Three hereditary members received life peerages announced on 10 December 2025. The government announced a further 26 former hereditary members would receive life peerages in a list published on 12 May 2026.^[5] Four of the members set to receive life peerages had previously been excluded in 1999 and returned in a by-election: Lord Cromwell, Lord Grantchester, Lord Londesborough and Lord Russell of Liverpool.

2. Hereditary members in March/April 2026

On the date the bill completed its final stages, 10 March 2026, 85 excepted hereditary peers had seats in the House of Lords. Those members were all male. The youngest was 39 (Lord Harlech) and the oldest 95 (Viscount Bridgeman).^[6]

The party or group affiliation of the members was as follows:

• 44 Conservative
• 31 Crossbench
• Four Labour
• Four Liberal Democrat
• Two non-affiliated

The table below identifies these members together with their length of service to the end of the 2024–26 session, or retirement, death, or life peerage if this occurred earlier. It also notes whether an individual is expected to receive a life peerage enabling them to continue sitting in the House of Lords.

*Lengths of service include a period before 1999 and a later return following a by-election.

(Life peerages are announced by the government. See: Prime Minister’s Office, ‘Political peerages December 2025’, 10 December 2025; and ‘Political peerages May 2026’, 12 May 2026.)

3. Read more

• House of Lords Library, ‘House of Lords data dashboard: Current membership of the House’, accessed 13 May 2026
• House of Lords Library, ‘House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026: How was it amended as it went through Parliament?’, 13 April 2026
• House of Lords Library, ‘Excepted hereditary peers: How active are they in the House of Lords?’, 16 October 2024
• House of Lords Library, ‘Proposed legislation to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords: 1999–2024’, 10 September 2024

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Image © House of Lords 2025 / photography by Roger Harris

This briefing was updated on 14 May 2026.