This House of Lords Library briefing provides a list of hereditary peers’ by-election results since the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, including information on turn out and the number of candidates.
Hereditary By-elections: Results (591KB PDF)
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. Since the start of the 2002–03 session, when one of the 90 hereditary peers dies, retires or is excluded, a replacement is chosen in a by-election.
There are two different types of by-election. Of the 90 hereditary peers, 15 were elected to provide the House with Members able to act as Deputy Speakers and other office-holders. They are voted for by the whole House. Replacements for vacancies among the remaining 75 are voted for by the other hereditary peers in a particular party or by the Crossbench hereditary peers. In 1999, the 75 seats were allocated proportionally to reflect the affiliations of the hereditary peers who sat prior to the House of Lords 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; and 28 are elected by Crossbench hereditary peers.
In addition to these 90 Members, two peers—the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain—remain Members of the Lords by virtue of the royal offices they hold. Some hereditary peers who were Members of the House prior to the 1999 Act were also given life peerages.
Hereditary By-elections: Results (591KB PDF)
The House of Lords (Alternative Second Chamber Bill) [HL] is a private member’s bill introduced by Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru). It would require the secretary of state to carry out a consultation regarding proposals for replacing the House of Lords with an alternative second chamber. The bill specifies whom the secretary of state would be required to consult with and the timeframe of that consultation.
![House of Lords (Alternative Second Chamber) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 11 of 2026–27](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/House-of-Lords-568x426.png)
The bill is a government bill that would make a range of changes to the legal framework concerning elections, including extending the franchise for UK parliamentary elections and other reserved elections to 16- and 17-year-olds. The bill was amended during both its committee and report stages in the House of Commons, with many of the government’s later amendments implementing recommendations from the Rycroft review on countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics.
Social media and other technologies have made it easier, quicker and cheaper for foreign powers to spread false information online aimed at undermining UK democracy. Such disinformation campaigns are one type of interference operation. In parallel, researchers have noted a link between declining public trust and societal polarisation, which can be exacerbated by online discourse. This briefing provides introductory reading to these issues, including recent reports and government announcements.
