List of elected hereditary peers under the House of Lords Act 1999

This is a list of hereditary peers elected to serve in the House of Lords under the provisions of the House of Lords Act 1999 and the Standing Orders of the House of Lords. The Act excluded all hereditary peers who were not also life peers except for two holders of royal offices plus ninety other peers, to be chosen by the House.

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

The total number and sub-composition set out above reflects a compromise to ensure passage of the Act through the House reached between then-Prime Minister Tony Blair and the most senior Conservative in the Lords, Viscount Cranborne (known since his father's death in 2003 as the Marquess of Salisbury), a descendent of the last Prime Minister to sit in the Lords. The number elected by each group reflected the relative strengths of the parties among hereditary peers at that time. Historically, the Conservatives had predominated in the House since 1890; it was this entrenched position which led to the removal of the absolute power of veto from the House of Lords by the Parliament Act 1911 and was the chief catalyst for the removal of most hereditary peers in 1999.

The fifteen peers elected by the whole house were intended to provide a group of experienced members ready to serve as Deputy Speakers or other officers.

The initial elections took place before the House of Lords Act took effect; therefore all hereditary peers could vote in those elections. From the end of the 1998–1999 session of parliament until the following session, vacancies (usually triggered by death) were to be filled by runners up in the initial elections. Two Crossbench peers, Lord Cobbold and Lord Chorley, returned to the House this way, having sat before 1999. Since then, vacancies among the group of 15 peers have been filled through by-elections, with all members of the House entitled to vote. The Procedure Committee has recommended that any peer elected at a by-election in this category should not be expected to serve as a Deputy Speaker. In by-elections to fill vacancies in the political groups, only hereditary peers of that group sitting in the House may vote.

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