Talk:By-elections to the House of Lords

All-house elections appear to only be contested by peers of the same party as departed member
It appears that, in practice, recent all-house elections are contested predominately/only by peers of the same party as departed member. I assume this is a convention that has developed. Is there anything written down about this somewhere? LukeSurlt c 15:44, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

This is explained at the start of the article.---Ehrenkater (talk) 15:48, 1 November 2023 (UTC)


 * I am not discussing those seats reserved for members of a particular party. I am considering all-house election cases such as the 2021 election after the retirement of crossbencher the Countess of Mar. This was an all-house election, but the only candidates were cross-benchers. A similar situation occured in 2023 with a Lib-Dem elected by the whole house from a Lib-Dem only candidate list. This doesn't seem to be mandated by law as in 2017 for example there were peers of multiple parties as candidates to replace Lord Lyell. It appears to be a recent convention. LukeSurlt c 11:37, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * As far as I understand there are hereditary peers who can be elected to serve in the Lords irrespective of their party (by the whole House), and those who are elected to serve by virtue of their party (elected by members of said party). The reasoning is set out in List of hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act 1999 - I take it to mean that a retiring/deceased peer elected under one of these provisions would be replaced under the same provisions, allowing for a replacement by a peer of a different party in the case that they were elected by the whole house. In the article, you can see Lord Lyell was elected by the whole house in 1999, making his seat eligible for anyone to contest subsequently. If you think this was unclear from your reading of the article, it might be wise to state this better at the start of this article and clearly state which "class" of Lord is being elected in each by-election. See excerpt from article below. Maswimelleu (talk) 10:08, 3 November 2023 (UTC)

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

The convention Luke is referring to is known as the Carter Convention, and I believe is named for Lord Carter of Devizes. It has seldom been referred to by name, but it has existed since 1999. See Hansard of 10 November 2021: Hereditary Peers By-elections. Originally this convention was not referred to in the by-election notices for Whole House vacancies and so there were candidates from many political backgrounds (even though the Lords would elect a peer of the same party as the retired/deceased peer). I believe that since the by-election to fill the vacancies created by the retirement of the Countess of Mar & Lord Elton in 2021, the by-election notices explicitly refer to a convention that the peer to be elected by the whole house should be of the same party as their predecessor. See House of Lords notice to hereditary peers on the register: By-elections to replace six hereditary peers (12 May 2021):
 * 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 Crossbencher hereditary peers
 * 15 peers to be elected by the whole House
 * The holders of the offices of Earl Marshal (the Duke of Norfolk) and Lord Great Chamberlain (currently the Baron Carrington, who was already elected as a Crossbench peer) to be ex officio member


 * Whole House hereditary peer by-election (Crossbench)
 * The Countess of Mar was one of the 15 hereditary peers elected by the whole House in 1999 from among those ready to serve as Deputy Speakers or in any other office. Therefore, under Standing Order 9(3), her successor will be elected by the whole House. In 1999 the Procedure Committee recommended that any peer elected at a by-election in this category should not be expected to serve as a Deputy Speaker. Under the terms of an informal agreement amongst the parties and groups in the House of Lords, it is expected that this vacancy will be filled by an hereditary peer who will sit as a crossbench member of the House

I hope this answers Luke's query. --New Progressive (talk) 10:14, 4 November 2023 (UTC)


 * Thank you, you’ve got it perfectly! I think this is worth discussing in the article. LukeSurlt c 20:35, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Are you happy to add it @LukeSurl? OGBC1992 (talk) 20:49, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ LukeSurlt c 21:07, 6 November 2023 (UTC)