Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords are peers who do not belong to any parliamentary group in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. They do not take a political party's whip, nor affiliate to the crossbench group, nor are they Lords Spiritual (active Church of England bishops). Formerly, the law lords were also a separate affiliation, but their successors (justices of the Supreme Court) are disqualified from sitting in the Lords until they no longer hold a judicial position.[1]

Most non-party Lords Temporal are crossbenchers. Peers may also be required to sit as non-affiliated while they hold certain senior positions within the Lords (e.g. the senior deputy speaker), as a means to preserve the neutrality of their official roles. Some members become non-affiliated after resigning or being expelled from a party, either through a political disagreement or after a scandal such as the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal. Others have had no party allegiance and chose this designation rather than joining the crossbench.[2]

Although a member who is elected Lord Speaker must withdraw from any party affiliation,[3] he is not considered to be a non-affiliated peer.

Non-affiliated members

The UK Parliament website lists the following non-affiliated members of the House of Lords, including those not currently eligible to sit in the Lords:[4]

MemberPrevious affiliationReason for change
Lord Archer of Weston-Super-MareConservativeExpelled following imprisonment for perjury
Lord Austin of DudleyLabourJoined Lords without party affiliation
Lord Black of CrossharbourConservativeUnaffiliated following conviction in the US of one count of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice, for which he served 37 months in prison
Lord Boswell of AynhoConservativePrincipal Deputy Chairman of Committees (2012–present)
Lord Boyd of DuncansbynoneCurrently ineligible as a Senator of the College of Justice
Lord BrennanLabour
Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-HillnoneCurrently ineligible as Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales
Lord Carter of BarnesLabour
Baroness Chisholm of OwlpenConservative
Lord Cooper of WindrushConservativeSuspended from party whip after expressing support for Liberal Democrats in 2019 European Parliament elections
Lord Darzi of DenhamLabourResigned from party whip in July 2019 in protest of the party's response to antisemitism complaints[5]
Lord Davies of AbersochLabour
Lord Elis-ThomasPlaid Cymru
Lord FaulksConservative
Baroness Foster of AghadrumseeDemocratic Unionist PartyJoined Lords without party affiliation
Baroness Fox of BuckleyBrexitJoined Lords without party affiliation
Lord GadhiaConservative
Lord Gardiner of KimbleConservativeSenior Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords (2021–present)
Lord Grade of YarmouthConservativeChairman of Ofcom
Lord HanningfieldConservativeBriefly suspended from the House following criminal conviction for false accounting
Lord HeseltineConservativeSuspended from party whip after expressing support for Liberal Democrats in 2019 European Parliament elections
Baroness HoeyLabourJoined Lords without party affiliation
Lord InglewoodConservativeExcepted hereditary peer elected to Lords by Conservative hereditary peers
Lord KalmsConservativeExpelled after supporting UKIP in 2009 European elections
Lord LuptonConservative
Lord Mackenzie of FramwellgateLabourFollowing return from suspension from the House in connection with lobbying scandal
Lord MannLabour
Lord Moore of EtchinghamnoneJoined Lords without party affiliation
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove BayLiberal DemocratResigned from party whip in protest of party leadership[6]
Lord PaddickLiberal DemocratWithdrew from Liberal Democrat whip during his advisory role with the Metropolitan Police[7]
Lord Patel of BradfordLabour
Lord PaulLabourFollowing return from suspension from the House in connection with expenses scandal
Lord Pearson of RannochUKIPResigned from party whip in protest of party leadership during Brexit negotiations
Lord Prior of BramptonConservative
Lord RosenfieldnoneJoined Lords without party affiliation
Lord Smith of FinsburyLabour
Lord Stone of BlackheathLabourSuspended from party whip due to misconduct[8]
Lord Taylor of WarwickConservativeFollowing return from suspension from the House in connection with expenses scandal and imprisonment for false accounting
Lord TruscottLabourResigned from party whip following the "cash for influence" allegations of 2009
Lord TyrieConservativeEntered the House without affiliation due to his role as Chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority
Baroness UddinLabourFollowing return from suspension from the House in connection with expenses scandal
Baroness VaderaLabour
Lord VerdiramenoneJoined Lords without party affiliation
Lord Willoughby de BrokeUKIPExcepted hereditary peer elected to Lords by Conservative hereditary peers

Also previously switched affiliation to UK Independence Party

Independent members

There are other peers who list themselves as Independent within the House of Lords:

MemberPrevious affiliationDesignationNotes
Lord Maginnis of DrumglassUlster Unionist PartyIndependent Ulster UnionistResigned from party whip following homophobic remarks[9]

Currently suspended from the Lords

Lord OwenCrossbenchIndependent Social DemocratLeft the Crossbench following a donation to Labour[10]
Lord Stevens of LudgateUKIPConservative IndependentExpelled from Conservative whip in 2004 for supporting UKIP,[11] sat as Conservative Independent until 2012

See also

References

  1. "Ineligible Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords". UK Parliament.
  2. "The party system". UK Parliament. MPs and Members of the Lords do not have to belong to a political party. Instead, MPs can sit as Independents and Lords can sit as Crossbenchers or Independents.
  3. "The Lord Speaker". UK Parliament.
  4. "Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords". UK Parliament.
  5. "Three Labour peers quit over handling of antisemitism cases". The Guardian. 9 July 2019.
  6. "Oakeshott quits Lib Dems with Clegg 'disaster' warning". BBC News. 28 May 2014.
  7. "Lord Paddick to join the Metropolitan Police as a Non Executive Advisor". libdemvoice.org. 10 October 2023.
  8. "Labour peer suspended over sexual harassment and transphobia". The Guardian. 23 October 2019.
  9. ""Party distances itself from Maginnis gay marriage remarks"". BBC News. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  10. Eaton, George (2 March 2014). "David Owen joins Miliband's big tent with donation to Labour of more than £7,500". New Statesman. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  11. "Former Conservative peer Lord Stevens to join UK Independence Party". BBC News. BBC. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
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