Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords
Members of the House of Lords are said to be non-affiliated if they do not belong to any parliamentary group. That is, they do not take a political party's whip, nor affiliate to the crossbench group, nor the Lords Spiritual (bishops). Formerly, the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary were also a separate affiliation, but their successors (the Justices of the Supreme Court) are now disqualified from the Lords while in office and are described as "Ineligible" rather than "Non-affiliated".[1]
Most non-party Lords Temporal are crossbenchers. Members with senior official roles are counted as non-affiliated while they hold them, to preserve their neutrality; they may (re-)affiliate to a group at the end of their term of office. 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 choose this designation rather than joining the crossbench.[2]
Although the Lord Speaker must drop any party affiliation upon their election,[3] they are not considered as a non-affiliated peer.
List of Non-affiliated Members
The UK Parliament website lists the following "Non-affiliated" members of the House of Lords,[4][5] excluding those on leave of absence or suspended:[1]
| Member | Previous affiliation | Reason for change |
|---|---|---|
| Lord Ahmed | Labour | Resigned following allegation of antisemitism |
| Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare | Conservative | Expelled following imprisonment for perjury |
| Lord Bhatia | Crossbench | Following return from suspension from the House in connection with expenses scandal |
| Lord Boswell of Aynho | Conservative | Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees (2012–present) |
| Lord Carter of Barnes | Labour | |
| Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice | Conservative | |
| Lord Davies of Abersoch | Labour | |
| Lord Eatwell | Labour | |
| Lord Elis-Thomas | Plaid Cymru | |
| Lord Filkin | Labour | |
| Lord Gadhia | Conservative | |
| Lord Hanningfield | Conservative | Briefly suspended from the House following criminal conviction for false accounting. |
| Lord Inglewood | Conservative | |
| Lord Kalms | Conservative | Expelled after supporting UKIP in 2009 European elections |
| Lord Lester of Herne Hill | Liberal Democrat | |
| Lord Lipsey | Labour | |
| Lord Macdonald of River Glaven | Liberal Democrat | |
| Lord McFall of Alcluith | Labour | Senior Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords (2016–present) |
| Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate | Labour | Following return from suspension from the House in connection with lobbying scandal |
| Duke of Norfolk | Crossbench | Earl Marshal |
| Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay | Liberal Democrat | Following leave of absence in connection with a dispute regarding Nick Clegg's role as party leader |
| Lord Patel of Bradford | Labour | |
| Lord Paul | Labour | Following return from suspension from the House in connection with expenses scandal |
| Lord Prior of Brampton | Conservative | |
| Lord Smith of Finsbury | Labour | |
| Baroness Stowell of Beeston | Conservative | |
| Lord Taylor of Warwick | Conservative | Following return from suspension from the House in connection with expenses scandal and imprisonment for false accounting |
| Baroness Tonge | Liberal Democrat | Resigned the whip in 2012 after Israeli Apartheid Week comments |
| Lord Tyrie | Conservative | Entered the House without affiliation due to his role as Chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority |
| Baroness Uddin | Labour | Following return from suspension from the House in connection with expenses scandal |
List of Independent Members
There are other members listed with an "Independent" designation within the House of Lords:[4][5]
| Member | Designation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Baroness Blackstone | Independent Labour | |
| Lord Maginnis of Drumglass | Independent Ulster Unionist | Resigned whip following homophobic remarks[6] |
| Lord Owen | Independent Social Democrat | Left Crossbenches following donation to Labour[7] |
| Lord Stoddart of Swindon | Independent Labour | Expelled after supporting Socialist Alliance candidate in the 2001 general election |
| Lord Truscott | Independent Labour | Resigned following "cash for influence" allegations of 2009 |
See also
References
- 1 2 "Ineligible members of the House of Lords". UK Parliament.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "The Lord Speaker". UK Parliament.
- 1 2 "Lords by party and type of peerage". UK Parliament.
- 1 2 "Members of the House of Lords". UK Parliament.
- ↑ ""Party distances itself from Maginnis gay marriage remarks"". BBC News. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
- ↑ 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.