FAQs on Lords statistics: Members

How many Members are there by party and type of peerage?

What is the average age of all Members?
69 years

What is the average daily attendance by Members per session in the House of Lords?
Session 2008-2009: average daily attendance = 400 Members
Average daily attendance figures for previous sessions

How many current Members of the House of Lords were once MPs?
171 Members
List of Members of the Lords who were once MPs

How many female Members are there in the House of Lords?
147 Members (145 life and 2 elected hereditary Members)

Percentage of women in each party or group:

Which three Members of the House of Lords asked the most written and oral questions in the last session?
Written Questions: 2008-09 session

Oral Questions: 2008-09 session

How many Members of the House of Lords are on leave of absence?
12 Members of the Lords
List of Members on leave of absence

What happens now if an elected hereditary Member of the House of Lords dies?
The House of Lords Act 1999 provides for a vacancy among the hereditary Members to be filled by a by-election.

By-elections, as set out in House of Lords Standing Orders, came into effect at the beginning of the second session of the Parliament beginning 2001 (i.e. November 2002).

Anyone on the register of hereditary Members eligible to stand can choose to be a candidate should a vacancy arise. The election must take place within three months of any vacancy occurring.

Register of hereditary peers eligible to stand in a by-election

By-elections in the House of Lords

House of Lords Information Offices: press notices - view notices, lists of candidates and results of previous by-elections

Information on previous by-elections

How much are Members of the House of Lords paid?
Members of the Lords are not paid. They are entitled to claim allowances - or expenses - for costs they incur in attending either a sitting of the House and/or a meeting of the committee of the House.

How much can Members claim on expenses if they attend the House each day?
Members of the House of Lords, who do not receive a salary, may claim the following allowances per sitting day - for attending a sitting of the House and/or a meeting of a committee of the House.

Note: the above allowance rates were set on 1 August 2008 and remain unchanged.

Full details of Members' expenses for recent budget periods

Which office holders in the Lords are paid?
Three office holders in the Lords receive a salary:

(As at 1 April 2008)

Do any other Members of the Lords receive a salary?
Yes, but not out of House of Lords funds. Members holding the following posts are paid from Government funds.

(As at 1 April 2009)

What is Cranborne Money?
The two Opposition parties and the Convenor of the Crossbench Peers in the House of Lords receive financial assistance for their parliamentary business.

Known as 'Cranborne money', the amounts payable are uprated annually in line with the retail prices index and are subject to independent audit.

For the 2009/10 financial year, the rates payable to Opposition parties in the Lords were: