Election of the Lord Speaker 2016
The previous Lord Speaker, Baroness D'Souza, announced on 11 February 2016 that she would not seek re-election. Following an election on 8 June 2016, Lord Fowler was appointed Lord Speaker.
Lord Speaker election result
Lord Fowler has been appointed as Lord Speaker following the election that took place on 8 June 2016. He took office on 1 September 2016.
Timetable for the election of the Lord Speaker:
| Date | Event |
| Thursday 19 May, 5 pm | Deadline for candidatures to be registered. Each candidate requires a proposer and a seconder. Deadline for election addresses of up to 75 words. |
| Monday 23 May | List of candidates published and sent to all members of the House, together with a statement of each candidate's parliamentary service, their entry in the Register of Lords' Interests and election addresses of up to 75 words. Ballot papers sent to those requesting a postal vote. |
| Wednesday 8 June | Voting takes place |
| Monday 13 June | The Clerk of the Parliaments to report the result of the election to the House at the start of business. Her Majesty The Queen's approval of the House's choice of Lord Speaker to be notified. Full election results available online and in the Printed Paper Office. |
| Thursday 1 September | New Lord Speaker takes office. |
| Monday 5 September | New Lord Speaker sits on the Woolsack for the first time at the start of business. |
List of candidates published
A list of candidates was published by the Clerk of the Parliaments on 23 May.
The candidates were:
The Clerk of the Parliaments also published further information about the candidates (pdf 775KB), including their election addresses, records of parliamentary service, and entries in the Register of Lords' Interests.
Eligibility to vote
All members of the Lords who have taken the oath in this Parliament are eligible to vote, except those who are:
- subject to statutory disqualification
- suspended from the service of the House
- on leave of absence.
Voting system
The 'Alternative Vote' system is used for the election. Voters place the figure '1' in the box next to the name of the candidate they most strongly support, the figure '2' against the next most favoured candidate, and so on.
In order to be elected, the successful candidate must receive at least as many votes as all the other candidates put together. If this does not happen after first-preference votes have been allocated, the votes of the candidates receiving the lowest number of first-preference votes will be shared out according to the second preference marked on them. This is repeated until one candidate has at least half of the total valid votes.