Table of contents
Approximate read time: 3 minutes
1. What data is available?
There is no official data on the ethnic diversity of the House of Lords. However, estimates available suggest there has been progress. Around 6% of members of the House of Lords in 2018 came from an ethnic minority background, an increase from an estimated 3% of members in 2000.[1]
In comparison, the 2024 general election saw a rise in the number of MPs coming from an ethnic minority background. British Future’s analysis of the election results found that almost 14% of MPs are from an ethnic minority background. It compared this to an assessment of census data that suggests 14% of the UK electorate is from an ethnic minority background.[2]
There is no official data or estimates about the religious diversity of the House of Lords. The membership though is increasingly multi-faith. However, members are not appointed solely because of any religious beliefs or ‘ex-officio’ position they hold. The exceptions are the lords spiritual. They make up around 3% of the membership of the House of Lords, a small percentage of the overall size. Lords spiritual are the 26 Church of England bishops. There are also members who hold no religious beliefs.
2. How do appointments and the size of the membership effect the diversity of the House of Lords?
The diversity of the House of Lords is dependent upon the numbers joining and leaving over a period. Given membership is for life, and retirement has only been possible since 2014, change in the overall diversity of the House of Lords can be therefore slow.
The monarch formally appoints members through the creation of life peerages granted to individuals. These peers are created on the advice of the prime minister. The prime minister controls the regularity and number of new appointments and, to an extent, the diversity of these nominations, particularly from their own party. In practice, the prime minister will seek nominations from opposition parties, as well as nominating from his/her own, who are responsible for the names they put forward.
The prime minister is also able to nominate up to 10 individuals per parliament to the crossbenches who have a proven record of public service. Among such public service appointments in recent years have been retired senior civil servants, a retired Church of England bishop and former diplomats.
The House of Lords Appointments Committee (HOLAC) provides the prime minister with nominations to the crossbenches. In making its suggestions, HOLAC is asked by the prime minister to have regard to diversity, including ethnicity, religion, gender and geographic, as well as professional expertise. HOLAC also vets all political peerage nominations for propriety but has no say about the diversity, or overall suitability, of those nominations.
In the last decade, the annual number of HOLAC appointments has been around two or three, relatively small compared to political appointments. To date about 16% of its 75 appointments have been from an ethnic minority group.[3]
3. Read more
- House of Lords Library, ‘Ethnic and religious diversity in the House of Lords’, 5 November 2019
Cover image: Copyright House of Lords 2022 / Photography by Annabel Moeller
References
- House of Lords Constitution Committee, ‘Corrected oral evidence: House of Lords Appointments Commission’, 28 November 2018, Q4; and House of Lords Appointments Commission, ‘Report on first term 2000–2003’, 2003, p 23. Return to text
- British Future, ‘Landmark for representation as diversity of parliament nears that of electorate’, 5 July 2024. Return to text
- House of Lords Constitution Committee, ‘Corrected oral evidence: House of Lords Appointments Commission’, 28 November 2018, Q4; and House of Lords Appointments Commission, ‘HOLAC appointments’, accessed 1 August 2024. Return to text