House of Lords data dashboard: Current membership of the House
This page provides interactive data on the current membership of the House of Lords.

This House of Lords Library Briefing contains a brief history of life peerages, as well as an exploration of appointing Peers outside of the Life Peerages Act 1958.
Life Peerage Creations: Powers of the Crown (143 KB , PDF)
The Lord Speaker’s committee on the size of the House’s report, Report of the Lord Speaker’s committee on the Size of the House (31 October 2017), commented on advice it received contending that the Monarch is empowered to appoint life Peers outside of the Life Peerages Act 1958, and that Peers appointed in this way would not be entitled to a seat in the House of Lords. Accordingly, the committee encouraged the Government to pursue this option in tandem with their main proposals. This Briefing further explores this option by considering the background to the appointment of life Peers; the Wensleydale Peerage case which challenged the Crown’s authority to create life Peers; and ways in which the Crown may honour individuals to be addressed as Lord or Lady, without sitting and voting rights in the House of Lords outside of the Life Peerages Act 1958.
Life Peerage Creations: Powers of the Crown (143 KB , PDF)
This page provides interactive data on the current membership of the House of Lords.
The government’s House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill would remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords and abolish its jurisdiction in hereditary peerage claims. The bill completed its Commons stages unamended and was introduced in the House of Lords in November 2024. The bill’s second reading in the Lords took place on 11 December 2024. This briefing provides an overview of that debate and lists the areas which future amendments could focus on.
The House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) vets nominations to the House and recommends non-party political members. While its advice is usually followed, it is not a statutory body and the prime minister can choose to disregard its advice. This briefing provides an overview of the role and powers of the commission and summarises recent debates concerning its reform.