Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords are

peers Peers may refer to: People * Donald Peers * Edgar Allison Peers, English academician * Gavin Peers * John Peers, Australian tennis player * Kerry Peers * Mark Peers * Michael Peers * Steve Peers * Teddy Peers (1886–1935), Welsh international ...

who do not belong to any parliamentary group. They do not take a political party's

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

, nor affiliate to the crossbench group, nor are they

Lords Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who serve in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. 26 out of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not counting retired archbi ...

(bishops). Formerly, the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary were also a separate affiliation, but their successors (the

justices of the Supreme Court The following are lists of justices of several national Supreme Courts: * : List of Justices of the High Court of Australia * : List of justices of the Supreme Court of Canada * : List of justices of the Federal Constitutional Court * : Li ...

) are disqualified from the Lords until they no longer hold a judicial position. Most non-party

Lords Temporal The Lords Temporal are secular members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament. These can be either life peers or hereditary peers, although the hereditary right to sit in the House of Lords was abolished for all but n ...

are

crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

s. Peers may also be required to sit as non-affiliated while they hold certain senior positions within the Lords, as a means to preserve the neutrality of their official role. 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. Although the Lord Speaker must withdraw from any party affiliation upon their election to the speakership, they are not considered as a non-affiliated peer.

List of Non-affiliated Peers

The UK Parliament website lists the following Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords, including those not currently eligible to sit in the Lords:

List of Independent Peers

There are other peers who list themselves as Independent within the House of Lords:

References

{{reflist House of Lords Lists of legislators in the United Kingdom House of Lords-related lists

List of Non-affiliated Peers

List of Independent Peers

See also

References