Non-affiliated members of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

are peers who do not belong to any parliamentary group. They do not take a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

's whip, nor affiliate to the

crossbench 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 oppos ...

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 Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

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 are crossbenchers. 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