House of Lords Reform Act 2014

The House of Lords Reform Act 2014 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom.^[1] The Act was a private member's bill. It received royal assent on 14 May 2014. The Act allows members of the House of Lords to retire or resign – actions previously constitutionally impossible for life peers.^[a] It also makes provision to exclude members who commit serious criminal offences resulting in a jail sentence of at least one year,^[b] and members who fail to attend the House for a whole session, provided that the session is longer than 6 months. The Act does not have retrospective effect.

House of Lords Reform Act 2014

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make provision for resignation from the House of Lords; and to make provision for the expulsion of Members of the House of Lords in specified circumstances.
Introduced by	Dan Byles MP (Commons) David Steel, Lord Steel of Aikwood (Lords)
Territorial extent	United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent	14 May 2014
Commencement	14 August 2014 (§§ 1−2) 14 May 2014 (§§ 3−7)
Other legislation
Relates to	Peerage Act 1963 Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (§ 42)    July
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

As of December 2025^[update], 205 peers have resigned or retired, and a further 16 peers were removed under the Act's provisions regarding non-attendance. The first peer to resign was Julian Grenfell, 3rd Baron Grenfell, on 1 October 2014.

Amongst other things, this Act provides for the right of peers to resign from the House of Lords, whilst keeping their title and style. Section 4(5) states that those who have resigned or been removed from the House of Lords can stand or re-stand as MPs. To date, no such person has become an MP.

Peers removed for non-attendance under the provisions of the Act

No	Peer	Party		Type	Date joined      in Lords	Date removed	Post removal	Died
1	Lord Bridges[2]		Crossbench	Hereditary	12 February 1975	18 May 2016	1 year, 9 days	27 May 2017(2017-05-27) (aged 89)
2	Lord Neill of Bladen[3]		Crossbench	Life	28 November 1997	18 May 2016	10 days	28 May 2016(2016-05-28) (aged 89)
3	Lord Thomas of Macclesfield[4]		Labour	Life	28 November 1997	18 May 2016	2 years, 44 days	1 July 2018(2018-07-01) (aged 80)
4	Baroness Thomas of Walliswood[5]		Liberal Democrat	Life	6 October 1994	18 May 2016	7 years, 141 days	6 October 2023(2023-10-06) (aged 87)
5	Baroness Turner of Camden[6]		Labour	Life	28 May 1985	13 June 2017	3 years, 101 days	26 February 2018(2018-02-26) (aged 90)
6	Lord Wolfson of Sunningdale[7]		Conservative	Life	26 March 1991	13 June 2017	3 years, 270 days	10 March 2021(2021-03-10) (aged 85)
7	Lord Selsdon[8]		Conservative	Hereditary	30 July 1963	11 May 2021	3 years, 130 days	18 September 2024(2024-09-18) (aged 86)
8	Lord Rogers of Riverside[9]		Labour	Life	17 October 1996	11 May 2021	221 days	18 December 2021(2021-12-18) (aged 88)
9	Lord Bhatia[10]		Non-affiliated	Life	5 June 2001	7 November 2023	66 days	12 January 2024(2024-01-12) (aged 91)
10	Lord Dixon-Smith[11]		Conservative	Life	11 October 1993	7 November 2023	2 years, 41 days
11	Lord Willoughby de Broke[12]		Non-affiliated	Hereditary	9 July 1986	9 July 2024	1 year, 162 days
12	Lord Prescott[13]		Labour	Life	7 July 2010	9 July 2024	134 days	20 November 2024(2024-11-20) (aged 86)
13	Lord Davies of Oldham[14]		Labour	Life	3 October 1997	9 July 2024	1 year, 162 days
14	Baroness Corston[15]		Labour	Life	29 June 2005	9 July 2024	1 year, 162 days
15	Lord Black of Crossharbour[16]		Non-affiliated	Life	30 October 2001	9 July 2024	1 year, 162 days
16	Lord Kalms[17]		Non-affiliated	Life	1 June 2004	9 July 2024	264 days	30 March 2025(2025-03-30) (aged 93)

See also

• Reform of the House of Lords (details reform proposals put forward since 1997)
• History of reform of the House of Lords (details reforms enacted since the 16th century)
• House of Lords Act 1999 (whose provisions were amended by the 2014 Act)
• Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (five Lords resigned through this Act)
• House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015
• List of former members of the House of Lords (2000–present)

External links

• "List of Peers who have resigned". Peerages.info.

Notes

1. Under the provisions of the Peerage Act 1963, hereditary peers can effectively resign from the House of Lords by disclaiming their peerage, but this procedure has only been used once since the House of Lords Act 1999 removed automatic membership of hereditary peers in that House.
2. Prior to the Act Jeffrey Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare: 19 July 2001 (4 years), Mike Watson, Baron Watson of Invergowrie: 22 September 2005 (1 year and 4 months), Conrad Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour: 10 December 2007 (6 years and 6 months), John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick: 31 May 2011 (1 year) was imprisoned for more than a year. Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed: 25 February 2009 (12 weeks), Paul White, Baron Hanningfield: 1 July 2011 (9 months) was imprisoned under a year.