Revealed: the 53 peers silent for five years

The wind of change is sweeping through the Upper House. What with Labour’s plans to expel the last hereditaries and Gavin Williamson’s effort to boot the bishops too, soon the House of Lords will be devoid of any colour. How will the sketch writers cope eh? Today brings more bad news for traditionalist lovers of the lords and ladies in ermine.

For Politico reports that there are growing calls to exclude members of the House of Lords who rarely attend or take part in debates. The convenor of the crossbenchers Lord Kinnoull has suggested that expelling those who attend 10 percent or less of sitting days could cut the size of the Lords by 100 peers. Peers are understood to be pushing for tighter attendance requirements as part of the Hereditary Peerages Bill – though ministers are expected to resist such changes.

So, in the spirit of open government so sadly lacking in Whitehall, Mr S has done some digging into the identity of these so-called absentee peers. According to House authorities, there are 53 members of the House of Lords who have been members for more than a year that have not made an oral contribution in the Chamber or in Grand Committee between 1 January 2020 and 15 November 2024. Oath-taking has not been counted as an oral contribution, with membership dated from the first issue of a writ of summons.

Of the 53 peers, the 26 members who were on leave of absence or subject to statutory disqualification for some or all of the specified period were: