# Age, gender, education: the House of Lords in charts

## Introduction

Labour is trying to remove hereditary peers but plans for an age limit appears in doubt and the Lords still lacks diversity.

## Overview

### The House of Lords in Charts

Labour promised in its manifesto to downsize the House of Lords, which has ballooned over the past two decades. The government has already put forward legislation to remove hereditary peers, which is making its way through parliament. But a manifesto proposal for a mandatory retirement age of 80 now appears in doubt. Combined, these two measures would have halved the size of the upper house.

In five charts, we examine the age and gender profile, education and political affiliation of peers and set out the implications of the proposed changes.

### Hereditary and Life Peers

Since 1999 when the last Labour government’s House of Lords Act shrank the number of hereditary peers from 758 to 92, life peers have held the majority of seats. Life peers are those appointed by political parties or the House of Lords appointments commission, and as the name suggests, they hold their seat for life.

They are joined by 26 bishops and six judges. The six judicial seats are a remnant of the chamber’s previous role as the highest court of appeal before the creation of the supreme court in 2009.

In another of the historical quirks of the British constitution, not all hereditary peers are created equally: two seats are reserved for the earl marshal and the lord great chamberlain.

The other 90 hereditary peers are chosen in byelections held on the retirement or death of any sitting hereditary peers. Candidates are drawn from the wider pool of remaining hereditary aristocrats, and only those already in the Lords can vote.

When Labour took power last year, hereditary peer byelections were suspended. A government bill introduced last September is likely to pass this year and is expected to lead to the remaining hereditary peers losing their seats at the end of the parliamentary session in July.

Tony Blair’s changes reduced the Lords from 1,210 members to 692. But numbers have surged again, to 836, thanks to enthusiastic use of the power to create new peers by subsequent prime ministers.

### Retiring Older Peers

The median age of members of the House of Lords is 71 – five years older than the state pension age. By comparison, the median age of UK citizens is just over 40, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Labour promised in its manifesto to introduce a mandatory retirement age of 80, with the caveat that peers would be allowed to remain until the end of a parliament, which lasts from one general election to the next. The proposal would have forced almost 300 life peers to retire by the end of the parliament.

Those plans are now in doubt, with Labour scaling back its manifesto proposals in response to resistance from the Lords.

The oldest peer in the upper chamber is 99-year-old Tony Christopher, a trade unionist who served in the RAF towards the end of the second world war. Lord Christopher has been on a leave of absence since 2021.

Only a handful of peers are under 40. Carmen Smith, 28, a Plaid Cymru activist, became the youngest person ever to receive a life peerage when appointed in March 2024.

### Lords Labour’s Lost

In the House of Lords, the majority of peers are life peers, with a small minority of hereditary peers. Hereditary peers are those who are appointed by political parties or the House of Lords appointments commission, and they hold their seat for life.

Life peers are those appointed by political parties or the House of Lords appointments commission, and they hold their seat for life.

### Ladies of the House

Went to a fee-paying secondary school

Life peers

Hereditary peers

88

Bishops

24

Judges

6

### Old Boys’ Club

David Cameron once described the Houses of Parliament as looking “half like a museum, half like a church, half like a school”. Not an ordinary school, though. The Lords is more Eton college than Grange Hill. Lord Cameron and more than half of the upper chamber are alumni of private secondary schools.

Went to a fee-paying secondary school

Life peers

Hereditary peers

47%

78%

Bishops

50%

Judges

67%

### Most Viewed

One peer

Life peers

Hereditary peers

88

718

Bishops

24

Judges

6

#### Education Background

The houses of Parliament look like a museum, half like a church, half like a school.

One peer

Life peers

Hereditary peers

88

718

Bishops

24

Judges

6

#### Educational Background

Of the 65 peers created so far in Keir Starmer’s tenure, 35 are women.

### Old Boys’ Club

David Cameron once described the Houses of Parliament as looking “half like a museum, half like a church, half like a school”. Not an ordinary school, though. The Lords is more Eton college than Grange Hill. Lord Cameron and more than half of the upper chamber are alumni of private secondary schools.

#### Eton College

Went to a fee-paying secondary school

Life peers

Hereditary peers

4%

44%

Judges

0

#### Oxford or Cambridge Universities

Went to Oxford or Cambridge universities

Life peers

Hereditary peers

35%

34%

Bishops

83%

Judges

83%

#### Eton College

Went to Eton college

Life peers

Hereditary peers

4%

44%

Judges

0%

#### Oxford or Cambridge Universities

Went to Oxford or Cambridge universities

Life peers

Hereditary peers

35 %

34%

Bishops

83%

Judges

83%

### Explainer: House of Lords in Charts

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### Additional Reporting by:

*   Lily Smith
*   Emma Russell
*   Gabriel Smith

### Methodology

A data snapshot of all the eligible current members was taken in the week of 24 February 2025.

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