Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords are peers who do not belong to any parliamentary group in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. They do not take a political party's whip, nor affiliate to the crossbench group, nor are they Lords Spiritual (active Church of England bishops). Formerly, the law lords were also a separate affiliation, but their successors (justices of the Supreme Court), if peers, are disqualified from sitting in the Lords until they no longer hold a judicial position.[1]
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 (e.g. the senior deputy speaker), as a means to preserve the neutrality of their official roles. 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 chose this designation rather than joining the crossbench.[2]
A member who is elected as Lord Speaker must withdraw from any party affiliation,[3] but is not considered to be a non-affiliated peer. Former lord speakers have sat as crossbenchers after holding office.
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:[4]
| Member | Previous affiliation | Reason for change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joined Lords without party affiliation | |||
| Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees (2012–present) | |||
| Currently ineligible as a Senator of the College of Justice | |||
| Currently ineligible as Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales | |||
| Withdrawn from Labour whip following criticism of Rosie Duffield during her 2024 campaign for her Parliament seat[5] | |||
| Suspended from party whip after expressing support for Liberal Democrats in 2019 European Parliament elections | |||
| Resigned from party whip in July 2019 in protest of the party's response to antisemitism complaints[6] | |||
| Joined Lords without party affiliation | |||
| Joined Lords without party affiliation | |||
| Senior Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords (2021–present) | |||
| Chairman of Ofcom | |||
| Briefly suspended from the House following criminal conviction for false accounting | |||
| Joined Lords without party affiliation | |||
| Excepted hereditary peer elected to Lords by Conservative hereditary peers | |||
| Following return from suspension from the House in connection with lobbying scandal | |||
| Joined Lords without party affiliation | |||
| Resigned from party whip in protest of party leadership[7] | |||
| Withdrew from Liberal Democrat whip during his advisory role with the Metropolitan Police[8] | |||
| Following return from suspension from the House in connection with expenses scandal | |||
| Resigned from party whip in protest of party leadership during Brexit negotiations | |||
| Resigned party whip after finding of bullying and harassment[9] | |||
| Joined Lords without party affiliation | |||
| Suspended from party whip due to misconduct[10] | |||
| Following return from suspension from the House in connection with expenses scandal and imprisonment for false accounting | |||
| Resigned from party whip following the "cash for influence" allegations of 2009 | |||
| Entered the House without affiliation due to his role as Chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority | |||
| Following return from suspension from the House in connection with expenses scandal | |||
| Joined Lords without party affiliation |
There are other peers who list themselves as Independent within the House of Lords:
| Member | Previous affiliation | Designation | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Ulster Unionist | Resigned from party whip following homophobic remarks[11] Currently suspended from the Lords | |||
| Independent Social Democrat | Left the Crossbench following a donation to Labour[12] | |||
| Conservative Independent | Expelled from Conservative whip in 2004 for supporting UKIP,[13] sat as Conservative Independent until 2012 |