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]
Although a member who is elected Lord Speaker must withdraw from any party affiliation,[3] he is not considered to be a non-affiliated peer.
- ^ "Ineligible Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords". UK Parliament.
- ^ "The party system". UK Parliament.
MPs and Members of the Lords do not have to belong to a political party. Instead, MPs can sit as Independents and Lords can sit as Crossbenchers or Independents.
- ^ "The Lord Speaker". UK Parliament.
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