House of Lords Reform Act 2014

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)
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Text of statute as originally enacted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.

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. (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.) It also makes provision to exclude members who commit serious criminal offences resulting in a jail sentence of at least one year, and members who fail to attend the House for a whole session. The Act does not have retrospective effect.

As of April 2024^[update], 177 peers have resigned or retired, and a further ten 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.