Election of the Speaker of the House of Lords 2011
Baroness D'Souza has been elected as the next Speaker of the House of Lords. The result of the election was announced on Monday 18 July.
Baroness D'Souza will take up the post on 1 September and will preside over a sitting of the House of Lords for the first time on 5 September.
The arrangements for the election of the Speaker of the House of Lords, including details of the votes cast, guidance on the code of conduct for the election and the election process, are set out here:
- Election of the Speaker of the House of Lords: Result (pdf 65KB)
- Election of the Speaker of the House of Lords (pdf 82KB)
- List of candidates (pdf 558KB)
Timetable for the election of the Lord Speaker:
| Deadline | Activity |
| By 5pm Thursday 23 June | Candidatures to be registered. In accordance with SO 19(2), each candidate will require a proposer and a seconder. |
| Monday 27 June | List of candidates published and sent to all Members of the House, together with a statement of each candidate's Parliamentary service, their entry in the Register of Lords' Interests, and election addresses of up to 75 words. |
| Wednesday 29 June | Ballot papers sent to those requesting a postal vote, to be returned to the Clerk of the Parliaments no later than 5 pm on Wednesday 13 July. |
| Wednesday 13 July | Voting will take place in the Queen's Robing Room from 10am to 8pm. |
| Monday 18 July | The Clerk of the Parliaments will report the result of the election to the House at the start of business. Her Majesty The Queen's approval of the House's choice of Speaker will be notified. The full election results (first-preference votes cast for each candidate, and the position after each transfer of votes) will subsequently be made available. |
| Thursday 1 September | The new Lord Speaker will formally take office. |
| Monday 5 September | The new Lord Speaker will sit on the Woolsack for the first time at the start of business. |
Further information
The Speaker of the House of Lords – the Lord Speaker – chairs daily business in the Chamber and is an ambassador for the work of the House.
The Lord Speaker is elected by the Members of the House of Lords for a period of five years and can serve for no more than two terms.
The current Lord Speaker is Baroness Hayman, who was elected as the first Lord Speaker in July 2006. Baroness Hayman announced her intention not to seek re-election on 9 May 2011.
