By-election in the House of Lords
17 July 2013 (updated on 17 July 2013)
Lord Borwick has been elected as a Conservative hereditary peer in the recent by-election to fill the vacancy after Lord Reay's death in May 2013.
Under the House of Lords Act 1999, the House of Lords elected 90 hereditary peers to sit in the reformed House. When one of these hereditary Peers dies, a by-election is held: in this case, the vacancy occurred among the 15 hereditary peers elected by the whole House, so the electors were all current members of the House.
All those on the Register of Hereditary Peers are eligible to stand in by-elections. The by-election must take place within three months of any vacancy occurring.