By-election in the House of Lords
22 October 2014 (updated on 22 October 2014)
The Earl of Oxford and Asquith has been elected as an hereditary peer in the recent by-election to fill the vacancy after Lord Methuen's death in July 2014.
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.