1999 House of Lords elections

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Elections of the excepted hereditary peers were held in October and November 1999, before the House of Lords Act 1999 excluded most hereditary peers from the membership of the House of Lords allowing Earl Marshal, Lord Great Chamberlain and 90 others to remain in the House.^[1] Before the passing of the 1999 Act, the Lords approved a Standing Order stating that those 90 would consist of:

• 15 peers to be elected by the whole House
• 75 peers elected among and within party groupings:
  • 2 to be elected by the Labour hereditary peers
  • 42 to be elected by the Conservative hereditary peers
  • 3 to be elected by the Liberal Democrat hereditary peers
  • 28 to be elected by the Crossbench hereditary peers

The elections used a version of plurality block voting: voters were required to rank candidates in order of preference for the number of seats available, with the candidates receiving the greatest number of votes, without regard to the ranking on the ballots, declared elected. Preference order was only considered in the cases of ties.

Until November 2002, vacancies among the elected hereditary peers were filled by hereditary peers who received most votes in the corresponding 1999 election without being elected to remain. Since November 2002, by-elections have been held to fill vacancies.^[2]