2026 Lord Speaker election
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An election for Lord Speaker, the presiding office of the House of Lords, will be held from 6 to 8 January 2026. On 15 October 2025, the incumbent, Lord McFall of Alcluith, resigned from the office with effect from 2 February 2026.[1][2]
Election procedure and timetable
[edit]Members of the House of Lords who wish to stand for election are required to have a proposer and a seconder. All members who have taken the oath in the current parliament by 27 November 2025 and are not on leave of absence, disqualified or suspended from the House are eligible to stand. The alternative vote system will be used in the election and all members who have taken the oath in the current parliament by 18 December 2025 and are not on leave of absence, disqualified, suspended or temporarily excluded from the House are eligible to vote. The election will be held by postal and electronic voting.[3]
Timetable is as follows:[3]
- Thursday 27 November 2025 (5 p.m.) – Candidate registration deadline
- Monday 1 December 2025 – List of candidates published
- Friday 5 December 2025 – Postal voting registration deadline
- Tuesday 9 December 2025 – Hustings
- Thursday 11 December 2025 – Ballot papers sent to members requesting a postal vote
- Tuesday 6 January 2026 (10 a.m.) – Electronic voting opened
- Thursday 8 January 2026 (5 p.m.) – Electronic voting closed and deadline for postal votes to be returned
- Week beginning 12 January 2026 – Results announced and King's approval notified
- Monday 2 February 2026 – New Lord Speaker takes office and presides for the first time
Candidates
[edit]The following members of the House have been registered as candidates:[4]
- Baroness Bull (Crossbencher)[5] – proposed by Baroness Thornton and Lord Ricketts
- Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative)[6] – proposed by Lord Blunkett and Baroness Butler-Sloss
References
[edit]- ^ "House of Lords Business: Lord Speaker's statement". UK Parliament. 16 October 2025. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
- ^ "Hansard: Lord Speaker's statement". UK Parliament. 16 October 2025. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
- ^ a b "Election of the Lord Speaker 2026". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
- ^ "Candidates for the 2026 Lord Speaker election". UK Parliament. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
- ^ "Baroness Bull". UK Parliament. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
- ^ "Lord Forsyth of Drumlean". UK Parliament. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
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