Peerage Creations since 1997

This House of Commons Library briefing paper provides details of appointments to the House of Lords since May 1997. It provides tables showing the numbers appointed under the Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson, broken down by party affiliation at the time of appointment. It also includes a chronological list of all those appointed during this period. The information is correct as at 31 January 2020.

Between 1 May 1997 and 31 January 2020, 717 life peerages were created:

Tony Blair (May 1997-June 2007)                374

Gordon Brown (June 2007-May 2010)            34

David Cameron (May 2010-July 2016)          245

Theresa May (July 2016-July 2019)                43

Boris Johnson (July 2019-present*)                21

Total (May 1997-present*)                           717

* to 31 January 2020

In October 2017, the first Lord Speaker’s Committee, which had been appointed to consider the size of the House of Lords, recommended capping the size of the House of Lords at 600. Until this is reached, it recommended that only one new peer should be appointed for every two leaving.

In February 2018, Theresa May wrote to the Lord Speaker and committed to act with restraint in appointing new members to the House of Lords.

In October 2018, the Lord Speaker’s Committee reported on progress. It was encouraged by the reception for its original report and noted that the proposed number of departures in the first year had been exceeded.

In June 2019, it reported again and welcomed the continued progress in reducing the size of the House.

For peerages created in the period 1958-1997, see the Lords the Library Note, Peerage Creations 1958–2008, 24 July 2008.

This briefing paper does not consider the composition of or departures from the House of Lords. Information on the membership of the House of Lords is available on the parliamentary website.