HOUSE OF LORDS - United Kingdom Parliament

elected among the 15) in the relevant party or Crossbench grouping are
entitled to vote. If the vacancy is among the 15, the whole House is
entitled to vote.
1.06 The Clerk of the Parliaments maintains a register of hereditary
peers who wish to stand in any by-election under SO 10. Any hereditary
peer other than a peer of Ireland is entitled to be included in the register,
not just those who were previously members of the House. Under
SO 11, any hereditary peer not previously in receipt of a writ of
summons who wishes to be included in the register petitions the House
and any such petition is referred to the Lord Chancellor to consider and
report upon whether such peer has established his right to be included in
the register.
Retirement
1.07 There is no retirement age for members of the House of Lords,
except that bishops retire from their sees on reaching the age of seventy,
and cease to be members of the House. 1
Writ of summons
1.08 A member of the House may not take his seat until he has
obtained his writ of summons. Writs of summons are issued by direction
of the Lord Chancellor from the office of the Clerk of the Crown in
Chancery.
1.09 New writs are issued before the meeting of each Parliament to all
Lords Spiritual and Temporal who have established their right to them
and who are not statutorily disqualified from receiving them.
1.10 An archbishop, on appointment or translation to another see, and
a bishop who has become entitled to sit or who already has a seat and is
translated to another see, applies for a writ to the Lord Chancellor with
evidence to support his claim.
1.11 Writs, called writs of assistance or writs of attendance, are also
sent to the following, unless they are members of the House: the
Attorney General, the Solicitor General, the Lord Chief Justice, the
Master of the Rolls, the President of the Family Division, the Vice-
1 Ecclesiastical Offices (Age Limit) Measure 1975.
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