{"id":3924,"date":"2020-01-08T09:44:10","date_gmt":"2020-01-08T09:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/?p=3924"},"modified":"2022-02-26T19:09:44","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T19:09:44","slug":"are-there-only-dup-members-in-the-house-of-lords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/topics\/elections\/are-there-only-dup-members-in-the-house-of-lords\/","title":{"rendered":"Are there only DUP members in the House of Lords?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This claim is easily disproved. There are at least 11 peers currently in the House of Lords who are, or were, members of a Northern Ireland political party. Four of those 11 are registered as DUP.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In a tweet<\/a> published on 6 January 2020, Lord Adonis stated \u201cthere are just DUP members in the [House of] Lords and our debates are one-sided\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adonis\u2019s statement was made with reference to the results in Northern Ireland<\/a> from the General Election on 12 December 2019. Therefore, we researched the claim in regards to those members of the House of Lords who have previously represented a political party in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Party membership\/current registration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Members of the House of Lords may or may not be<\/a> members of a political party. While peers may choose to be affiliated with a party<\/a>, they may also choose to be registered as crossbenchers<\/a> (\u201cnon-party political and by tradition sit on the benches that cross the chamber of the House of Lords\u201d) or remain independent (non-affiliated). A member of the House of Lords can change their party affiliation<\/a> at any time, known as \u201ccrossing the floor\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Members who are or were a member of a political party in Northern Ireland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are currently at least 11 peers or Members of the House of Lords<\/a> who are or were a member of political party in Northern Ireland:<\/p>\n\n\n\n