{"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

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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

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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

Name <\/b><\/td>Current or former Northern Ireland political party membership<\/b><\/td>House of Lords registration <\/b><\/td><\/tr>
Lord Alderdice of Knock<\/a><\/td>Alliance Party<\/a><\/td>Liberal Democrat<\/td><\/tr>
Lord Browne of Belmont<\/a><\/td>DUP<\/a><\/td>DUP<\/td><\/tr>
Lord Empey of Shandon<\/a><\/td>UUP<\/a><\/td>UUP<\/td><\/tr>
Lord Hay of Ballyore<\/a><\/td>DUP<\/a><\/td>DUP<\/td><\/tr>
Lord Kilclooney of Armagh<\/a><\/td>UUP<\/a><\/td>Crossbench<\/td><\/tr>
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass<\/a><\/td>UUP<\/a><\/td>Independent Ulster Unionist<\/td><\/tr>
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown<\/a><\/td>DUP<\/a><\/td>DUP<\/td><\/tr>
Lord Morrow of Clogher Valley<\/a><\/td>DUP<\/a><\/td>DUP<\/td><\/tr>
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick<\/a><\/td>SDLP<\/a><\/td>Non-affiliated<\/td><\/tr>
Lord Rogan of Lower Iveagh<\/a><\/td>UUP<\/a><\/td>UUP<\/td><\/tr>
Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey<\/a><\/td>UUP<\/a><\/td>Conservative<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the above table of Northern Ireland-related peers, five of the 11 have previously been members of Northern Ireland political parties, but are now registered under different guises. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n