“Labour will also introduce a mandatory retirement age. At the end of the Parliament in which a member reaches 80 years of age, they will be required to retire from the House of Lords”
The government is reportedly planning to consult on proposals for a mandatory retirement age, but we don’t yet know when that will happen.
Most members of the House of Lords are appointed for life (though since 2014 they have been allowed to retire). The exceptions to this are the ‘Lords Spiritual’—the 26 Church of England archbishops and bishops entitled to sit in the House, who must retire at the age of 70.
As part of a wider commitment to reform the House of Lords, Labour’s manifesto pledged to change the rules so that: “At the end of the Parliament in which a member reaches 80 years of age, they will be required to retire from the House of Lords.”
The maximum length of a parliament is five years, which means that under these rules a peer who turned 80 just after the start of a new parliament would theoretically be able to remain in the House of Lords until they were 85 (rather than having to retire immediately upon reaching the age of 80).
According to the House of Lords Library: “Assuming no changes in the current complement of life peers, including that no current life peers leave the House and no further life peers join the House, 301 (42.1%) of the House’s 715 life peers would be aged 80 or over at dissolution in 2029.”
Labour’s manifesto does not indicate when this change will take place, so we assume this pledge will be met if a retirement age is in place by the end of the current parliament.
Honesty in public debate matters
You can help us take action – and get our regular free email
It’s been reported that the government will launch a consultation on its proposal to introduce a retirement age—we asked the Cabinet Office in early November 2024 when this is likely to take place, but did not receive a response.
As we develop this Government Tracker we’re keen to hear your feedback. We’ll be keeping the Tracker up to date and adding more pledges in the coming months.
Full Fact is monitoring the government’s delivery on its promises
Progress displayed publicly—so every single person in this country can judge our performance on actions, not words.
Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister – 24 September 2024