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House of Lords: Lord Colgrain elected in hereditary poll | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Lord Colgrain has been elected to the House of Lords, beating off 26 other hereditary peers in a by-election. | |
The Conservative, an executive head-hunter and former High Sheriff of Kent, is the great-grandson of the Scottish banker Colin Campbell, for whom the title was created in 1946. | |
The poll, in which all peers actively sitting were entitled to vote, was triggered by the death of Lord Lyell. | |
A total of 92 hereditary peers remain in the Lords following reforms in 1999. | |
The 66-year old Lord Colgrain emerged victorious from a crowded field, beating candidates including relatives of ex-premiers Harold Macmillan and David Lloyd George. | |
The 27 contenders were asked to make the case for themselves in a series of short statements and potted biographies, in which they was also asked to indicate their political allegiances. | The 27 contenders were asked to make the case for themselves in a series of short statements and potted biographies, in which they was also asked to indicate their political allegiances. |
Lord Colgrain's entry read: "My areas of expertise and particular interest are employment and financial services, following 30 years in the financial executive search sector, and rural affairs, regeneration and diversification, as partner in a family farming and property business. | |
"I chair two charities, am a school governor, trustee of Rochester Cathedral, president of the County Show, and was High Sheriff of Kent 2013-14. I will be able to commit as much time to the House as required." | |
The result was due to have been announced last Wednesday but was postponed following the fatal stabbing of a police officer in Parliament. | |
Lord Lyell was one of the 92 hereditary peers - including two holders of royal offices who are ex officio members - who remained in the Lords in 1999 after the remainder were expelled in reforms carried out by the government of Tony Blair. | |
Under current conventions, when one of their number dies, a by-election is held to elect a successor. This election was open to all those with hereditary titles on the register kept by the Clerk of the Parliaments. | |
Among the best-known candidates were Earl Stockton, the grandson of Harold Macmillan - Conservative prime minister between 1957 and 1963. Another famous political family was represented in the form of Earl Lloyd-George of Dwfor, the great grandson of the former Liberal prime minister David Lloyd George. | |
Other unsuccessful contenders include Lord Harlech, the 30-year old grandson of David Ormsby-Gore, the former Conservative politician and British Ambassador to the United States in the 1960s, who had a close friendship with Jackie Kennedy. |