SCOTTISH members of the House of Lords cost the taxpayer nearly £10 million over the last five years, The Ferret can reveal – including tens of thousands of expenses claimed by some who rarely showed up, spoke or voted.
Some peers who claimed expenses had not voted in years and were present on fewer than one in 10 working days.
Critics slammed the cost of unelected “party cronies and donors”, some of whom, they claim, treat the Lords as a “gentlemen’s club”. They urged the new government to reform the house “as a matter of urgency”.
Supporters of the House of Lords argue that the independent chamber offers greater breadth and depth of experience than the House of Commons but polling has suggested the majority of the public back reform.
The Labour government set out details about its plans to change the House of Lords, during the King’s Speech.
The Lords is the secondary chamber of the UK Parliament where members scrutinise government work and recommend changes to legislation. But rather than being elected, peers are appointed, usually for life, by the King, on the advice of the Prime Minister.
The Ferret analysed official data spanning from the start of 2019 to the end of 2023, focusing on the activity, attendance and expense claims of the 72 Scottish peers we identified.
They include 15 male heirs who inherited titles such as dukes, earls, viscounts and barons via their bloodline. These hereditary peers face removal from the house under new plans from Labour, however.
Among those with lower attendance rates is Tory Baroness Ruth Davidson (below), who attended 17% of the time – a total of 66 days out of 376 – but claimed £12,000 in expenses, mostly on travel since she was appointed in July 2021.
Fellow Tory Baroness Michelle Mone – who took leave from the Lords in December 2022 to contest a bribery and fraud probe into one of her companies – attended 14% of the time and claimed £12,000 over five years.
The Earl of Stair – one of Dumfries and Galloway’s largest landowners – attended 18% of the time, but claimed £26,000 for travel, mostly flights. His travel expenses cost nearly as much as he was paid for attending the house.
Labour peer Lord MacKenzie is a former trade union official who retired from the Lords on July 8, having last voted in 2021. He attended the house 28% of the time and claimed £66,000 in expenses.
Lord Irvine, a former Labour lord chancellor who spent £650,000 of taxpayer funds to redecorate his official residence in 1998, has not spoken since 2019. He had a 13% attendance rate, yet claimed £25,300 in expenses.
Lord Pearson represented both Ukip and the Tories, before sitting as an Independent. He was present 39% of the time, claimed £25,000 in expenses and has not voted since May 2023.
The peer faced criticism in 2018 for inviting far-right activist Tommy Robinson to parliament, and in 2009 for legally avoiding £275,000 in tax by declaring his second home in London as his main residence, rather than his 12,000-acre Perthshire estate.
The average Scottish peer cost £38,000 last year alone – significantly more than the £30,470 median Scots salary. Their costs were made up of a daily allowance – of up to £361, as of April 1 – and expenses including nearly £1m on flights, £100,000 on taxis and parking, and £39,000 on travel for family members.
Claims can be made for expenses related to attendance in the House of Lords or other parliamentary business, including travel costs for peers and their families, under the rules.
The most expensive peers LIBDEM Baroness Barker claimed the highest allowance over the past five years – £224,500 – but claimed no expenses. Her attendance rate was also the highest – 96%.
Those claiming the most expenses also had high attendance rates. Lord Campbell, a former Fife LibDem MP and interim party leader, claimed £285,500. Around £70,000 was on travel, including £50,000 for flights. Campbell previously said peers should be “mostly elected”.
His LibDem colleagues, former Borders MSP, Lord Purvis and former Gordon MP, Lord Bruce, each claimed £280,000. Some £6700 of Purvis’s claims were for parking fees.
Former Labour minister of state for Scotland, Lord Foulkes (below), and former Tory MEP Lord Duncan, claimed £271,000 and £238,000 respectively.
At the other end of the scale, the unaffiliated Lord Smith did not claim any expenses. But he is currently on a leave of absence, attended just 7% of the time over the last five years and last voted in 2021. He chaired the Smith Commission, which facilitated a devolution settlement amongst Scots party representatives after voters rejected independence in 2014.
Also on leave is Labour’s Lord Leitch, who chairs private health firm Bupa and numerous banking groups. He attended 8% of the time and claimed just £51 in expenses.
Our study includes Tory landowner, Lord Douglas-Miller, who was elevated to the Lords under Rishi Sunak’s government in December 2023, five days before the Christmas recess. He logged a single attendance in the house in December and claimed £190 for travel.
The list does not include former Tory MSP, Lord Donald Cameron, and broadcaster and former Labour adviser, Baroness Ayesha Hazarika, who were appointed this year.
We defined Scots peers as those who gave a Scottish address on expenses claims, those listed by Scottish Labour, those with Scots titles, such as Lord Lamont of Lerwick, and Scots known to The Ferret who have English titles, such as Baroness Mone of Mayfair.
Sixteen Scots peers, such as the Earl of Caithness and the Marquess of Lothian, recorded an English address in their expense claims.
Calls for urgent ‘democratic overhaul’ TOM Brake, a former LibDem MP and director of Unlock Democracy, said: “The Ferret’s latest detailed analysis confirms that whilst some Scottish peers work hard, others treat the House of Lords as a gentlemen’s club or just bask in the title of peer.
“The democratic overhaul of the House of Lords is long overdue. Peers should be elected and focused on their roles as legislators.”
Willie Sullivan, senior director for Scotland for the Electoral Reform Society, agreed the Lords was in need of “substantial reform”.
“At around 800 members, it is the largest legislative chamber outside China’s National People’s Congress, and that is largely down to the unchecked and undemocratic way new members are continuously added,” he argued.
“Ultimately, the Lords needs to be reformed into a smaller, elected chamber with a set number of members, where the people of this country – not prime ministers – decide who sits in parliament shaping our laws.”
Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman (above) said: “This is the result of having a legislative chamber with no democratic accountability. The Lords is stuffed to the rafters with party cronies and donors who are appointed for life. Voters have no say in who sits there and no way to remove them when they don’t do their jobs.
“It’s clear that we need a democratically elected second chamber where politicians are appointed by and answer to the people.”
A House of Lords spokesperson said: “Unlike MPs Members of the House of Lords are not paid a salary. Apart from reimbursing travel costs the daily allowance is the only financial support they receive for costs associated with attending the House, for members who live in Scotland this will include paying for overnight accommodation. MPs who live outside of London can claim financial support for accommodation on top of their salary.
“The House of Lords is a busy and effective revising chamber. The allowances system is designed to ensure members from all parts of the UK, and a range of personal financial circumstances, can make an important contribution to improving legislation and holding the Government to account. Members of the Lords who live in Scotland may have higher travel costs than those living closer to London and it is important that they are not prevented from contributing their knowledge and experience to the important work of the House of Lords.”
The UK Government did not respond to requests to comment. The Lords named in this piece were also contacted by The Ferret.
Scotland's peers by numbers
Scots peers are disproportionately older, and male, and all but one – Baron Patel – are white. Women make up more than 51% of Scotland’s population, but just 24% of Scots peers.
And while the median age in Scotland is 43, it is 72 amongst Scots peers.
At 45, former Scottish Tory leader, Baroness Davidson, is the youngest peer, while the Duke of Montrose, 89, is the oldest.
Labour’s manifesto pledge to reduce the retirement age of peers to 80 was absent from the King’s speech, which outlined the party’s plans for government. If implemented, the retirement rules would force the departure of 13 Scots peers, with another 16 to follow within the next five years.
Some 25 Scots peers represent the Tories, 22 Labour, and eight the LibDems, while 14 are not affiliated to any political party. The SNP have a long-standing opposition to the Lords, which they want to abolish. They do not nominate peers. The Scottish Greens also want to see the Lords scrapped.
The longest-serving Scot is the Earl of Caithness. The Tory member, 75, was given a seat in 1969, when he was 21. First minister John Swinney was just five years old at the time, while prime minister Keir Starmer (above) was just seven.
Five peers were appointed during the last five years, three died, two retired, and four are on leave of absence.
Currently, there are 70 peers – a fifth more than the 57 elected Scots MPs. UK-wide, there are 650 MPs, but 800 peers who, over the same five years, recouped £89m in expenses.
