Lord Strathcarron elected newest hereditary peer
Ian Macpherson, the 3rd Baron Strathcarron, has been elected as the newest Conservative hereditary peer following a by-election on 8 February. Lord Strathcarron, 72, was elected to replace Viscount Ridley, who retired in December.
Out of a possible electorate of 45 hereditary peers belonging to the Conservative group and so eligible to vote, 36 valid votes were cast using the alternative vote system.
With 18 votes after the second round, Strathcarron beat nine other candidates to take the seat. Strathcarron is a publisher, producer and author, chairing multiple arts and publishing companies, and has expressed an interest in joining the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee. His books include two spy thrillers and accounts of his recreation of Lord Byron’s 1809-1811 Grand Tour of the Mediterranean and Mark Twain’s tours of the Holy Land and India. He is also a student of Advaita Vedanta, a Hindu sādhanā (spiritual practice), and has written several books on spirituality and mysticism. Strathcarron is an ex-Yachtmaster Instructor and qualified civil and commercial mediator and restorative justice practitioner.
Last year there were seven hereditary by-elections, following a pause in the first part of the pandemic. Labour peer Lord Grocott’s fourth attempt at a Private Members’ Bill to abolish by-elections for hereditary peers is currently at committee stage.