Liberal Democrats +1 peer on the day

John Thurso is back, again. The Liberal Democrats’ very own Frank Sinatra has made another comeback – from hereditary peer to MP to now elected hereditary peer.*

Viscount Thurso was a member of the Lords for four years between 1995 and 1999 before leaving after Labour’s reforms axed most hereditary members.

He then served as MP for Caithness and Sutherland for 14 years until last May.

He has now returned to the Lords after a by-election triggered by the death of Lord Avebury. He beat six others in a highly exclusive ballot.

Only the three current Lib Dem hereditary peers in the Lords were entitled to vote in the contest.

All of them – the Earl of Oxford and Asquith, the Earl of Glasgow and Lord Addington – voted for Viscount Thurso. [BBC]

If you want more on this contest – and frankly, who doesn’t? – then take a look at my earlier 7 candidates, 6 manifestos, 3 voters – latest on Parliamentary by-election the Lib Dems are going to win.

* Yes, “elected hereditary peer”. All hail the wonders of Labour’s unwillingness to complete House of Lords reform.