Scottish Ministers have made regulations disqualifying members of the House of Lords from sitting in the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Parliament (Disqualification of Members of the House of Lords) Regulations 2025 (SSI 2025/308) were made on 30 October 2025 under section 4(1) and (2) of the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025, and come into force on 31 October 2025, following approval by the Scottish Parliament under section 4(3) of that Act.
The instrument amends the Scotland Act 1998. A new ground of disqualification is inserted into section 15(1) as paragraph (bzb), specifying that a person is disqualified from membership of the Parliament if they are a member of the House of Lords.
Although the Regulations commence on 31 October 2025, the new disqualification does not take effect immediately. Regulations 3 and 4 apply only from the day of the poll at the first general election for membership of the Scottish Parliament held after commencement. Until that poll day, no sitting member is disqualified by virtue of House of Lords membership.
Two time‑limited reliefs are provided in amended section 16. Under new subsection (1ZC), a person who is a member of the House of Lords and is subsequently returned as an MSP is not disqualified on that ground for the 14 days beginning with the day on which they are returned.
A second relief applies to MSPs who later become members of the House of Lords. New subsection (1ZD) provides that such a member is not disqualified on that ground for the 14 days beginning with the day on which they make and subscribe the oath, or corresponding affirmation, required by the Parliamentary Oaths Act 1866. The trigger for the 14‑day period is the oath, not the grant of a peerage.
The Regulations also repeal section 16(1) of the Scotland Act 1998, which previously stated that members of the House of Lords were not disqualified from being MSPs. That specific exemption is removed and replaced with a general prohibition, subject only to the two short relief periods described above.
For political parties and prospective candidates, the practical position from the next Holyrood general election is unambiguous: a person who remains a member of the House of Lords cannot serve as an MSP. A peer elected to Holyrood would have 14 days from the return to resolve their status, while an MSP who becomes a peer would have 14 days from taking the Lords oath to do the same.
The Regulations were signed on 30 October 2025 by Graeme Dey on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. In combination, the amendments establish that dual membership of the House of Lords and the Scottish Parliament will cease to be permitted once the new rules take effect at the next general election.