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A man has joined Parliament for life after winning a 'ludicrous' election only three people could vote in.

Ex-MP Viscount Thurso has been booted out of Westminster twice in his career - but now he can vote on your laws again and collect £300 a day until he dies.

It's because the Lib Dem has become one of 92 hereditary peers, whose seats were kept as a 'temporary' compromise when the Lords were reformed in 1999.

Labour MP Chris Bryant said: "It's like an episode of Blackadder. It's nonsense. It's just bizarre.

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"It's his third time. He's like he's been dancing the hokey cokey - he's been in, he's been out. I don't think anyone's been in and out as much as he has.

(Image: BBC)

"Reform of the House of Lords is long overdue. Why should somebody tell us how to run our lives just because their great great great great grandfather slept with the Queen's cousin?"

The 92 lucky members of the gentry are only replaced when they die or quit.

There are elections to replace them, but only people with titles who back the same party are allowed to stand.

And only hereditary peers who back the same party are allowed to vote.

In the Lib Dems, that's just three people.

The lucky voters for Lord Avebury's replacement were the Old Etonian 10th Earl of Glasgow, ex-diplomat Raymond Benedict Bartholomew Michael Asquith, and the 6th Baron Addington, according to analysis by BuzzFeed.

Voting was carried out using a secret ballot, and Viscount Thurso won three votes.

Along with 811 other peers he will now be allowed to vote on nearly all Parliamentary legislation, from the Housing Bill to benefit cuts.

He is entitled to claim £300 for every day he attends the Westminster estate.

But it will not be his first time in the House of Lords.

He was a member for four years between 1995 and 1999 until Labour kicked him out as part of previous reforms.

(Image: Getty)

So he wandered down the corridor to the House of Commons instead, serving as the MP for Caithness in Scotland for 14 years from 2001.

He was booted from office again last May, this time thanks to the SNP surge.

The nationalists' Paul Monaghan beat him by more than 3,000 votes as the Lib Dems' share of MPs was almost wiped out.

The election's results were announced yesterday despite Lord Avebury's son urging the three voters to boycott it.

He branded it "farcical", adding in The Guardian: "If reforming parties such as the Liberal Democrats want to be taken seriously, they should not embrace the mockery of this anachronistic election.

"Refusing to fill Avebury’s place would be a far more fitting tribute to his legacy.

"At a time when all political parties remain tarnished in the public eye, some moral leadership in boycotting this ludicrous election would have been welcome."

Electoral Reform Society campaign chief Will Brett said: "The fact that you can get a seat in Parliament for life on the basis of a few votes from aristocrats is frankly an embarrassment for all concerned.

"While it's nice to see 100% turnout in an election, it's not hard when the electorate is three people.

"Picking law-makers on the basis of ridiculous so-called by-elections among a tiny number of hereditary peers makes a mockery of our democracy.

"The sooner we have a properly reformed House of Lords - elected fairly and by the people - the better."