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Lord Vaux of Harrowden has won a Parliamentary seat for life in a 'ludicrous' House of Lords election.

The Ampleforth College educated aristocrat won a landslide of 16 votes in the election, in which only a select group of 31 sitting peers could cast ballots.

And only 27 of them bothered to vote.

The millionaire businessman, landowner and chartered accountant, whose real name is Richard Hubert Gordon Gilbey, will get to claim a £300-a-day allowance, entry to the what has been described as the best retirement home in Britain and the right to shape and vote on the laws of the land.

He will sit as a "crossbench" peer, a group of Lords who are not affiliated to a particular party.

The jaw-dropping situation is known as a hereditary peer by-election.

They are a bizarre hangover from Tony Blair ’s attempts to modernise the House of Lords.

When the ex-Labour PM mostly abolished inherited peerages 1999, he agreed to let 92 of them stay in the House of Lords as a compromise.

That means when one of them dies or retires, the peers that got booted out get first refusal on his or (very rarely) her seat.

The retirement of Lord Robert Horatio Walpole left just such a vacancy, and a by-election to choose his successor was held yesterday.

Lord Vaux beat off stiff opposition from Lords Mostyn and Adlington, both of whom received four votes.

Lord Mostyn, 32, is a relative youngster and a very rich man with an estate worth £48million. His dad featured on the Sunday Times Rich List. In 2014 he was the 13th richest person aged under 30 in the UK.

(Image: Daily Post WS)

Lord Adlington, real name Charles Low, is the son of Lord Toby Low, who once successfully sued Nikolai Tolstoy for libel, winning £2 million in damages.

Lords Darling and Hemphill and Viscount Powerscourt got one vote each.

And nobody voted for Lords Cadman, Hayter or Somerleyton.

Viscount Hill withdrew from the race before the vote.

In his application, Lord Vaux wrote: "For 15 years held senior positions in the technology sector, covering public sector, education and financial services, latterly as global head of corporate development for a $5bn US group. Interests in renewable energy, farming and Scotland. I am able to and would intend to contribute fully."

Darren Hughes, Acting Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society said: “It’s extraordinary that following a General Election to pick who can vote on our laws for five years, 31 hereditary peers are deciding from a tiny pool of aristocrats who should vote on our laws for the rest of their life.”

He called for the government to put an end to the “farce” of hereditary peer ‘by-elections.’

“They are the most ludicrous part of our constitutional set-up,” he said. “It is totally indefensible that Lords can literally pick their peers from a tiny pool of aristocrats. Some of these by-elections have electorates of just three people.

“As ludicrous as that is however, most Peers are picked by just one person – the Prime Minister. That’s a recipe – as we’ve seen time and again – for cronyism and peerages for pals, party hacks and big donors.”