John Anthony Bird, Baron Bird MBE (born 30 January 1946), is a British social entrepreneur and life peer. He is best known as the co-founder of The Big Issue, a magazine edited by professional journalists and sold by street vendors who are largely homeless or vulnerably housed. Bird sits as an independent crossbench member of the House of Lords.
Elections of the excepted hereditary peers were held in October and November 1999, before the House of Lords Act 1999 excluded most hereditary peers from the membership of the House of Lords allowing Earl Marshal, Lord Great Chamberlain and 90 others to remain in the House. Before the passing of the 1999 Act, the Lords approved a Standing Order stating that those 90 would consist of:
The elections used a version of plurality block voting: voters were required to rank candidates in order of preference for the number of seats available, with the candidates receiving the greatest number of votes, without regard to the ranking on the ballots, declared elected. Preference order was only considered in the cases of ties.