On October 13, 2026, Baroness Jane Campbell of Surbiton became the first person to deliver a speech in the UK Parliament using an AI-generated voice. The disability rights campaigner, who has spinal muscular atrophy, used an ElevenLabs clone built from recordings of her own voice to address the House of Lords during the Second Reading of the Health Bill.
On Tuesday, October 13, 2026, Baroness Jane Campbell of Surbiton made history as the first person to deliver a speech in the UK Parliament using an AI-generated voice. The 67-year-old independent crossbench peer was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at age one, and her voice has deteriorated over the years; since 2012 she had relied on an assistant to read her speeches in the chamber â an exception to a 1707 rule barring non-peers from speaking in the House of Lords. Her AI-voiced address came during the Second Reading of the Health Bill.
Campbell found ElevenLabs' voice cloning technology herself and uploaded old recordings of her speaking, which the company used to recreate the tone, rhythm, and pitch of her original voice. Gabi Leibowitz, a speech therapist by training at ElevenLabs, told AFP that the company 'worked with her briefly on her voice clone so that we could fine-tune it and make sure that it was exactly how she wanted' â noting that while 30 seconds of audio can be enough, the company recommends between 30 minutes and an hour for the best-quality clones. The synthesized speech was played through an assistive device in the chamber. 'This, my lords, is cutting-edge technology and it will enable me to contribute to debates in my own, once-clear voice before it began to deteriorate due to my disability,' she told the House, adding: 'So, my lords, may I introduce you to Baroness Campbell Mark 2.'
Her speech focused on Personal Health Budgets (PHBs), the funds allocated to individuals in England to support treatments, equipment, and personal care, urging that they stay accessible to the disabled people who rely on them and be extended to others who could benefit. 'I used AI to speak my own words, not to put words into my mouth. The speech, the arguments and the views are entirely mine,' she said. 'It's my voice, my style, my words. A totally empowering experience.' The House of Lords Procedure Committee approved the accommodation â the second it has granted her, after allowing her assistant into the chamber in 2012.
The speech was the first time any peer or member of the UK Parliament, in either house, had used an AI-generated voice. Lord Speaker Lord Forsyth of Drumlean said the chamber 'is full of diverse experts and trailblazers... all of whom should be able to contribute fully,' adding that 'while there are justifiable concerns about some uses of AI, when used in this and many other ways, for good, we must recognize its capabilities and transformative potential.' ElevenLabs says its technology has now restored the voices of more than 11,000 people who have lost them through injury or illness, and the company has committed to help one million people living with voice loss worldwide.
