The Crown
, as
fount of honour
, creates peerages of two types, being hereditary or for life. In the early days of the peerage, the sovereign had the right to summon individuals to one Parliament without being bound to summon them again. Over time,
[
when?
]
it was established that once summoned, a peer would have to be summoned for the remainder of their life, and later, that the peer's heirs and successors would also be summoned, thereby firmly entrenching the hereditary principle.
Nevertheless, life peerages lingered. From the reign of
James I
to that of
George II
(between 1603 and 1760), 18 life peerages were created for women. Women, however, were excluded from sitting in the House of Lords, so it was unclear whether or not a life peerage would entitle a man to do the same. For over four centuries?if one excludes those who sat in
Cromwell's House of Lords
(or Other House) during the
Interregnum
?no man had claimed a seat in the Lords by virtue of a life peerage. In 1856, it was thought necessary to add a peer learned in law to the House of Lords (which was the
final court of appeal
), without allowing the peer's heirs to sit in the House and swell its numbers.
Sir James Parke
, a
Baron
(judge) of the
Exchequer
, was created Baron Wensleydale for life, but the House of Lords concluded that the peerage did not entitle him to sit in the House of Lords. Lord Wensleydale was therefore appointed a hereditary peer (in the event, he had no sons, so his peerage did not pass to an heir)
(See also
Wensleydale Peerage Case (1856)
)
.
The Government introduced a bill to authorise the creation of two life peerages carrying seats in the House of Lords for judges who had held office for at least five years. The House of Lords passed it, but the bill was lost in the
House of Commons
.
In 1869, a more comprehensive life peerages bill was brought forward by
the Earl Russell
. At any one time, 28 life peerages could be in existence; no more than four were to be created in any one year. Life peers were to be chosen from senior judges, civil servants, senior officers of the
British Army
or
Royal Navy
, members of the House of Commons who had served for at least ten years, scientists, writers, artists,
peers of Scotland
, and
peers of Ireland
. (Peers of Scotland and Ireland did not all have seats in the House of Lords, instead electing a number of
Scottish representative peers
.) The bill was rejected by the House of Lords at its
third reading
.
The
Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876
permitted the creation of life peerages with the rank of baron for
senior judges in the House of Lords
. Initially it was intended that the
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary
created in this way (for their titles, see the
list of law life peerages
) would only sit in the
House of Lords
while serving their term as judges only, but in 1887 (on the retirement of
Lord Blackburn
, the first person appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876) the
Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1887
provided that former judges would retain their seats for life.
[1]
The practice of appointing life peers under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 ended with the creation of the
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
in 2009. Sitting judges of the Supreme Court are not automatically given life peerages but are entitled to use the judicial courtesy title of "Lord" or "Lady" for life.
[2]
Life Peerages Act 1958
edit
The Life Peerages Act sanctions the regular granting of life peerages, but the power to appoint Lords of Appeal in Ordinary under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act was not
derogated
. The Act placed no limits on the number of peerages that the sovereign may award, as was done by the Appellate Jurisdiction Act. A peer created under the Life Peerages Act has the right to sit in the House of Lords, provided that they are at least 21 years of age, are not suffering punishment upon conviction for
treason
, and are a citizen of the United Kingdom, or of a member of the
Commonwealth of Nations
,
[3]
and are a resident in the UK for tax purposes.
[4]
Life baronies under the Life Peerages Act are created by the sovereign but, in practice, are only granted when proposed by the
Prime Minister
.
Life peers created under the Life Peerages Act do not, unless they also hold ministerial positions, receive salaries. They are, however, entitled to an allowance of £300 for travel and accommodation for each day on which the peer "signs in" to the House, though the peer does not have to take part in the business of the House.
From time to time, lists of "working peers" are published.
[5]
They do not form a formal class, but represent the various political parties and are expected to regularly attend the House of Lords. Most new appointments of life peers fall into this category.
Normally, the Prime Minister chooses only peers from their own party, but permits the leaders of opposition parties to recommend peers from their parties. The Prime Minister may determine the number of peers each party may propose; they may also choose to amend these recommendations, but by convention does not do so.
Peers may be created on a
non-partisan basis
. Formerly, nominations on merit alone were made by the Prime Minister, but this function was partially transferred to a new, non-statutory
House of Lords Appointments Commission
in 2000. Individuals recommended for the peerage by the commission go on to become what have been described by some in the British media as "people's peers".
[6]
The commission also scrutinises party recommendations for working peerages to ensure propriety. The Prime Minister may determine the number of peers the Commission may propose, and also may amend the recommendations. Again, by convention, no amendment is made to the recommendations of the commission.
Individuals may be created peers in various honours lists as rewards for achievement; these peers are not expected to attend the House of Lords regularly, but are at liberty to do so if they please. The
New Year Honours List
, the
King's Birthday Honours List
(to mark the
sovereign's official birthday
, the third Saturday in June), the
Dissolution Honours List
(to mark the dissolution of Parliament) and the
Resignation Honours List
(to mark the end of a Prime Minister's tenure) are all used to announce life peerage creations.
Creations may be made for individuals on retirement from important public offices, such as Prime Minister,
Speaker of the House of Commons
or
Archbishop of Canterbury
or
York
.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, who had renounced his hereditary title of the 14th
Earl of Home
on becoming Prime Minister, was the first former occupant of the office to receive a life barony.
Harold Wilson
,
James Callaghan
and
Margaret Thatcher
all took life peerages following their retirement from the House of Commons.
David Cameron
took a life peerage upon his appointment as Foreign Secretary under Rishi Sunak.
Edward Heath
[
citation needed
]
and
John Major
[7]
chose not to become peers.
Tony Blair
,
Gordon Brown
,
Theresa May
,
Boris Johnson
and
Liz Truss
have yet to receive a peerage.
Harold Macmillan
declined a peerage on leaving office, but over 20 years after retiring he accepted a second offer of the customary hereditary earldom for retiring Prime Ministers, as
Earl of Stockton
(1984); this was the last earldom to be offered outside the
royal family
. While
David Lloyd George
also waited a similar period for
his earldom
, most offers have been made and accepted shortly after retirement such as the Earls of
Oxford and Asquith
,
Baldwin
,
Attlee
and
Avon
.
Many Cabinet members, including
Chancellors of the Exchequer
,
Foreign Secretaries
,
Home Secretaries
and
Defence Secretaries
, retiring since 1958 have generally been created life peers.
William Whitelaw
was created a hereditary viscount on the recommendation of Margaret Thatcher. Viscount Whitelaw died without male issue.
Life peerages have generally been granted to
Speakers of the House of Commons
upon retirement since 1971, who sit as crossbenchers. (Previously, retiring Speakers had by custom received a hereditary peerage between 1780 and 1970, usually a
viscountcy
.) George Thomas was the only Speaker after 1971 who still received a hereditary peerage instead of a life peerage, being created
Viscount Tonypandy
, but he died without male issue.
The convention was broken in 2020 when retiring Speaker
John Bercow
was not granted a life peerage, the first denial of a peerage to a former Speaker in over 200 years.
[8]
At the time, Bercow was under investigation by the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
regarding allegations of bullying, with the government claiming that Bercow would fail a "propriety test" conducted for all nominees. Unusually, Bercow was nominated for a peerage by then-Leader of the Opposition and Labour leader
Jeremy Corbyn
.
The Prime Minister continues to recommend a small number of former public office-holders for peerages. This generally includes Chiefs of Defence Staff, Secretaries of the Cabinet, and Heads of the Diplomatic Service. Every Archbishop of Canterbury who has retired since 1958 has been created a life peer, as have most recent Archbishops of York on retirement. A small number of other bishops?such as
David Sheppard
of Liverpool and
Richard Harries
of Oxford?were ennobled on retiring. The
Lord Chamberlain
is traditionally a member of the House of Lords and so is ennobled on appointment (if not already a peer), while most retiring
Private Secretaries to the Sovereign
and
Governors of the Bank of England
have also become peers.
High judicial officers have sometimes been created life peers upon taking office. All
Lord Chief Justices of England and Wales
have, since 1958, been created life peers under the Life Peerages Act, with the exception of
Lord Woolf
, who was already a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary before becoming Lord Chief Justice. Similarly,
Lord Reed
was created a life peer in 2019 when he was appointed
President of the Supreme Court
,
[9]
all of his predecessors in that role having already been created life peers as former Lords of Appeal in Ordinary.
Life peerages may in certain cases be awarded to hereditary peers. After the
House of Lords Act 1999
passed, several hereditary peers of the first creation, who had not inherited their titles but would still be excluded from the House of Lords by the Act, were created life peers:
Toby Low, 1st Baron Aldington
;
Frederick James Erroll, 1st Baron Erroll of Hale
;
Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford
and
1st Baron Pakenham
; and
Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon
. None of the peers of the first creation who were members of the royal family was granted a life peerage, as they had all declined. Life peerages were also granted to former
Leaders of the House of Lords
, including
John Julian Ganzoni, 2nd Baron Belstead
;
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
;
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury
(better known as
Viscount Cranborne
and
Lord Cecil of Essendon
, having attended the Lords by virtue of a
writ of acceleration
);
George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe
;
Malcolm Shepherd, 2nd Baron Shepherd
; and
David Hennessy, 3rd Baron Windlesham
.
As part of the celebrations to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the
Life Peerages Act
,
Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn
was voted by the members of the House of Lords at the time as the outstanding life peer since the creation of the life peerage.
[10]
Number of life peers
edit
As of 24?May?2023,
[update]
there are 664 life peers eligible to vote in the House of Lords.
[12]
This includes 215 Conservative, 171 Labour, 80 Liberal Democrat and 149 crossbench peers. There are also 11 others representing 4 other parties, 35 non-affiliated, 2 peers labelling themselves as "Independent" but close to a party, and the Lord Speaker.
[12]
In addition, there are about 70 life peers who have retired from the House of Lords since 2010, as well as several who are otherwise ineligible to vote or removed for non-attendance.
[13]
The Appellate Jurisdiction Act originally provided for the appointment of two Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, who would continue to serve while holding judicial office, though in 1887, they were permitted to continue to sit in the House of Lords for life, under the style and dignity of baron. The number of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary was increased from time to time ? to three in 1882, to four in 1891, to six in 1913, to seven in 1919, to nine in 1947, to 11 in 1968 and to 12 in 1994. These provisions were repealed by the
Constitutional Reform Act 2005
which created the
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
. That Act also provided that holders of judicial offices, including Justice of the Supreme Court, who are for that reason disqualified from the House of Commons or the Northern Ireland Assembly, are now also disqualified from taking up their seats in the House of Lords if they are peers (as the former Law Lords all were).
[14]
The rate of creation of life peerages under the Life Peerages Act has been fluctuating, with a high rate being most common right after a new party is elected to government. Consequently,
David Cameron
and
Tony Blair
have created life peerages at high rates, at 40.5 and 35.7 peerages per year respectively.
Conservative Prime Ministers have created on average 21 life peers per year in office, Labour Prime Ministers an average of 27 per year. In absolute terms, the Conservatives (in 40 years) have created slightly more (853 out of 1504, as of June 2022) life peerages than Labour (651 in 24 years); in addition, the vast majority (61) of the 68 non-royal
hereditary
peerages created since 1958 were created under Conservative Prime Ministers (especially Macmillan). Only three non-royal hereditary peerages have been created since 1965 (all under Thatcher), and none since 1984.
[15]
In 1999, there were 172 Conservative and 160 Labour life peers in the House of Lords, and by 4 January 2010, there were 141 Conservative and 207 Labour life peers in the House of Lords. The hereditary element of the House of Lords, however, was much less balanced. In 1999, for example, immediately before most hereditary peers
[16]
were removed by the
House of Lords Act
, there were 350 Conservative hereditary peers, compared with 19 Labour peers and 23
Liberal Democrat
peers.
The
Peerage Act 1963
allows the holder of a hereditary peerage to disclaim their title for life. There is no such provision for life peers. The
Coalition Government
's draft proposal for Lords reform in 2011 provided "that a person who holds a life peerage may at any time disclaim that peerage by writing to the Lord Chancellor. The person [and their spouse and children] will be divested of all rights and interests attaching to [that] peerage."
[17]
This proposal did not become law. In 2014 under the
House of Lords Reform Act
it became possible for peers to resign from the House of Lords and the next year's
House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act
authorised the Lords to expel a peer (both without disclaiming the peerage).
Most
barons or baronesses for life
take a title based on their
surname
, either alone (e.g.
Baron Hattersley
) or in combination with a
placename
(known as a
territorial designation
) to differentiate them from others of the same surname (e.g.
Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws
). Surnames need not be used at all if desired.
[18]
Ian Paisley
, for example, opted for the title
Lord Bannside
, and
John Gummer
chose the title
Lord Deben
. There are also occasions when someone's surname is not appropriate as a title, such as
Michael Lord (now
Lord Framlingham
)
and
Michael Bishop (now
Lord Glendonbrook
)
.
[19]
The formal style for a life peer is as follows (John Smith and Mary Smith refer to any name; London to any
territorial designation
):
Life peers are often mistakenly called 'Lord' or 'Lady' before their names (e.g. "
Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber
") following their
ennoblement
, but this is incorrect since the correct form should be one of those shown above.
[21]
Only the daughters of earls, marquesses and dukes (and women members of the Orders of the Garter and the Thistle), and the younger sons of marquesses and dukes are properly referred to by the
courtesy title
of Lord or Lady Firstname Lastname, e.g. "
Lord Louis Mountbatten
", who was referred to as such as the younger son of
the Marquess of Milford Haven
before his enoblement as the Viscount (later Earl) Mountbatten of Burma.
A different form of modern life peerage was instituted when
Prince Edward
was made
Duke of Edinburgh
for life in 2023, with the title to revert to the Crown on the prince's death. This ennoblement differs from other life peerages in that it was not made under the 1958 Act, does not give the prince the right to sit in the House of Lords, and gives him a more elevated rank than baron.
[22]
- ^
Macmillan's average calculated for the five years under the Act.
- ^
a
b
Wilson's combined average is 25.4 life peerages per year
- ^
His Majesty's Passport Office
use the form of "The Baroness (of) X" for a baroness in her own right, and the form of "The Lady (of) X" for a baron's wife.
[20]
- ^
McKechnie, William Sharp
, 1909:
The reform of the House of Lords; with a criticism of the Report of the Select Committee of 2nd December, 1908
, p.13
- ^
"Courtesy titles for Justices of the Supreme Court"
(PDF)
. Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. 13 December 2010
. Retrieved
14 December
2010
.
- ^
Companion to the Standing Orders and Guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords
(25th?ed.).
House of Lords
. pp.?1?3
. Retrieved
8 April
2022
.
- ^
"Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010"
.
legislation.gov.uk
.
The National Archives
. 8 April 2010
. Retrieved
8 April
2022
.
- ^
"Latest peerages announced - GOV.UK"
.
- ^
BBC (25 April 2002).
"
'People's peers' under scrutiny"
.
Caltech
. London
. Retrieved
19 November
2006
.
- ^
"Major to turn down peerage"
. BBC News. 8 October 2000
. Retrieved
16 August
2013
.
- ^
"John Bercow will not get peerage despite Corbyn nomination"
.
TheGuardian.com
. 30 May 2020.
- ^
"Crown Office"
.
www.thegazette.co.uk
. Retrieved
5 October
2020
.
- ^
"Former Lords leader honoured with award"
.
Yahoo/Epolitix
. Retrieved
20 July
2008
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
Beamish, David
.
"United Kingdom peerage creations 1801 to 2021"
.
www.peerages.info
. Retrieved
7 June
2021
.
, as of 7 June 2021
- ^
a
b
"Lords by party, type of peerage and gender"
.
UK Parliament
.
- ^
"Retired members of the House of Lords"
.
UK Parliament
.
- ^
"Constitutional Reform Act 2005: Section 137"
,
legislation.gov.uk
,
The National Archives
, 2005 c. 4 (s. 137)
- ^
Beamish, David.
"United Kingdom peerage creations 1801 to 2021"
.
www.peerages.info
. Retrieved
24 June
2022
.
- ^
"Home Page"
.
- ^
House of Lords Reform Draft Bill
(Clause 62)
- ^
"Banks changes name for Lords life"
.
BBC News
. 23 June 2005
. Retrieved
19 July
2022
.
News article from the BBC remarking on the custom, on the occasion of Tony Banks taking the title Baron Stratford instead of the more conventional Baron Banks
- ^
The Norton View ? My Lord and Bishop
(Accessed 22 May 2015)
- ^
Titles: Guidance for His Majesty's Passport Office operational staff on how to add and record titles and observations on a passport
-official wevbsite of the
Government of the United Kingdom
- ^
"Burke's Peerage"
.
burkespeerage.com
.
- ^
Howse, Christopher (10 March 2023).
"Britain needs more hereditary dukes ? the rank is becoming endangered"
.
Daily Telegraph
.
Whatever happens, it is to be hoped that the next holder possesses the dukedom as a hereditary peerage. There had been peers for life before workaday life peers were invented in 1958. As recently as 1377, Guichard d'Angle was created Earl of Huntingdon for life by Richard II, and none of those Law Lords between 1876 and 2009 could pass down their peerages.
- Boothroyd, D. (2004),
Life Peerages created under the Life Peerages Act 1958
, archived from
the original
on 16 April 2020
, retrieved
22 April
2004
- Cox, N (1997),
"The British Peerage: The Legal Standing of the Peerage and Baronetage in the overseas realms of the Crown with particular reference to New Zealand"
,
New Zealand Universities Law Review
,
17
(4): 379?401, archived from
the original
on 22 October 2009
- Farnborough, T. E. May, 1st Baron (1896),
Constitutional History of England since the Accession of George the Third
(11th?ed.), London: Longmans, Green and Co, archived from
the original
on 3 March 2004
{{
citation
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- Life Peerages Act 1958. (6 & 7 Elizabeth 2 c. 21)
, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, November 2017
- Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911),
"Lords of Appeal in Ordinary"?
,
Encyclopædia Britannica
, vol.?17 (11th?ed.), Cambridge University Press
- Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911),
"Peerage"?
,
Encyclopædia Britannica
, vol.?21 (11th?ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp.?45?55
- Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911),
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,
Encyclopædia Britannica
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