Peerages in the United Kingdom form a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles,composed of various ranks,and within the framework of the Constitution of the United Kingdom form a constituent part of the legislative process and the British honours system. The British monarch is considered the fount of honour and is notionally the only person who can grant peerages,though there are many conventions about how this power is used,especially at the request of the British government. The term peerage can be used both collectively to refer to the entire body of titled nobility,and individually to refer to a specific title. British peerage title holders are termed peers of the Realm.
The Peerage Act 1963 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that permits female hereditary peers and all Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords and allows newly inherited hereditary peerages to be disclaimed.
The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801,when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain. New peers continued to be created in the Peerage of Ireland until 1898
In the United Kingdom,representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999,all members of the Peerage of England held the right to sit in the House of Lords;they did not elect a limited group of representatives. All peers who were created after 1707 as Peers of Great Britain and after 1801 as Peers of the United Kingdom held the same right to sit in the House of Lords.
The House of Lords Act 1999 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords,one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries,the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats;the Act removed such a right. However,as part of a compromise,the Act allowed ninety-two hereditary peers to remain in the House. Another ten were created life peers to enable them to remain in the House.
Earl of Listowel is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1822 for William Hare,1st Viscount Ennismore and Listowel,who had earlier represented Cork City and Athy in the Irish House of Commons.
Walter Garrison Runciman,3rd Viscount Runciman of Doxford,,usually known informally as Garry Runciman,was a British historical sociologist and hereditary peer. A senior research fellow at Trinity College,Cambridge,Runciman wrote several publications in his field. He also sat on the Securities and Investments Board and chaired the British Government's Royal Commission on Criminal Justice (1991–1993).
The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of August 2023,there are 805 hereditary peers:30 dukes,34 marquesses,189 earls,110 viscounts,and 442 barons.
In the United Kingdom,life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited,in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the Dukedom of Edinburgh awarded for life to Prince Edward in 2023,all life peerages conferred since 2009 have been created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 with the rank of baron and entitle their holders to sit and vote in the House of Lords,presuming they meet qualifications such as age and citizenship. The legitimate children of a life peer appointed under the Life Peerages Act 1958 are entitled to style themselves with the prefix "The Honourable",although they cannot inherit the peerage itself. Prior to 2009,life peers of baronial rank could also be so created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 for senior judges.
John Hugh Hare,1st Viscount Blakenham,OBE,PC,DL was a British Conservative politician.
William Francis Hare,5th Earl of Listowel,,styled Viscount Ennismore between 1924 and 1931,was an Anglo-Irish peer and Labour politician. He was the last Secretary of State for India,as well as the last Governor-General of Ghana.
William Hare,2nd Earl of Listowel,,known as Viscount Ennismore from 1827 to 1837,was an Irish peer and politician.
William Hare,3rd Earl of Listowel,,styled Viscount Ennismore from 1837 to 1856,was an Irish peer and Liberal politician.
William Legge,10th Earl of Dartmouth,styled Viscount Lewisham from 1962 to 1997,is a British politician and hereditary peer,usually known as William Dartmouth.
Richard White,2nd Earl of Bantry DL,styled The Honourable from birth until 1816 and subsequently Viscount Berehaven until 1851,was an Irish peer and Conservative politician.
By-elections to the House of Lords occur when vacancies arise among seats assigned to hereditary peers due to death,resignation,or disqualification. Candidates for these by-elections are limited to holders of hereditary peerages,and their electorates are made up of sitting Lords;in most cases the electorate are those sitting hereditary peers of the same party affiliation as the departed peer.
John Jacob "Johnny" Astor VIII,3rd Baron Astor of Hever,,is an English businessman and politician from the Astor family. He sat in the House of Lords as a Conservative hereditary peer from 1986 to his retirement in 2022. Astor was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence from 2010 to 2015. Astor is a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent.
John Richard Boyle,15th Earl of Cork and 15th Earl of Orrery is a British hereditary peer and a member of the House of Lords,where he sits as a Crossbencher. Boyle was an officer in the Royal Navy and then had a career in the sugar industry before inheriting his titles in 2003.
Colonel Richard Lysaght Hare,Viscount Ennismore was an Anglo-Irish politician.
