The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest extant institutions in the world, its origins lie in the early 11th century and the emergence of bicameralism in the 13th century.
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.
Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde,, known informally as Tom Strathclyde, is a British Conservative politician. Lord Strathclyde served in the political role of Leader of the House of Lords from the 2010 general election until January 2013 and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, having been Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords (1998–2010). As of 2024, he is the most recent hereditary peer to serve as Leader of the Lords.
Earl of Bessborough is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1739 for Brabazon Ponsonby, 2nd Viscount Duncannon, who had previously represented Newtownards and County Kildare in the Irish House of Commons. In 1749, he was given the additional title of Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby, in the County of Leicester, in the Peerage of Great Britain, which entitled him to a seat in the British House of Lords. The titles Viscount Duncannon, of the fort of Duncannon in the County of Wexford, and Baron Bessborough, of Bessborough, Piltown, in the County of Kilkenny, had been created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1723 and 1721 respectively for Lord Bessborough's father William Ponsonby, who had earlier represented County Kilkenny in the Irish House of Commons.
Baron de Mauley, of Canford in the County of Dorset, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 10 July 1838 for the Whig politician the Hon. William Ponsonby, who had earlier represented Poole, Knaresborough and Dorset in the House of Commons.
Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, of Shulbrede in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1930 for the politician Arthur Ponsonby. Ponsonby was the third son of General Sir Henry Ponsonby and the great-grandson of Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough. Frederick Ponsonby, 1st Baron Sysonby, was his elder brother. The first Baron's grandson, the third Baron, was also a Labour politician and notably served as Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords in the 1980s. As of 2017 the title is held by the latter's only son, the fourth Baron, who succeeded in 1990. He sat on the Labour benches in the House of Lords prior to the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, when he lost his seat. However, in 2000 he was given a life peerage as Baron Ponsonby of Roehampton, of Shulbrede in the County of West Sussex, and was able to retake his seat in the House of Lords.
Ivor Seward Richard, Baron Richard, was a British Labour politician who served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1964 until 1974. He was also a member of the European Commission and latterly sat as a life peer in the House of Lords.
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.
The Lords Temporal are secular members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament. These can be either life peers or hereditary peers, although the hereditary right to sit in the House of Lords was abolished for all but ninety-two peers during the 1999 reform of the House of Lords. The term is used to differentiate these members from the Lords Spiritual, who sit in the House as a consequence of being bishops in the Church of England.
Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, was a British politician, writer, and social activist. He was the son of Sir Henry Ponsonby, Private Secretary to Queen Victoria, and Mary Elizabeth Bulteel, daughter of John Crocker Bulteel. He was also the great-grandson of The 3rd Earl of Bessborough, The 3rd Earl of Bathurst and The 2nd Earl Grey. The 1st Baron Sysonby was his elder brother.
Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Charles Ponsonby, 7th Baron de Mauley, is a British hereditary peer, former Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and retired Territorial Army officer.
Anthony Fitzhardinge Gueterbock, 18th Baron Berkeley, Baron Gueterbock,, otherwise known as Tony Berkeley, is a British aristocrat and Labour parliamentarian.
Alastair John Lyndhurst Bruce, 5th Baron Aberdare,, is a British nobleman, and since 2009 a crossbench hereditary peer elected under the House of Lords Act 1999.
Stuart Jeffrey Randall, Baron Randall of St Budeaux was a British Labour Party politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull West from 1983 until he stood down in 1997.
John Peter Michael Scawen Lytton, 5th Earl of Lytton, styled Viscount Knebworth from 1951 to 1985, is a British chartered surveyor, hereditary peer and member of the House of Lords.
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.
Thomas Arthur Ponsonby, 3rd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, was a British hereditary peer and Labour Party politician.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice is a junior position in the Ministry of Justice in the British Government. The present incumbent is Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede.
Edward Sebastian Grigg, 4th Baron Altrincham, is a British hereditary peer and Conservative member of the House of Lords.
