Introduction (House of Lords)

Last updated December 06, 2024

The introduction is a ceremony in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom by which a new member is "introduced" to the existing membership. Introductions in the Lords are more elaborate than those in the House of Commons.

Origins

Originally, the Sovereign created and invested new peers personally. The personal procedure, however, was abandoned during the 17th century, and in 1621 the House of Lords began the ceremony of introduction.^[1] The ceremony has evolved over the years, generally growing more complex. However, in 1998, the Select Committee on Introductions suggested several reforms, which were generally adopted.

Introduced lords

Ceremonial introductions were originally used for all new members of the House of Lords. However, in 1663, the House of Lords decided that peers who inherited a title did not need to be introduced. This applies to hereditary peers joining the House by virtue of by-elections under the House of Lords Act 1999. However, if hereditary peers receive life peerages, they must be introduced like any other life peer, unless they sat in the Lords before the House of Lords Act 1999.^[2]

The Lords Spiritual (twenty-six bishops of the Church of England who sit in the House of Lords) are also introduced, though by a different ceremony, upon appointment. Also, if a Lord Spiritual is "translated" (transferred) to another see, they must be reintroduced.

Lords Temporal ceremony

The ceremony of Introduction used prior to 1998 was much more complicated than the present ceremony. Originally, the Lord Chancellor in court dress (including a tricorn hat), or a Deputy Speaker in parliamentary robes, would occupy the Woolsack. A procession would be formed outside the Chamber, with the members of the procession standing in the following order:

The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod or his deputy
The Garter Principal King of Arms or another herald
The new peer's junior supporter
The new peer
The new peer's senior supporter

When a member of the Royal Family was being introduced, there would often be more in the procession, as the Great Officers of State and the Great Officers of the Household (and sometimes others, such as an aide-de-camp carrying a coronet) would be involved. The group would start in the Robing Room, also.

The supporters were members of the House of Lords of the same rank of peerage as the new peer. (In other words, Dukes would support Dukes, Marquesses would support Marquesses, and so forth.) The new peer and his/her supporters would wear parliamentary robes and bicorn hats if men or caps if women. The procession would enter the Chamber, proceed towards the Lord Chancellor (the peer and his/her supporters stopping thrice to bow towards the Cloth of Estate before reaching the Lord Chancellor), and the Garter Principal King of Arms would present the peer's letters patent, which are issued by the sovereign to create a new peerage, and the new peer would kneel before the Lord Chancellor (or remain standing if a member of the Royal Family) and present his writ of summons, which is issued by the sovereign to command the peer's attendance in Parliament. The Reading Clerk of the House of Lords would then read aloud the letters patent and the writ. The peer would take the Oath of Allegiance or the Solemn Affirmation, and would sign the Test Roll, at the top of which the same Oath is written.

Thereafter, the Garter Principal King of Arms would "place" the new peer and his supporters by leading them to the Lords bench traditionally occupied by those of the new peer's rank (senior members of the Royal Family were led to a chair of state on the Throne dais rather than be placed on a bench). The peer and supporters would put on their hats, rise, doff their hats (unless women), and bow to the Lord Chancellor, and then repeat the previous practice two times. After bowing to the Lord Chancellor for the third time, the peers would, along with the Garter Principal King of Arms and the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, leave the Chamber, with the new peer shaking hands with the Lord Chancellor as he left. The new peer would later return, and possibly participate in a debate (a member of the Royal Family, earlier seated beside the Throne, would now sit on the Crossbenches, signifying his/her political neutrality).

In 1998, the House of Lords constituted a Committee to modernise the entire ceremony. The Committee found that "Far from being dignified, the practice of kneeling to the Lord Chancellor is particularly awkward because the new peer, wearing robes, simply kneels down on the floor with nothing to lean on for support [We] see no need to retain the act of kneeling before the Lord Chancellor." The Committee also recommended that the reading of the writ of summons, which is of the same form for all peers, be ceased, though the reading of the Letters Patent, which are often unique to the peer, be continued. The Committee further suggested that the wearing of hats and the hat doffing ceremony, which "serves no symbolic purpose", also stop. Finally, it deemed that, since the seating of Lords in order of the degree of peerage was an outdated practice, the Lords instead sitting by party, the practice of placing the new peer stop.

The present ceremony involves the same procession as the former one, but, instead of proceeding to the Woolsack, it stops in front of the Table of the House. The Reading Clerk reads the Letters Patent presented to him by the Garter Principal King of Arms, and administers the Oath of Allegiance or Solemn Affirmation to the new peer. The new peer and his supporters together bow to the Cloth of Estate, which is placed at the end of the House, behind the sovereign's throne and the Woolsack. The procession then proceeds out of the Chamber, the new peer stopping at the Woolsack to shake hands with the Lord Chancellor. Upon returning to the Chamber, the new peer takes any seat he pleases, sitting with his/her party, or, if neutral, sitting amongst the Crossbenchers.

The role of presiding over the House of Lords was removed from the office of Lord Chancellor by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. As a result, the Lord Chancellor's former role in introductions has been the Lord Speaker's since 2006.

Lords Spiritual ceremony

The ceremony for Lords Spiritual has been significantly simpler, and was not affected by the recommendations of the 1998 Committee. The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod and the Garter Principal King of Arms do not take part. The supporters of the Lords Spiritual are, in all cases, other Lords Spiritual; the new member and the supporters wear their clerical robes. The procession, with the junior supporter in front and the senior supporter behind the new archbishop or bishop, arrives in front of the Table of the House. The new member then submits his writ of summons, which is read by a Clerk. (Archbishops and bishops do not, with regards to their lordships, have letters patent to present.) The Clerk then administers the Oath. Then, the procession progresses to the Woolsack, where the new archbishop or bishop shakes hands with the Lord Speaker. Then, instead of leaving the Chamber, the new member and his/her supporters immediately take seats on the Bishops' Benches. (Archbishops and bishops do not sit with any particular party, though the two Bishops' Benches are on the same side of the Chamber as the seats for members of the Government party.)

Related Research Articles

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 institutions in the world, its origins lie in the early 11th century and the emergence of bicameralism in the 13th century.

The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative chambers which occupy the building. The palace is one of the centres of political life in the United Kingdom; "Westminster" has become a metonym for the UK Parliament and the British Government, and the Westminster system of government commemorates the name of the palace. The Elizabeth Tower of the palace, nicknamed Big Ben, is a landmark of London and the United Kingdom in general. The palace has been a Grade I listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

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 Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, it is outranked in precedence only by the decorations of the Victoria Cross and the George Cross. The Order of the Garter is dedicated to the image and arms of Saint George, England's patron saint.

Whilst the House of Lords of the United Kingdom is the upper chamber of Parliament and has government ministers, for many centuries it had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers and for impeachments, and as a court of last resort in the United Kingdom and prior, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of England.

The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ranking Great Officer of State in Scotland and England, nominally outranking the prime minister. The lord chancellor is appointed and dismissed by the sovereign on the advice of the prime minister. Prior to the union of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain, there were separate lord chancellors for the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. Likewise, the Lordship of Ireland and its successor states maintained the office of lord chancellor of Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, whereupon the office was abolished.

The order of precedence in the United Kingdom is the sequential hierarchy for Peers of the Realm, officers of state, senior members of the clergy, holders of the various Orders of Chivalry, and is mostly determined, but not limited to, birth order, place in the line of succession, or distance from the reigning monarch. The order of precedence can also be applied to other persons in the three legal jurisdictions within the United Kingdom:

The State Opening of Parliament is a ceremonial event which formally marks the beginning of each session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. At its core is His Majesty's "gracious speech from the throne", which is read by the monarch but written by HM Government. In the speech the monarch gives notice of forthcoming state visits, before setting out the government's legislative programme for the new parliamentary session. No business of either House of Parliament can proceed until the Sovereign’s speech has been delivered.

The following is the order of precedence in England and Wales as of December 2024. Separate orders exist for men and women.

The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, the Upper House of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Before 2006, it was the seat of the Lord Chancellor, who presided as the presiding officer of the House. The Woolsack’s status in the House was enshrined in the first standing orders in 1621.

The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sovereign and are delegated authority to act on behalf of the Crown in all matters of heraldry, the granting of new coats of arms, genealogical research and the recording of pedigrees. The College is also the official body responsible for matters relating to the flying of flags on land, and it maintains the official registers of flags and other national symbols. Though a part of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, the College is self-financed, unsupported by any public funds.

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 hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of November 2024, there are 801 hereditary peers: 30 dukes, 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 109 viscounts, and 439 barons.

The history of the British peerage, a system of nobility found in the United Kingdom, stretches over the last thousand years. The current form of the British peerage has been a process of development. While the ranks of baron and earl predate the British peerage itself, the ranks of duke and marquess were introduced to England in the 14th century. The rank of viscount came later, in the mid-15th century. Peers were summoned to Parliament, forming the House of Lords.

The British peerage is governed by a body of law that has developed over several centuries. Much of this law has been established by a few important cases, and some of the more significant of these are addressed in this article.

The Lord Speaker of the House of Lords is the presiding officer, chairman and highest authority of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial.

The Roll of the Peerage is a public record registering peers in the peerages of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. It was created by Royal Warrant of Queen Elizabeth II dated 1 June 2004, is maintained by the Crown Office within the United Kingdom's Ministry of Justice, and is published by the College of Arms.

The State Opening of Parliament includes a State Procession, a formal display of the Sovereign, dignified by a sizeable entourage made up of Great Officers of State and members of the Royal Household. The State Procession is now confined to the interior of the Palace of Westminster, but in earlier centuries it followed an outdoor route to and from Westminster Abbey.

Peerage robes are worn in the United Kingdom by peers and are of two varieties for two occasions: Parliament robes, worn on ceremonial occasions in the House of Lords, and Coronation robes, worn at coronations of monarchs.

The Crown Office in Chancery is a section of the Ministry of Justice. It has custody of the Great Seal of the Realm, and has certain administrative functions in connection with the courts and the judicial process, as well as functions relating to the electoral process for House of Commons elections, to the keeping of the Roll of the Peerage, and to the preparation of royal documents such as warrants required to pass under the royal sign-manual, fiats, letters patent, etc. In legal documents, the Crown Office refers to the office of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery.

References

↑ Wagner, Anthony; Sainty, J. C.; Scott-Giles, C. W. (1967). "The Origin of the Introduction of Peers in the House of Lords". Archaeologia. CI: 119–150. doi:10.1017/s0261340900013795.
↑ House of Lords Hansard, 3 November 1999, Col. 882

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Wagner1967-1] Wagner, Anthony; Sainty, J. C.; Scott-Giles, C. W. (1967). "The Origin of the Introduction of Peers in the House of Lords". Archaeologia. CI: 119–150. doi:10.1017/s0261340900013795.

[2] House of Lords Hansard, 3 November 1999, Col. 882

[1]

[2]