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 (referred to as Law Lords).
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 representative peers.) The bill was rejected by the House of Lords at its third reading.
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.
"Working peers"
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 do not do so.
"People's peers"
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.
Honours
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.
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.
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.
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
Peers created under the Life Peerages Act 1958[11]
Life peerages conferred on hereditary peers (from 1999 onwards) are not included in the numbers.
As of 24May2023,[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-royalhereditary 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.
Disclaiming
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).
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.
1 2 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]
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.
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.
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight, but lower than a viscount or count. Often, barons hold their fief – their lands and income – directly from the monarch. Barons are less often the vassals of other nobles. In many kingdoms, they were entitled to wear a smaller form of a crown called a coronet.
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 following is the order of precedence in England and Wales as of October 2024. Separate orders exist for men and women.
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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
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.
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Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of Lords, which included acting as the highest appellate court for most domestic matters.
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↑ "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
↑ 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.
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