In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose
titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Nowadays life
peerages, always of the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages Act
1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet
qualifications such as age and citizenship. The legitimate children of
a life peer take the privilege of children of hereditary peers, being
entitled to style themselves with the prefix "The Honourable," although they
cannot inherit the peerage itself. Before 1887
The Crown, as fount of honour, has the undoubted right to create peerages,
whether 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, it was established that once summoned, a peer
would have to be summoned for the remainder of his 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, 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 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, without allowing the peer's heirs to sit
in the House and swell its numbers. Sir James Parke, a Baron 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 then compelled to take his seat as an hereditary peer..)
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. The bill was rejected by the House of Lords at its third reading.
Finally the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1887 allowed senior judges to sit in the
House of Lords as life peers, known as Lords of Appeal in Ordinary. Those
appointees who were not already members of the House of Lords were created life
peers by the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876; for their titles see the list of
law life peerages. Initially it was intended that peers created in this way
would only sit in the House of Lords while serving their term as judges, but
in 1887 the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1887 provided that former judges would
retain their seats for life. This ended with the creation of the Supreme Court
of the United Kingdom in 2009. Life Peerages Act 1958
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. No limits were placed 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 he or she is at least 21 years of age, is
not suffering punishment upon conviction for treason and is a citizen of the
United Kingdom, or the Republic of Ireland or of a member of the
Commonwealth of Nations, and is resident in the UK for tax purposes.
Life baronies under the Life Peerages Act are created by the Sovereign but, in
practice, none are granted except upon the proposition of 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
daily allowance of £300 for travel and accommodation on signing in each day,
though there is no requirement to take part in the business of the House.
Life peerages may be awarded through a number of different routes.
= "Working peers"= From time to time, lists of "working
peers" are published. 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 for his or her own party, but
permits the leaders of opposition parties to recommend peers from those
parties. The Prime Minister may determine the number of peers each party
may propose; he or she may also choose to amend these recommendations, but by
convention does 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". 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 be regular attendees of the
House of Lords, but are at liberty to do so if they please. The New Year Honours
List, the Queen's Birthday Honours List, the Dissolution Honours List and the
Resignation Honours List are all used to announce life peerage creations.
= Public offices= 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,
although Thatcher's husband, Denis Thatcher, was made a baronet. Edward
Heath chose not to become a peer. John Major and Tony Blair have yet to take a
peerage. It is unclear whether Gordon Brown, who remained a member of the
House of Commons until 2015, would accept a peerage. Harold Macmillan
declined a peerage on leaving office, but over 20 years after retiring
accepted a second offer of the customary, hereditary earldom for
retiring Prime Ministers, as Earl of Stockton; 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, Home Secretaries, Foreign 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 been granted to
Speakers of the House of Commons upon retirement; Speakers had previously been
entitled by custom to an hereditary peerage as a viscount. The former
Speaker and Secretary of State for Wales George Thomas was created Viscount
Tonypandy but died without male issue. 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 must be a member of the House of Lords and so is ennobled on
appointment, while most retiring Private Secretaries to The Queen 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. 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. 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; 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 current members of the House of Lords as
the outstanding life peer since the creation of the life peerage.
Number of life peers 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.
The rate of creation of life peerages under the Life Peerages Act has not
shown a consistent pattern. David Cameron and Tony Blair have created life
peerages at the highest rate, at 41 and 36 peerages per year respectively.
Conservative Prime Ministers have created on average 20 life peers per
year in office, Labour Prime Ministers an average of 27.2 per year. In absolute
terms, Labour created 1.2 times the number of life peerages created by the
Conservatives. On the other hand, Conservative Prime Ministers created the
vast majority of the about 50 hereditary peerages created since 1958.
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 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 an 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 "provides 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.". This proposal didn't
become law. In 2014 under the House of Lords Reform Act it became possible for
peers to resign from the House of Lords. Titles and forms of address
Most life peers take a title based on their surname, either alone or in
combination with a placename to differentiate them from others of the
same surname. Surnames need not be used at all if desired. 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 isn't
appropriate as a title, such as Michael Lord and Michael Bishop.
The formal style for life peers is "The Rt Hon the Lord/Lady X" or "Firstname,
Lord/Lady X". In these examples, X is the title in one of the forms discussed
above. Life peers who have achieved wide fame under their original name, such the
actor Laurence Olivier, are often incorrectly referred to as Lord/Lady
Firstname Lastname after their ennoblement.
See also List of life peerages: 1958–1979,
1979–1997, 1997–2010, 2010–present List of law life peerages
Roll of the Peerage Cash for Honours
Crossbencher Notes
References Boothroyd, D., Life Peerages created
under the Life Peerages Act 1958 Cox, N, "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:
379–401 Farnborough, T. E. May, 1st Baron,
Constitutional History of England since the Accession of George the Third,
London: Longmans, Green and Co Life Peerages Act 1958., London: Her
Majesty's Stationery Office Chisholm, Hugh, ed., "Lords of Appeal in
Ordinary", Encyclopædia Britannica 17, Cambridge University Press
Chisholm, Hugh, ed., "Peerage", Encyclopædia Britannica 21, Cambridge
University Press, pp. 45–55 Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:
Chisholm, Hugh, ed., "Parliament: Life Peerages", Encyclopædia Britannica 20,
Cambridge University Press