Life peer
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In the United Kingdom, life peers are created members of the Peerage whose titles may not be inherited (those whose titles are inheritable are known as hereditary peers). Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, 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 barons, being entitled to style themselves with the prefix "the Honourable....".
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[edit] Before 1876
- See also Pre-1876 Life Peerages
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 (1603–1760), 18 life peerages were created for women. Women, however, were incapable of 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, no man had claimed a seat in the Lords by virtue of a life peerage. In 1856, it was determined necessary to add a peer learned in law to the House of Lords (which exercised and continues to exercise certain judicial functions), 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 then compelled to take his seat as an hereditary peer. (Ironically, Parke had no sons, so his barony did not pass to an heir despite the ruling of the Lords.)
The Government then introduced a bill to authorise the creation of two life peerages carrying seats in the House of Lords for judges who 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 by John Russell, 1st 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.
[edit] Life Peerages Act
The Life Peerages Act 1958 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 is 21 years of age, is not suffering punishment upon conviction for treason and is a citizen of the United Kingdom, of 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 theoretically created by the Sovereign, but in practice, none are granted except upon the proposition of the Prime Minister. Individuals may be created after retiring from important public offices, such as Speaker of the House of Commons or Prime Minister. From time to time, Working Peers' Lists are published. "Working peers" do not form a formal class, but represent the various political parties and are expected to regularly attend the House of Lords. Additionally, individuals may be created peers in various honours lists as rewards for merit; 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 Birthday Honours List (to mark the Sovereign's official birthday, the second 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) have all been used to announce life peerage creations. Now, however, non-partisan peers are not announced in the various honours lists, but are rather created upon the recommendations of the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
Life peerages may be awarded to certain important public functionaries upon retirement. Every Archbishop of Canterbury who has retired since 1958, and who before retirement was ex officio entitled to a seat in the House of Lords, has also been created a life peer. Life Peerages have been granted to Speakers of the House of Commons upon retirement, (previously by custom entitled to a hereditary peerage as viscount). Important Cabinet members have generally been created life peers upon retirement from the House of Commons.
Prime Ministers since the passing of the Life Peerages Act, including Sir Alec Douglas-Home, who had renounced his hereditary title of the 14th Earl of Home on becoming Prime Minister was the first Prime Minister to receive a life barony; Sir Harold Wilson; Sir James Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher, took life peerages following their retirement from the House of Commons. Sir Edward Heath chose not to become a peer, nor has Sir John Major yet taken a peerage. Harold Macmillan declined a peerage on leaving office, but over 20 years after retiring accepted a second offer of the customary earldom for retiring Prime Ministers, as Lord Stockton. While Lloyd-George also waited a similar time most offers have been made and accepted shortly after retirement such as the Earls of Avon, Attlee, Baldwin and Asquith.
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 issue, as did the only other viscountency, for the former Speaker of the Commons and Secretary of State for Wales George Thomas as Viscount Tonypandy. Since that time no new hereditary peerages have been offered outside of the Royal family.
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, many 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, including 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 (better known as Viscount Cranborne and Lord Cecil of Essendon, having attended the Lords by virtue of a writ of acceleration); George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe; Malcolm Shepherd, 2nd Baron Shepherd; and David Hennessy, 3rd Baron Windlesham.
In most cases, peers are created on a partisan basis. Normally, the Prime Minister chooses only peers for his 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 may also choose to amend these recommendations, but by convention does not do so.
Individuals who have not served in public office may also be created peers on a non-partisan basis. Formerly, the Prime Minister determined which peers could be created on the basis of merit, but that task has now passed to the House of Lords Appointments Commission, established in 2000. The Commission both scrutinises these recommendations and nominates non-partisan candidates on the basis of merit. The Commission includes a Chairman, three non-partisan peers, one Conservative peer, one Labour peer and one Liberal Democrat peer. 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.
Unlike Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, life peers created under the Life Peerages Act do not, unless they also hold ministerial positions, receive salaries. They are, however, entitled to generous daily allowances for travel and accommodation on signing in each day, though there is no requirement to take part in the business of the House.
[edit] The number of Life Peers
| Prime Minister | Party | Tenure | Peers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harold Macmillan | Conservative | 1957–1963 | 48 |
| Alec Douglas-Home | Conservative | 1963–1964 | 14 |
| Harold Wilson | Labour | 1964–1970 | 123 |
| Edward Heath | Conservative | 1970–1974 | 56 |
| Harold Wilson | Labour | 1974–1976 | 80 |
| James Callaghan | Labour | 1976–1979 | 57 |
| Margaret Thatcher | Conservative | 1979–1990 | 200 |
| John Major | Conservative | 1990–1997 | 141 |
| Tony Blair | Labour | 1997— | 357 |
| Total | 1076 | ||
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. The Administration of Justice Act 1968 allows the Sovereign to make a Statutory Instrument, if each House of Parliament passes a resolution approving a draft of the same, increasing the maximum number of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary.
There is no limit on the number of Lords of Appeal (peers who hold or held high judicial office, and retired Lords of Appeal in Ordinary) who sit in the House of Lords. There are, as at the beginning of 2004, 31 Lords of Appeal. Twenty-three of those Lords of Appeal were formerly Lords of Appeal in Ordinary.
The rate of creation of life peerages under the Life Peerages Act has not shown a consistent pattern of increase, but the present Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has caused the creation of life peerages at an unprecedented rate. The number of Conservative and Labour life peers has in recent years been approximately the same; in 1999, there were 172 Conservative and 160 Labour life peers in the House of Lords, and at the beginning of May, 2004, there were 158 Conservative and 178 Labour life peers in the House of Lords. The hereditary element of the House of Lords, however, does not reflect such an equality. In 1999, for example, immediately before most hereditary peers were removed by the House of Lords Act, there were 299 Conservative hereditary peers, compared to 19 Labour peers and 23 Liberal Democrat peers.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Boothroyd, D. (2004). "Life Peerages created under the Life Peerages Act 1958."
- Cox, N. (1997). "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. (Vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 379-401).
- Farnborough, T. E. May, 1st Baron. (1896). Constitutional History of England since the Accession of George the Third, 11th ed. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
- Life Peerages Act 1958. (6 & 7 Elizabeth 2 c. 21). London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- "Lords of Appeal in Ordinary." (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. London: Cambridge University Press.
- "Peerage." (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. London: Cambridge University Press.
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