Life peer

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, 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 (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.

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.[1] 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 (on the retirement of Lord Blackburn) 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.

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 he or she is at least 21 years of age, is not suffering punishment upon conviction for treason, and is a citizen of Great Britain, or Northern 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, 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.

As of December 2020, there are 682 life peers eligible to vote in the House of Lords.[8] This includes 213 Conservative, 174 Labour, 85 Liberal Democrat and 150 crossbench peers. There are also 10 others representing 4 other parties, 45 non-affiliated, 4 peers labelling themselves as "Independent" but close to a party, and the Lord Speaker. 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.[9]

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 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 41 and 36 peerages per year respectively. However, current prime minister Boris Johnson has the highest rate of creations, at 57 peerages in about a year in office (as of 8 November 2020).

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 37 years) have created slightly more (766 out of 1416, as of September 2019) life peerages than Labour (in 24 years); Conservative Prime Ministers (especially Macmillan) also created the vast majority (52) of the 59 hereditary peerages created since 1958.[10]

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[11] were removed by the House of Lords Act, there were 350 Conservative hereditary peers, compared with 19 Labour peers and 23 Liberal Democrat peers.

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."[12] 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 (without disclaiming the peerage).

Most life peers take a title based on their surname, either alone (e.g. Baron Hattersley) or in combination with a placename (known as a territorial designation) to differentiate them from others of the same surname (e.g. Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws). Surnames need not be used at all if desired.[13] 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 is not appropriate as a title, such as Michael Lord (now Lord Framlingham) and Michael Bishop (now Lord Glendonbrook).[14]

The formal style for a life peer is either:

The Rt Hon. The Lord/Lady TitleName (e.g. The Rt Hon. The Lord Owen or The Rt Hon. The Lady Thatcher)

or

The Rt Hon. FirstName, Lord/Lady TitleName (e.g. The Rt Hon. David, Lord Steel of Aikwood or The Rt Hon. Betty, Baroness Boothroyd).

Female life peers often prefer to use the style "FirstName, Baroness (TitleName)" (e.g. Shirley, Baroness Williams of Crosby) to emphasise that they hold a peerage in their own right. Life peers who have achieved wide fame under their original name, such as the actor Laurence Olivier, are often referred to as Lord/Lady Firstname Lastname (e.g. "Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber") after their ennoblement but this is incorrect since the correct form should be either of those shown above.[15]

• Peerages in the United Kingdom
• Peerage of the United Kingdom
• 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
• List of Related Life Peers

• 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, 17 (4): 379–401, archived from the original on 22 October 2009
• 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
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Lords of Appeal in Ordinary" , Encyclopædia Britannica, 17 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Peerage" , Encyclopædia Britannica, 21 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 45–55
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Parliament: Life Peerages" , Encyclopædia Britannica, 20 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press