Peerage Act 1963
 | |
| Long title | An Act to authorise the disclaimer for life of certain hereditary peerages; to include among the peers qualified to sit in the House of Lords all peers in the peerage of Scotland and peeresses in their own right in the peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom; to remove certain disqualifications of peers in the peerage of Ireland in relation to the House of Commons and elections thereto; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1963 c. 48 |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 31 July 1963 |
| Commencement | 31 July 1963 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
| Text of the Peerage Act 1963 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. | |
The Peerage Act 1963 (c. 48) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that permits women peeresses and all Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords and allows newly inherited hereditary peerages to be disclaimed.
Background
The Act resulted largely from the protests of Labour politician Tony Benn, then the 2nd Viscount Stansgate.[1] Under British law at the time, peers of England, peers of Great Britain and peers of the United Kingdom (who met certain qualifications, such as age which was (and is) 21) were automatically members of the House of Lords (Scottish and Irish peers had imperial status which allowed then to sit in the House of Lords but not as Scottish and Irish peers) and could not sit in or vote in elections for the other chamber, the House of Commons.
Thirty peers in the Peerage of Scotland had imperial status when the Act passed.
When William Wedgwood Benn, Tony Benn's father, agreed to accept the Viscountcy, he ascertained that the heir-apparent, his eldest son Michael, did not plan to enter the House of Commons. However, within a few years of the peerage being accepted, Michael Benn was killed in action in the Second World War. Tony Benn, his younger brother, became heir apparent to the peerage and was elected to the House of Commons in 1950. Not wishing to leave it for the other House, he campaigned through the 1950s for a change in the law. In 1960, the 1st Viscount died and Tony Benn inherited the title, automatically losing his seat in the House of Commons as a member for the constituency of Bristol South East. In the ensuing by-election, however, Benn was re-elected to the Commons, despite being disqualified. An election court ruled that he could not take his seat, instead awarding it to the runner-up, the Conservative Malcolm St Clair.[2]
In 1963, the Conservative Government agreed to introduce a Peerage Bill, allowing individuals to disclaim peerages; it received Royal Assent on 31 July 1963.[3] Tony Benn was the first peer to make use of the Act. St Clair, fulfilling a promise he had made at the time of taking his seat, accepted the office of Steward of the Manor of Northstead the previous day,[4] thereby disqualifying himself from the House (outright resignation is prohibited), and Benn was then re-elected in Bristol South East at the ensuing by-election.
Disclaiming peerages
To disclaim a hereditary peerage, the peer must deliver an instrument of disclaimer to the lord chancellor within one year of succeeding to the peerage, or within one year after the passage of the Act, or, if under the age of 21 at the time of succession, before the peer's 22nd birthday. If, at the time of succession, the peer is a member of the House of Commons, then the instrument must be delivered within one month of succession, and until such an instrument is delivered, the peer may neither sit nor vote in the lower House. Prior to the House of Lords Act 1999, a hereditary peer could not disclaim a peerage after having applied for a writ of summons to Parliament; now, however, hereditary peers do not have the automatic right to a writ of summons to the House. A peer who disclaims the peerage loses all titles, rights and privileges associated with the peerage; if they are married, so does their spouse. No further hereditary peerage may be conferred upon the person, but a life peerage may be. The peerage remains without a holder until the death of the peer who had made the disclaimer, when it descends to his or her heir in the usual manner.
The one-year window after the passage of the Act soon proved to be of importance at the highest levels of British politics, after the resignation of Harold Macmillan as Prime Minister in October 1963. Two hereditary peers wished to be considered to replace him, but by this time it was considered requisite that a prime minister sit in the Commons. The 2nd Viscount Hailsham and the 14th Earl of Home took advantage of the Act to disclaim their peerages, despite having inherited them in 1950 and 1951 respectively.[1] Sir Alec Douglas-Home, as Lord Home now became, was chosen as prime minister; both men later returned to the House of Lords as life peers.
Since the abolition in 1999 of the general right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, and the consequent removal of the general disability of such peers to sit in or vote for the House of Commons, it is no longer necessary for hereditary peers to disclaim their peerages for this purpose. In 2001, The 3rd Viscount Thurso became the first British hereditary peer to be elected to the Commons and take his seat. Later that year, Douglas Hogg inherited the peerage his father (Quintin Hogg) had disclaimed, but did not have to disclaim it himself to continue sitting in the House of Commons. In 2004, Michael Ancram became Marquess of Lothian on the death of his father, and was also able to continue sitting as an MP. On their retirements from the House of Commons, Lord Lothian (formerly Lord Ancram) and Hogg entered the House of Lords as life peers, while Lord Thurso was elected as an excepted hereditary peer after losing reelection as an MP. Since the chief purpose for the Act ended in 1999, only one disclaimer has occurred — Christopher Silkin disclaimed the title 3rd Baron Silkin in 2002.
The Act only applies to titles held in the Peerage of England, the Peerage of Scotland, the Peerage of Great Britain, and the Peerage of the United Kingdom. No provision was made by the Act for titles in the Peerage of Ireland to be disclaimed, as the entitlement of new Irish representative peers to be elected to sit in the House of Lords was considered to have lapsed after most of Ireland became independent as the Irish Free State in December 1922 (and the last surviving Irish representative peer had died in 1961).
Other provisions
The Act granted peers of Scotland the same right to sit in the House of Lords as peers of England, Great Britain or the United Kingdom, thereby ending the election of representative peers, thereby increasing the number of peers of Scotland in the Lords (who did not already sit as holder of another British peerage) from 16 to about 46.[5] An amendment that would have allowed Irish peers to sit in the House as well was defeated by ninety votes to eight.
The Act removed the disqualification of peers of Ireland, by virtue of an Irish peerage, to vote in elections for members of the House of Commons; and to sit in the British House of Commons without losing the privilege of peerage.[6]
The Act also granted suo jure hereditary women peers (other than those in the Peerage of Ireland) the right to sit in the House of Lords, which introduced twelve new women to the House. This was not the first time that women were members of the House of Lords; the Life Peerages Act 1958 allowed all life peers (men and women) to sit in the House. The 2nd Baroness Ravensdale had already entered the Lords in 1958 through the receipt of a life peerage. The women who took their seats in the House after the Peerage Act 1963 and before the House of Lords Act 1999 were:
Female hereditary peers
| ‡ | Indicates peerage which the holder is currently alive |
Who took their seat
Who did not take their seat
| Title | Name | Title by marriage | Date inherited peerage |
|---|---|---|---|
 The Baroness Furnivall
|
Mary Dent | 3 May 1913 [8] | |
 The Countess of Seafield
|
Nina Caroline Studley-Herbert | 12 November 1915 | |
| The Baroness Zouche
|
Mary Frankland | 7 April 1917 | |
| The Countess of Dysart
|
Wenefryde Scott | 22 November 1935 | |
| The Baroness Berners
|
Vera Williams | 19 April 1950 | |
| The Baroness de Ros
|
Georgiana Maxwell | 9 August 1958 [8] | |
| The Countess of Kintore
|
Ethel Keith-Falconer | Viscountess Stonehaven | 26 May 1966 |
| The Baroness Wharton
|
Elisabeth Kemeys-Tynte | 22 July 1969 | |
| The Lady Herries of Terregles
|
Anne Fitzalan-Howard | Baroness Cowdrey of Tonbridge | 31 January 1975 |
| The Countess of Dysart
|
Rosamund Greaves | 2 June 1975 |
Scottish hereditary peers
Scottish peers with imperial status
- Notes
Scottish representative peers became automatic members
| Peer | Elected as representative peer |
|---|---|
| Iain Murray, 10th Duke of Atholl | 1 October 1958 |
| Roderick Sinclair, 19th Earl of Caithness | 21 February 1950 |
| John Erskine, 13th Earl of Mar and 16th Earl of Kellie | 6 October 1959 |
| David Drummond, 8th Earl of Perth | 2 April 1952 |
| George Baillie-Hamilton, 12th Earl of Haddington | 16 November 1922 |
| David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie | 13 January 1922 |
| George Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk | 6 July 1945 |
| David Carnegie, 11th Earl of Northesk | 6 October 1959 |
| Ian Cochrane, 14th Earl of Dundonald | 6 October 1959 |
| Nigel Forbes, 22nd Lord Forbes | 23 May 1955 |
| Alexander Fraser, 20th Lord Saltoun | 15 November 1935 |
| Charles St Clair, 17th Lord Sinclair | 6 October 1959 |
| William Forbes-Sempill, 19th Lord Sempill | 15 November 1935 |
| George Bruce, 7th Lord Balfour of Burleigh | 16 November 1922 |
| Thomas Fairfax, 13th Lord Fairfax of Cameron | 6 July 1945 |
| Henry Hepburne-Scott, 10th Lord Polwarth | 6 July 1945 |
Eligible to sit
| Peer | Notes |
|---|---|
| David Douglas, 12th Marquess of Queensberry | |
| Lionel Erskine-Young, 29th Earl of Mar | |
| Sholto Douglas, 20th Earl of Morton | |
| Malcolm Leslie, 20th Earl of Rothes | Former representative peer |
| Alfred Maitland, 16th Earl of Lauderdale | |
| William Lindesay-Bethune, 14th Earl of Lindsay | Former representative peer |
| Alexander Leslie-Melville, 14th Earl of Leven and 13th Earl of Melville | |
| John Campbell, 10th Earl of Breadalbane and Holland | |
| Cecil FitzMaurice, 8th Earl of Orkney | |
| Lucius Cary, 14th Viscount Falkland | |
| Keith Arbuthnott, 15th Viscount of Arbuthnott | |
| Angus Campbell-Gray, 22nd Lord Gray | |
| John Sandilands, 13th Lord Torphichen | |
| Hugh Mackay, 14th Lord Reay | |
| James Erskine-Murray, 13th Lord Elibank | |
| Robert Hamilton, 13th Lord Belhaven and Stenton |
The holder of the Earldom of Newburgh wasn't eligible as she was an Italian citizen.
Irish hereditary peers
Irish peers with imperial status
- Ian Eden, 9th Baron Auckland and Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington are not counted on the list as they were both the 9th and 6th Barons of their respective Peerages in both the Peerage of Great Britain and Peerage of Ireland and their place in the order of precedence was Barons of the Peerage of Great Britain.
- Notes
- ^ The Marquessate of Ormonde in the Peerage of Ireland and the Barony of Ormonde was extinct on 25 October 1997
- ^ The Earldom of Fingall in the Peerage of Ireland and the Barony of Fingall in the Peerage of the United Kingdom was extinct on 5 March 1984
- ^ The Earldom of Fitzwilliam in the Peerage of Ireland, the Earldom of Fitzwilliam and the Barony of Fitzwilliam in the Peerage of Great Britain was extinct on 21 September 1979
- ^ The Earldom of Egmont in the Peerage of Ireland and the Barony of Lovel and Holland in the Peerage of Great Britain was extinct on 6 November 2011
- ^ The Earldom of Bessborough in the Peerage of the United Kingdom was extinct on 5 December 1993
- ^ The Earldom of Sefton in the Peerage of Ireland and the Barony of Sefton in the Peerage of the United Kingdom was extinct on 13 April 1972
- ^ The Barony of Monckton in the Peerage of the United Kingdom was extinct on 1 January 1971
- ^ The Barony of Talbot de Malahide in the Peerage of the United Kingdom was extinct on 14 April 1973
Irish peers with full voting rights
- Notes
- ^ The Earldom of Lanesborough was extinct on 21 December 1998
- ^ The Earldom of Wicklow was extinct on 8 February 1978
- ^ The Earldom of Bandon was extinct on 8 February 1979
- ^ The Earldom of Dunraven and Mount-Earl was extinct on 25 March 2011
- ^ The Viscountcy of Templetown was extinct on 10 February 1981
- ^ The Barony of Headley was extinct on 23 February 1994
- ^ The Barony of Teignmouth was extinct on 7 July 1981
See also
References
- ^ a b "Disclaiming a peerage". BBC News. London: British Broadcasting Corporation. 14 July 2005. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
- ^ Zander, Michael, QC (11 April 2014). "How to lose a title". New Law Journal (7602). Retrieved 12 June 2015.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "No. 43072". The London Gazette. 2 August 1963. pp. 6533–6534.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
LG43072was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Election By Scots Peers". The Times. London. 7 October 1959. p. 14. There were 115 peers of Scotland at the time of the last representatives' election in 1959, but most of these already sat in the Lords as they held another title in the Peerage of England, Great Britain or the United Kingdom. Peerage of Scotland lists only 45 exclusively-Scottish peers as of 2020, and the Earldom of Breadalbane and Holland (plus subsidiary titles) was the only exclusively Scottish peerage to become dormant or extinct since 1963.
- ^ "Peerage Act 1963". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ "Lords Membership: Lists of Current and Former Female Peers". parliament.uk. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Abeyance Terminated
- ^ "Baroness Strange Of Knokin - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "House Of Lords - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "Baroness Beaumont - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "House Of Lords - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "House Of Lords - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "Leave Of Absence - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "House Of Lords - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "Baroness Berkeley - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "House Of Lords - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "Lord Delacourt-Smith - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "House Of Lords - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
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- ^ "House Of Lords - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "The Lord Bishop Of Norwich - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "House Of Lords - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "House Of Lords - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "Barony Of Strange - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "The Barony Of Wharton - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "House Of Lords - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "The Barony Of Berners - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "The Barony Of Arlington - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
- ^ "FORMER WOMEN MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS". Queen's University Belfast. 29 January 2022. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2022.