An election for 16 Scottish representative peers took place on Monday 23 May 1955 at the
Parliament House in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
.
Procedure
The venue for the meeting caused some difficulty as the general election was called for the week when the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray ...
was due to meet; by tradition the Church would not meet on the day of the general election, which meant the only day for the Peers to meet was Monday 23 May. This was the day before the Church Assembly opened and the day on which the
took up residence at
Holyrood Palace
The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinbu ...
, which was the normal location for the Peers to meet. Instead it was decided the peers should meet at Parliament House, built for the
Parliament of Scotland
The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...
but now part of the law courts. The
Lord President of the Court of Session
The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. The L ...
and the
Faculty of Advocates
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constitu ...
agreed to the use of Parliament House.
Accordingly, the date, time and place of the meeting was set in a Royal Proclamation of 6 May 1955.
Lord Elphinstone
Lord Elphinstone is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created by King James IV in 1510.
History
The title of Lord Elphinstone was granted by King James IV in 1510 to Sir Alexander Elphinstone of Elphinstone, who was killed at the Battle of ...
, who held the role of
Lord Clerk Register
The office of Lord Clerk Register is the oldest surviving Great Officer of State in Scotland, with origins in the 13th century. It historically had important functions in relation to the maintenance and care of the public records of Scotland. Tod ...
, presided for the last time. When the Principal Clerk of Session George Watson read the roll of Peers of Scotland, 113 names were read, and 32 answered that they were present.
Lord Polwarth
Lord Polwarth, of Polwarth in the County of Berwick, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1690 for Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth, 2nd Baronet, Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1696 to 1702 (the baronetcy had been created in t ...
produced a proxy on behalf of the
Duke of Montrose
Duke of Montrose (named for Montrose, Angus) is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Scotland. The title was created anew in 1707, for James Graham, 4th Marquess of Montrose, great-grandson of famed James Graham, 1st Marquess ...
, and 22 Peers had submitted "Signed Lists" as a form of absent voting.
[Minutes, HL 4 1955-56, p. 4.] Lord Elphinstone himself chose not to vote; this was the "customary but not compulsory practice" of the Lord Clerk Register.
Result
Two new representative peers were elected who had not sat in the previous Parliament - Lord Forbes and Lord Reay.
Votes cast
See also
*
List of Scottish representative peers
This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the Parliament of Scotland, where, as a unicameral legislature, all Scottis ...
References
* "MINUTES OF MEETING held on the 23rd May, 1955, of PEERS OF SCOTLAND for the ELECTION OF THEIR REPRESENTATIVES to sit and vote in the ensuing Parliament of Great Britain and Northern Ireland." House of Lords paper 4 of Session 1955–56, HMSO.
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Peerage of Scotland
1955 elections in the United Kingdom
1955 in Scotland
Scottish representative peers