The Life Peerages Act 1958 established the modern standards for the creation of

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

s by the

Sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Background

This Act was made during the Conservative governments of 1957–1964, when

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...

was Prime Minister.

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

had ascended to the throne just over five years before the Act. The

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

tried to introduce life peerages to modernise the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, give it more legitimacy, and respond to a decline in its numbers and attendance. The Labour Party opposed the Life Peerages Bill on Second Reading: Hugh Gaitskell made an impassioned speech against the proposals, arguing for a far more fundamental reform such as total dismantling of the Lords or a wholly elected house.

Summary

Prior to the Life Peerages Act 1958, membership in the House of Lords was strictly male and overwhelmingly based on possession of a hereditary title. There existed a few exceptions to the hereditary principle, such as for the

Lords Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who serve in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. 26 out of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not counting retired archbi ...

. The Act made it possible for life peers of both sexes to be members of the Lords. Life peers are either

barons Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

(a title in existence since the Middle Ages; holders are usually known as ''Lord'' for all but the most formal documents) or baronesses (where female; conventionally they choose to be known as "Lady X" or "Baroness X" as preferred) and are members of the

for life, but their titles and membership in the House of Lords cannot be inherited by their children. Judicial life peers already sat in the House under the terms of the

Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 The Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 ( 39 & 40 Vict c 59) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the judicial functions of the House of Lords by allowing senior judges to sit in the House of Lords as life peers, known as ...

. The Life Peerages Act greatly increased the ability of Prime Ministers to change the composition of the

by permitting the creation of groups of life peers rather than hereditary peerages. This gradually diminished the numerical dominance of hereditary peers. The Act allowed for the creation of female peers entitled to sit in the House of Lords. The first such women peers were four:

Barbara Wootton Barbara Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger, CH (14 April 1897 – 11 July 1988) was a British sociologist and criminologist. She was the first of four women to be appointed as a life peer, entitled to serve in the House of Lords, under the ...

and Stella Isaacs, who were sworn in on 21 October 1958, and

Katharine Elliot Katharine Elliot, Baroness Elliot of Harwood DBE (née Tennant; 15 January 1903 – 3 January 1994) was a British public servant and politician. Early life Born Katharine Tennant in 1903, she was the daughter of the Scottish industrialist ...

and Irene Curzon, who took office the next day. A life peer is created by the sovereign by Letters Patent under the Great Seal on the advice of the Prime Minister. Before the Act was enacted, former Prime Ministers were usually created hereditary Viscounts or Earls in recognition of their public service in high office, as were the

Viceroys of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...

and exceptional military or

front bench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

figures, for example the former Secretary of State for India and earlier for Air,

Viscount Stansgate Viscount Stansgate, of Stansgate in the County of Essex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1942 for the Labour politician, former Secretary of State for India and future Secretary of State for Air, William Wedg ...

. The last Prime Minister and the last non-royal to be created an Earl was coincidentally one of the 1958 Act's proponents,

, on

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

's advice, in the 1980s. Since her time, only members of the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

have been granted new hereditary peerages.

Historic approval and 1999 adjustment of House composition

In 1999, during the debate which secured the removal of the constitutional functions of most

hereditary peers The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsidi ...

, the Minister for Constitutional Affairs,

Geoff Hoon Geoffrey William Hoon (born 6 December 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire from 1992 to 2010. He is a former Defence Secretary, Transport Secretary, Leader of ...

stated: After this agreed with a question from fellow Labour MP,

Mark Fisher Mark Fisher (11 July 1968 – 13 January 2017), also known under his blogging alias k-punk, was an English writer, music critic, political and cultural theorist, philosopher, and teacher based in the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsm ...

which stated:

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

External links

*
UK Parliament website about the Life Peerages Act
{{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1958 Peerage of the United Kingdom Constitutional laws of the United Kingdom Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning the House of Lords Harold Macmillan

Background

Summary

Historic approval and 1999 adjustment of House composition

See also

Further reading

Notes and references

External links