Peerage Act 1963

Background

The act resulted largely from the protests of the Labour politician Tony Benn, then the 2nd Viscount Stansgate. 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 (21), were automatically members of the House of Lords and could not sit in or vote in elections for the lower chamber, the House of Commons.

At the time of the act, thirty-one peers in the peerage of Scotland also had held titles in the respective peerages of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom and were thus members of the Lords.

When William Wedgwood Benn, Benn's father, agreed to accept the viscountcy, he ascertained that the heir apparent, his eldest son, Michael, did not plan to enter the Commons. However, within a few years of the peerage being accepted, Michael was killed in action in the Second World War. Tony, his younger brother, became heir apparent to the peerage and was elected to the Commons at the 1950 general election. 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 inherited the title, automatically losing his seat in the Commons as the member of Parliament for Bristol South East. In the ensuing by-election, however, Benn was returned to the Commons, despite being disqualified. An election court subsequently ruled that he could not take his seat, instead awarding it to the runner-up, the Conservative Party candidate, Malcolm St Clair.

In 1963 the Conservative government agreed to introduce a Peerage Bill, allowing individuals to disclaim peerages; it received royal assent on 31 July 1963. 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, 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, whereupon 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 for a prime minister to sit in the Commons. Quintin Hogg, 2nd Viscount Hailsham, and Alec Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home, took advantage of the act to disclaim their peerages, despite having inherited them in 1950 and 1951 respectively. Sir Alec Douglas-Home, as Lord Home now became, was chosen as prime minister; both men later returned to the 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 Commons, it is no longer necessary for hereditary peers to disclaim their peerages for this purpose. In 2001 John Thurso, 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 Hailsham peerage his father, Quintin Hogg, had disclaimed, but did not have to disclaim it himself to continue sitting in the Commons. In 2004 Michael Ancram inherited the marquessate of Lothian on the death of his father, and was also able to continue sitting as an MP. On their retirements from the Commons, Lord Lothian and Lord Hailsham entered the Lords as life peers, while Lord Thurso was elected as an excepted hereditary peer after losing re-election as an MP. Since the chief purpose for the act ended in 1999, there has only been one further disclaimer: Christopher Silkin, 3rd Baron Silkin, disclaimed his title in 2002. As at 2024 the barony of Silkin is the only title currently disclaimed under the terms of the Peerage Act 1963.

The Peerage Act 1963 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 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).

List of disclaimed peerages

;Notes

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 Scottish representative peers and 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. 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. 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.

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. Irene Curzon, 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:

Scottish hereditary peers

;Notes

Scottish representative peers who became automatic members

Became eligible to sit

The holder of the Earldom of Newburgh wasn't eligible as she was an Italian citizen.

Irish hereditary peers

Irish peers with qualifying titles

• 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

Irish peers with full voting rights

Female hereditary peers

Who took their seat

Who did not take their seat

;Notes

References

References

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23. Abeyance Terminated
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