Continue reading «We should not aspire to the inequality
of hereditary peerages as portrayed in Downton Abbey, says Eleanor Laing»»
We should not aspire to the inequality
of hereditary peerages as portrayed in Downton Abbey, says Eleanor Laing
The rule of primogeniture, which sees the succession
of hereditary peerages pass to a male even if the son is born after a daughter, has long been a headache for dispossessed females.
The higher honours confer noble titles: «Sir» and «Dame» in the case of knighthoods; «Lord» and «Baron» or «Lady» and «Baroness» in the case of life peerages; and one of the ranks of the hereditary nobility in the case
of hereditary peerages.
Originally composed only
of hereditary peerage (the dukes, the marquesses, the earls, etc), it was once the most powerful part of parliament.
The Peerage Act 1963 allows the holder
of an hereditary peerage to disclaim their title for life.
The House of Lords Act 1999 ended the automatic link between the holding
of a hereditary peerage and membership of the House of Lords, and the 2nd Lord Monckton ceased to be a member of the House at that point.
Not exact matches
On the reform
of the Upper Chamber it did little more than transform a mixed
hereditary and appointed
Peerage into what is now a mainly appointed one.
Although the monarch had for centuries been empowered to create
hereditary peers, with rights to sit in the House
of Lords, the Life
Peerages Act 1958 had a profound impact on the honours system and parliament.
By 2017 Labour's policy had changed to a «belief» in an elected second chamber but a commitment only to stopping
hereditary peerages and reducing the size
of the House
of Lords:
Surely if the monarchy can change to regularise the role
of women then so can
hereditary peerages.»
18 September 2003: Britain's first constitutional affairs secretary, and likely last lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, announces government plans to expel the remaining 92
hereditary peers from the upper house «when parliamentary time allows» and strip anyone who has ever committed a criminal offence, including Archer,
of their
peerages.
In 1963 the
Peerage Act allowed
hereditary peers to disclaim their
peerages for their own lifetime, but to enable their sons to resume the title and membership
of the House
of Lords.
Its then leader, Hugh Gaitskell, objected to the legislation on the grounds that life
peerages might enhance the prestige
of the then predominantly
hereditary upper house.
Harold Macmillan declined a
peerage on leaving office, but over 20 years after retiring accepted a second offer
of the customary,
hereditary earldom for retiring Prime Ministers, as Earl
of Stockton; this was the last earldom to be offered outside the Royal Family.
Christopher Monckton is a famous scourge
of the Clime Syndicate, and they expend a lot
of energy attempting to marginalize him as a kook and a weirdo, including strange claims that his
hereditary viscountcy, conferred on his grandfather by HM The Queen on February 12th 1957 (if you'll forgive a little peer review), is not a real
peerage.