Peerage Act 1963
The Peerage Act 1963 (1963 c. 48) is an Act of the British Parliament of 31 July 1963. It meant an important change in the constitution of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , as there is a part of the legislature , namely the House of Lords , altered . According to this law, all Scottish peers were given a seat in the House of Lords and the law allowed the peers to renounce the title of nobility for life, thereby returning the upper house mandate. The Peerage Act received royal approval and took effect on July 31, 1963 at 6 p.m.
background
The law change was initiated by a campaign by Labor MP Tony Benn . He belonged to the House of Commons and automatically lost this seat when his father died in November 1960, and he inherited its title of nobility ( Viscount Stansgate ) and the seat in the House of Lords (membership in both houses is not permitted). Since there was no legal possibility to give up the title of nobility, he applied again in the by-election for his previous mandate in the lower house and was re-elected. An electoral review court again dismissed him from his mandate. Benn continued his campaign and the Conservative government ultimately accepted the need to change the law.
Rejection of nobility
Under the new law, a peer can turn down the title and seat in the House of Lords within 12 months of inheriting the title or until their 22nd birthday if they inherited it as a child. The disclaimer must be explained to the Lord Chancellor . He loses the title and all privileges from it. If the person concerned is married, his wife can take over the title, otherwise the title remains vacant until the next heir takes over the title. As a transitional arrangement, peers had the right to retire in the year after the law was passed.
Benn was the first lord to resign his title at 6:22 pm that same day. Of national importance was Alec Douglas-Home's decision to resign his title and run for the House of Commons under the law. He subsequently became prime minister.
With the House of Lords Act 1999 , it is no longer necessary to resign the title to become a member of the House of Commons as most titles are no longer automatically tied to the seat in the House of Lords.
The law does not apply to the Peerage of Ireland as their titles do not qualify for seats in the UK House of Lords.
Peerage of Scotland
After the union in 1707, there were 168 English and 154 Scottish peers. In order not to let the Scots dominate the House of Lords, and because Scotland only made up a fifth of the English population, the Scottish peers were not given an automatic seat in the House of Lords. Instead, the Scottish Peers elected 16 representatives.
The Peerage Act 1963 abolished this regulation. Now all Scottish peers had a seat.
Hereditary Peeresses
It was not until 1958 that women were admitted to the House of Lords. The Life Peerages Act passed that year allowed female nobles to take their seats in the House of Lords for life. With the Peerage Act 1963, hereditary peeresses also received a seat.