Peerages in the United Kingdom


A Peerage is a form of crown distinction, with Peerages in the United Kingdom comprising both hereditary and lifetime titled appointments of various ranks, which form both a constituent part of the legislative process and the British honours system within the framework of the Constitution of the United Kingdom.
The term peerage can be used both collectively to refer to this entire body of titled nobility, and individually to refer to a specific title. British peerage title holders are termed peers of the Realm. "Lord" is used as a generic term to denote members of the peerage; however, individuals who use the appellation Lord or Lady are not always necessarily peers.
The peerage also forms the highest rung of the "British nobility". This is a formal designation and not to be confused with the British upper class which is by contrast not formally structured, though many of the former may compose part of the latter. Though the modern UK is a constitutional monarchy with robust democratic elements, historically the British Isles were predisposed towards monarchial and aristocratic governance in which power was largely inherited and shared amongst a privileged monarchy, aristocracy, their families and retainers, with both the British nobility and class system having evolved out of this period.
The British monarch is considered the fount of honour and is notionally the only person who can grant peerages, though there are many conventions about how this power is used, especially at the request of the British government.
The peerage's fundamental roles today are ones of lawmaking and governance, with peers being eligible to a seat in the House of Lords and having eligibility to serve in a ministerial role in the government if invited to do so by the monarch, or more conventionally in the modern era, by the prime minister.
Until the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009, the peerage also formed a constituent part of the British judicial system, via the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.
The peerage also has a ceremonial aspect, and serves a role as a system of honour or award, with the granting of a peerage title forming the highest rung of the modern British honours system. All peers continue to hold a formal ranking in the United Kingdom orders of precedence.
Within the United Kingdom, due to the hereditary nature of most peerage titles historically, five peerage divisions currently co-exist, namely:

Creation

All peerages are created by the British monarch. The monarch, as the fount of honour, cannot hold a British peerage themselves. However, the monarch, in addition to their title of 'King' or 'Queen', whether male or female, is informally accorded the style of 'Duke of Lancaster'. Likewise in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man the informal titles Duke of Normandy and Lord of Mann are used respectively.
All British subjects who were neither Royal nor Peers of the Realm were previously termed commoners, regardless of ancestry, wealth or other social factors. Thus, all members of a peer's family, with the exception of their wife or unremarried widow, are commoners too; the British system therefore differs fundamentally from continental European versions, where entire families, rather than individuals, were ennobled. This idea that status as a 'commoner' is based on title rather than bloodline correspondingly means for example that Princess Anne, who enjoys royal status as the daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, opted for her children to be technically commoners despite their being grandchildren of the then sovereign, when Anne and her husband, Mark Philips, declined the offer of peerage titles. Where children of peers use titles, these are accorded by courtesy, and they do not hold a peerage themselves. For example, the Duke of Norfolk holds other peerage titles including the Earl of Arundel and Baron Maltravers. A hypothetical eldest son of the Duke of Norfolk can therefore be styled by courtesy as "Earl of Arundel". In this example, only the Duke of Norfolk is actually a peer; his son is not.

Division and rank

Most peerages since 1801, and all subsequent peerages from 1898, are created within the division of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Hereditary peerages are still extant in the other divisions: the Peerage of England, the Peerage of Scotland, the Peerage of Great Britain and the Peerage of Ireland.
Since 2009 almost all life peerages are created, by convention, at the rank of baron, the sole exception being the royal life peerage of the Dukedom of Edinburgh in 2023. The reason for this is that the Life Peerages Act 1958 restricts the issuing of writs of summons to life peers to those created at the rank of baron only. While peerages remain part of the honours system, the main reason for creating new peers is for them to hold a seat in the House of Lords. A government could theoretically support the creation of a life peerage at a more senior rank as an honour for someone who displayed particularly meritorious service, who did not want to enter parliament, but so far no government has done so.

Entitlement and Heritability

All honours, including peerages, are granted at the discretion of the monarch as the fount of honour ; there is, therefore, no entitlement to be granted a peerage. However, historic precedent means some individuals are granted peerages by convention. For example, since the Wars of the Three Kingdoms it has been convention for a retiring speaker of the House of Commons to be granted a hereditary viscountcy; however, the last to receive the honour was in 1983, and the convention is now accepted to have changed to a life peerage at the rank of baron instead. British prime ministers are also offered a peerage by convention when leaving office. This was previously a hereditary earldom. However, the last prime minister to receive this honour was Harold Macmillan in 1984. When she resigned in 1990 Margaret Thatcher, as the first female prime minister, was not offered a hereditary earldom or any other peerage, but instead a baronetcy was awarded to her husband Denis Thatcher. Thatcher was later given a life peerage in her own right in 1992. The most recent prime minister to receive a peerage was Theresa May, who was given a life peerage in 2024.
Most peerage nominations are 'political peers' or 'working peers', nominated by the prime minister of the governing party, or by other party leaders to ‘top up’ each of the party groups’ strengths and on the expectation that they will attend parliament regularly and take on frontbench work. However, since 2001 any member of the public can make a nomination to the House of Lords Appointment Commission, to nominate someone to sit with the "cross bench" peers, as a non-party political peerage - sometimes called 'people's peers'. As of 2023, since 2001 67 'people's peers' have been appointed.
Historically monarchs sold peerage titles under limited circumstances. This was often done to raise funds. For example, in the early Stuart period, King James I sold peerages, adding sixty-two peers to a body that had included just fifty-nine members at the commencement of his reign. Some governments through history also sold peerages to fund government activities, or more controversially, party activities. The selling of peerages by a government was made illegal in 1925 with the Honours Act 1925. The act was the result of the administration of David Lloyd George selling a high number of controversial peerages. The Blair administration was later accused of trying to skirt this law in 2006 in the so called "Cash-for-Honours scandal", as was an aide of Prince Charles in the 2021 Cash-for-Favours scandal. Unlike the feudal titles they replaced, peerages are not a form of property and cannot be transferred, bought, or sold by the title holder.
The exact terms of the peerage are set out in the letters patent. All peerages are strictly personal and for life. However, historic peerages are often heritable, primarily by agnatic primogeniture with some exceptions of male-preference cognatic primogeniture. For most of their history, hereditary peerages were the norm. Today, the only new hereditary peerages granted are, by convention, to members of the royal family. The last non-royal awardees of hereditary titles were in the Thatcher era. Since then, ruling parties have instead exclusively created life peers and refrained from recommending any others to be elevated to a hereditary peerage, although this is simply present convention and there is nothing preventing future governments from doing so.
When a peerage is inherited, the holder is by convention numbered sequentially according to the order of succession from the original grantee. For example, the son of the first recipient of the peerage title 'Duke of Somerset', upon inheriting the title, would become 'the 2nd Duke of Somerset' indicating they are the second holder of that title and not the original recipient who was honoured. The counting starts afresh for each creation. This is the case even if a peer is attained of their title, and their would be heir is granted the same title in a new creation.

Confirmation process

The government of the United Kingdom makes recommendations to the sovereign concerning who should be elevated to the peerage, after external vetting by the House of Lords Appointments Commission for those peers who will be sitting in the House of Lords.
It is unclear in the present day whether the monarch would move to directly block a recommendation or a conventional ascension to the peerage, though they are constitutionally entitled to do so. It was reported in 2023 that members of the British security services had contacted Queen Elizabeth II to request she intervene and block the peerage of Evgeny Lebedev who had been nominated by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Some media outlets have reported personal interventions with other honours: For example, former prime ministers are also by convention knighted, being raised to the Order of the Garter or the Order of the Thistle. However it was alleged in 2020 that due to a personal reluctance by Queen Elizabeth II to award the Garter to Tony Blair other living prime ministers would not be raised either. Tony Blair was later knighted by Queen Elizabeth II as a Knight Companion of the Garter in 2022.
Like all Crown honours, peerages are affirmed by letters patent affixed with the Great Seal of the Realm. In addition to letters patent, peers who are to sit in Parliament are issued a Writ of summons. The Writ of Summons calls the member to the House. A new writ is issued for every member at the beginning of each Parliament. A writ accompanies the letters patent for new members. The honour will also be recorded in The London Gazette.
Honours, including peerages, are usually awarded at new year and on the monarch's official birthday. They can also be awarded as part of a Prime Minister's resignation, or upon the dissolution of a Parliament. Monarchs may also make new peers upon their coronation, jubilee or upon the demise of the previous monarch. There are also ad hoc announcements and "Special Honours", issued at any time throughout the year at the pleasure of the monarch. This might be done to allow someone to serve in cabinet, or as an immediate reward for exemplary service.
Recipients of new peerages are typically announced via the Crown Honours Lists. Formerly, new peers were presented with an investiture ceremony, but this has not taken place since 1621. New peers serving in parliament do receive an introduction ceremony at the House of Lords.
All peerages are recorded on the Roll of the Peerage maintained by the Crown Office within the United Kingdom's Ministry of Justice, and published by the College of Arms. The Secretary of State for Justice in their role as Lord Chancellor is the keeper of the Peerage Roll, and their duties in that regard are daily discharged by a Registrar of the Peerage and a Deputy Registrar, who work within the Crown Office under the supervision of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. Succession claims to existing hereditary peerages are regulated by the House of Lords Committee for Privileges and Conduct and administered by the Crown Office.