BBC ON THIS DAY | 30 | 1957: Lords to admit first women peers About This Site | Text Only 1957: Lords to admit first women peers The Government has unveiled plans to reform the House of Lords which include admitting women for the first time. Under the scheme, male and female life peerages will be created to ensure a balanced representation of the different political parties. Expenses are also to be paid to peers. The idea behind the creation of life peers is to enable distinguished and experienced people, who may not feel able to accept hereditary titles, to enter the House. Appointments will be made at the discretion of the prime minister. The Conservative Leader of the House, Lord Home, announced the proposals to the Lords this afternoon. Taking women into parliamentary embrace is, after all, only an extension of the normal privileges of a peer. Lord Home There were cheers when he said admitting women would simply be recognising the place they had commanded for themselves as a right in modern society.

He raised a laugh when he added: "Taking women into parliamentary embrace is, after all, only an extension of the normal privileges of a peer." Labour's Lord Alexander of Hillsborough rose to complain that his party had not been given any warning of the content of today's debate and he therefore felt unwilling to participate. However, he thought it likely his party would support the admission of women to the House. The Government has ruled out - for the time being - any discussion on the alteration in the powers of the House and any discussion of abolition or reduction of the right of hereditary peers to legislate. Lord Samuel for the Liberals welcomed any reform. He said: "House of Lords reform has been rather like a slow motion film of a prima ballerina, not marked by agility or grace, but by languid exhibition and elephantine deliberations." He said the House of Lords was the only organisation which excluded women - directly contrary to the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act passed by the House nearly 40 years ago but which the House had ever since refused to obey. Talks have been continuing on and off for years about possible reform of the House of Lords.

The last attempt was in 1953 when Conservative Lord Simon introduced a Life Peers Bill. The Conservative Government invited the leaders of the Liberal and Labour parties to attend talks but Clement Attlee refused to take part on Labour's behalf and the discussions did not take place. Lady Carter says the House will be more "exciting" In Context The Life Peerages Act was passed in 1958. It empowered the Crown to create life peers, both men and for the first time, women, who would be entitled to sit and vote in the House of Lords and whose peerages would expire on their death. The Peerage Act of 1963 allowed hereditary peeresses to sit in the House of Lords for the first time. It also allowed peers to give up titles if they wished to be elected to sit in the Commons. This followed the Stansgate case in which Anthony Wedgwood Benn fought to have the right to drop his title in order to remain an MP. In 1969 further plans to reform the House of Lords had to be abandoned after delaying tactics by MPs. Following Labour's election victory in 1997, plans for Lords' reform were once again put forward.

As a first stage, the number of hereditary peers was reduced to 92 or roughly 10% of the total. Plans for the second stage of reform hit the buffers in 2003. After MPs failed to agree a plan on a way forward, the Government agreed to delay pending further consultation. Stories From 30 Oct History of the House of Lords - UK Parliament House of Lords building History of the House of Lords The second chamber of Parliament is steeped in an eventful history which has shaped today’s House. Here are some key dates in the evolution of the Lords 21st century 2011: A draft bill on House of Lords Reform was published in May 2011 by the deputy prime minister. It set out proposals for a House of Lords made up of 300 members (80 per cent elected and 20 per cent appointed). The draft bill was referred to a Joint Committee of both Houses. In September 2012, the government announced it was dropping the bill. 2010: The Coalition Government published an agreement in May, stating that a group would be appointed to bring forward proposals for an elected House of Lords.

The group, which consisted of front-bench spokespeople from the three main political parties, was to prepare a draft bill. 2009: The House’s judicial function is transferred to the new UK Supreme Court. Law Lords became the first justices of the Supreme Court. 2006: The House holds its first election for a Lord Speaker and Baroness Hayman is elected on 4 July 2006. 2005: The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 separates the House’s judicial function from Parliament and ends the Lord Chancellor’s combined role as head of the judiciary, a member of the executive and Speaker of the House of Lords. The 20th century 1999: The House of Lords Act 1999 removes the right of most hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House. During the passage of the legislation an amendment is accepted, enabling 92 hereditary peers to remain until further reform is proposed. 1968: The government abandons its Parliament (No.2) Bill which suggested a two-tier House of created members who could speak and vote and others who could speak but not vote.

1963: The Peerage Act 1963 allows hereditary peeresses to be members of the House, hereditary peerages to be disclaimed for life and for all Scottish peers to sit. 1958: The Life Peerages Act 1958 permits the creation of peerages for life. Around the same time allowances for peers’ 'out-of-pocket’ expenses and the system of ‘leave of absence’ for members are introduced. 1949: The Parliament Act 1949 reduces the delaying power of the 1911 Act for some public bills from two years to one year. 1941: The Commons chamber is destroyed during the World War II. The Lords give up their chamber to the Commons and use the Robing Room when they sit. 1922: Elections for Irish representative peers cease. 1911: The Parliament Act 1911 limits the powers of the House of Lords by stating that money bills can become law if not passed without amendment by the Lords within one month and that the Lords cannot veto most bills but instead can only delay them for up to two years (or one month in the case of money bills).

1909: The Lords rejects the Liberal government’s budget. The Liberals then introduce a bill to end the power of the Lords to reject legislation approved by the Commons. 19th century: The Bishopric of Manchester Act 1847 (and later acts) limits the number of bishops entitled to sit to 26. Retired bishops cannot sit or vote in the House. The Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 creates the judicial functions of the House of Lords and enables the sovereign to create Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (Law Lords) to continue to sit and vote. They were, in effect, the first ‘life peers’. 18th century: The Acts of Union with Scotland (1707) and Ireland (1800) create a single parliament for Great Britain and then for the United Kingdom. The acts entitle Scottish and Irish peers to elect representatives to sit in the Lords. 17th century: In 1642 during the Civil War, bishops are excluded from the House of Lords but return under the Clergy Act 1661. In 1649, after the Civil War, the monarchy and the House of Lords are abolished.

After Charles II’s restoration (1660) the House is reinstated. The 1689 Bill of Rights establishes Parliament’s authority over the king. 16th century: After the 1539 suppression of the monasteries, only bishops attend the House and the Lords Temporal form a majority for the first time. 15th century: Lords Temporal attend the House of Lords on an almost entirely hereditary basis. ‘Peers’, as they became known, are accountable to each other and divide into five ranks: duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron. 14th century: Two distinct Houses of Parliament emerge. Representatives from the towns and counties began to meet separately as the House of Commons. Archbishops, bishops and sometimes abbots and priors (Lords Spiritual) and noblemen (Lords Temporal) form the House of Lords. 13th century: Attendance includes representatives of counties, cities and boroughs. 11th century: Parliament originates in the Witans – an Anglo-Saxon political body made up of councils consulted by Saxon kings and attended by religious leaders, magnates and the king’s ministers.

House of Lords Reform House of Lords Reform House of Lords Reform What is the House of Lords? The House of Lords is the second chamber of Parliament and is also called the Upper House. Because it is not elected, it does not have the same powers as the Commons, but it retains the right to revise and scrutinise the Government's actions and legislation. Its independent minds and extensive expertise form a crucial check on the power of the executive in Parliament but it is much more likely to wield this power by asking Ministers to think again than to veto whole pieces of legislation. Members of the House of Lords are called Peers. Around 700 people currently have the right to sit in the House of Lords but they do not all derive their right to sit from the same place. Members of the Lords fall into the following three categories: Life Peers, the remaining elected hereditary Peers (collectively the Lords Temporal), and Church of England archbishops and bishops (the Lords Spiritual). The Law Lords, appointed to the House of Lords under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, sat in the upper chamber for the last time in July 2009.

The judicial functions of the Lords were transferred to the Supreme Court established under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. The Law Lords became Justices of the Supreme Court in October 2009. The majority of peers are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister or of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. Background Historically, the power of the Lords - the representatives of the landed interests - was greater than that of the Commons, but as democratic ideals took root in the UK, its power has gradually been eroded. The primacy of the Commons was explicitly stated by the Parliament Act 1911, which compelled the Lords to approve financial legislation, and the Parliament Act 1949, which removed the Lords' power of veto over laws. Today, the debate about reform of the House of Lords refers more to its composition than to its powers. Until the Life Peerage Act 1958, with the exception of the Law Lords and the Bishops, the right to sit in the Lords derived from membership of the hereditary nobility. The 1958 Act introduced a new type of member: the Life Peer.

Life Peers may sit in the Lords for life, but their rights are not passed on to their descendents. Although the growing number of Life Peers diluted the hereditary basis of Lords membership for the next 40 years, the House of Lords Act 1999 all but dissolved it. The Act removed the rights of all but 92 hereditary peers to sit in the Lords. These peers - who are elected from among the 800 or so entitled to sit before the Act - survive only by virtue of a compromise struck between the Labour Government and the Conservative leader in the Lords of the day, Viscount Cranborne. This 'Stage 1' reform remains a compromise that the Government is committed to changing by removing the remaining hereditary peers. The Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill published in July 2009 and enacted in April 2010, provided for the abolition of the by-elections used to fill vacancies for the 92 hereditary peers. The Coalition government pledged to bring forward proposals for a wholly or mainly elected Upper Chamber on the basis of proportional representation.

Subsequently the House of Lords Reform Bill was announced in the Queen's Speech on 9th May 2012 which provides for the creation of a mainly elected chamber. Controversies The principal controversy regarding House of Lords reform revolves around what should replace the hereditary basis of the Second Chamber. A Royal Commission, led by the former Cabinet Minister Lord Wakeham, put forward a number of options for the future composition of the House, ranging from fully appointed to fully elected, with a series of compromises in between. The Commons, however, was unable to reach a 'consensus' on any option. The Government then tried to remove the remaining hereditary Peers through its House of Lords Reform Bill, which it described as the first stage of wider reforms, but this was dropped in March 2004 after it became clear that it would not be passed by the House of Lords. Opponents of a fully appointed Chamber warn that it would put too much power in the hands of those making the appointments, who have historically been Ministers and to a lesser extent Opposition Party leaders, and argued that it would be as undemocratic as the unreformed House.

Opponents of a fully elected Chamber warn that the democratic mandate of an elected House would undermine the primacy of the Commons and potentially lead to legislative deadlock. Opponents of a mixed system argue that there is no basic rationale for a mixture. A number of secondary debates relate to the composition of the House of Lords. The membership of Church of England Bishops, based on the position of the established church, is deemed by some to be anachronistic and discriminatory. The Government committed itself in 2003 to reforming the position of the Law Lords, whose rights to sit in the Lords derived from its position as the highest court of the UK. Proponents of a reformed House argue variously in favour of the appointment or election of regional representatives or representatives of sectional, community and cultural groups, as a means of improving the representative character of the House while distinguishing it from the Commons. Some, notably the Labour MP Dennis Skinner, continue to argue for its abolition outright. The publication in 2007 of a white paper on House of Lords reform was followed by a free vote in both Houses on the composition of the second chamber. The Commons voted overwhelmingly for a fully elected House of Lords.

The peers themselves, however, voted in favour of a fully appointed House of Lords. In July of the following year a further white paper was published and Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, insisted that House of Lords reform had to be based on the will of the Commons -"the primary chamber in our legislature". This 2008 white paper set out how a wholly or mainly elected second chamber might be created within a bicameral legislature in which the House of Commons retains primacy. A draft House of Lords Reform Bill published in November 2009 set out how the government intended to take forward the 2007 Commons vote in favour of an elected second chamber and build on the proposals of the 2008 white paper. Following the election of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government in May 2010 it was announced that the two parties had agreed to establish a committee to bring forward proposals for a wholly or mainly elected upper chamber on the basis of proportional representation, with a draft bill expected by December 2010.

In the interim, the government stated, Lords appointments would be made "with the objective of creating a second chamber reflective of the share of the vote secured by the political parties in the last general election." The House of Lords Reform Bill announced in the Queen's Speech on 9th May 2012 provides for elected members of the House of Lords to be voted in by a different electoral system to the House of Commons, on a proportional basis (a single transferable vote system). The size of the Upper House would also be reduced substantially under the Bill and membership of the Lords would no longer be linked to the acceptance of a peerage. Statistics Conservative: life peers – 164; excepted hereditary peers – 49. Total 213 Labour: life peers – 227; excepted hereditary peers – 4. Total 231 Lib. Dem: life peers – 86; excepted hereditary peers – 4..Total 90 Crossbench: life peers – 150; excepted hereditary peers – 31. Total 181 Other life peers - 33; excepted hereditary peers - 1.

Total 34 Bishops 26 Total 26 Quotes "It's crucial that the House of Commons endorses Lords reform now to ensure that the first members of the second chamber are elected in 2015. What's more, most MPs stood in the last election on a platform promising to do precisely that; all three main political parties promised democratic reform of the House of Lords in their last party manifestos." Unlock Democracy June 2012 "Electing the second chamber is not self-evidently the democratic option – by dividing accountability it can undermine the capacity of the people to hold government to account (since policies may emerge for which it is not directly responsible) and can sweep away the very benefits that the present system delivers." Lord Norton – March 2012 Peerage Basics Peerage Basics For a quick intro, see John Hopfner's brief primer on titles . A peer of the realm is one who holds one (or more of five possible) title(s) of nobility and the estate(s) bestowed upon him or his direct ancestor by the monarch.

Although other members of his family might be addressed by "Lord This" and "Lady That," none of them are peers; their titles are all courtesy titles , including his wife's (although she is usually called a "peeress") (1) . A duke or duchess is addressed as "Your Grace" by social inferiors, and as "Duke" or "Duchess" by social equals (1a) (unfortunately I have not been able to discover what exactly "social equal" means). All other peers and peeresses are called by "Lord" or "Lady" prefixed to the title, for example, Lord Spencer or Lady Thatcher. The five titles, in descending order of precedence, or rank, are: Marquess (or, in the French and Scottish spelling, Marquis) Earl Baronets and Knights are not peers. As you'd expect from the ranking, dukes have always been the rarest British noble title. There have never been more than 40 non-royal dukedoms in being at any one time, and ordinarily there have been fewer than that. Today there are about 25 of them.

(3) Barons, being the lowest rank of nobility, have usually been the most numerous of the five degrees. The next most numerous dignity has usually been that of Earl; Marquesses and Viscounts have always been comparatively less numerous, though not so rare as the dukes. In 1818, however, there were more earls than barons. There were 25 non-royal dukes, 31 marquesses, 212 earls, 69 viscounts, and 193 barons. These numbers include 21 peeresses in their own right : six countesses and 15 baronesses, but they do not include subsidiary titles (i.e., only the highest-ranking title held by the peer is counted). (4) Only a peer may be said to hold a title "in his/her own right." All other titles are courtesy titles (6) . There are five types of peerages in Great Britain: peers of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom (7) . This makes a great difference in precedence , and in some cases, privilege .

The higher the rank, the more likely it is that the peer holds several peerages , which may be distributed throughout the five peerages, depending upon their dates of creation. Historically, retired prime ministers have been granted a peerage, traditionally an earldom, and then serve in the House of Lords (8) . (Some of them had peerages before they became prime minister, so they would have been elevated.) Churchill was offered, and turned down, the Dukedom of Dover (9) . Anthony Eden was created Earl of Avon, (10) but he had no heirs. (11) Harold MacMillan was offered an earldom, but declined; (12) but later, on his 90th birthday, he was created Earl of Stockton. (13) Margaret Thatcher was granted a life peerage as a baroness. (14) Women were not allowed a seat in the House of Lords, even if they held a peerage in their own right , until the 1963 Peerage Act granted them that right.

(15) Nonetheless, before then they held all of the other privileges which attended their specific peerage, although often if the peerage carried with it some special office, the office would be fulfilled by the peeress's husband. (16) In addition, wives of peers enjoyed many of the privileges of peers, including a trial in the House of Lords rather than by jury. (17) The Most Stingy Monarch award goes to Elizabeth I, who created only eight peerages in the 54 years of her reign. (18) James I invented the baronetcy , a hereditary knighthood (a "Sir" rather than a Lord, and not a peer), which he sold blatantly to fund his Irish wars; (19) Victoria used the baronetcy to reward persons (often those engaged in Trade) who deserved recognition but should not be cluttering up the House of Lords; in the Georgian era, Irish peerages were most often granted to Englishmen with no connection to Ireland, for much the same reason. (20) In our century, creation of titles has had less to do with the monarch and more to do with the prime minister.

Some blatantly sold titles; others passed them out as a reward for serving the Party rather than the country. (21) More than half -- 125 -- of the hereditary baronies existent today were created during this century, most between the end of World War II and 1964, after which the government apparently abandoned hereditary peerages almost altogether in favor of the life peerages which may be created under the 1958 Act. A baronetcy is a dignity that passes down from generation to generation within a family, like a peerage. But a baronet is not a peer; he does not sit in the House of Lords or enjoy the privileges of peers . (22) In the Table of Precedence , a baronet is below barons and above knights. (23) A baronet's style would be, for example, Sir Adolphus Ware of Rufford, Bart.

This is distinct from a peer, who would be styled "Adolphus, Lord Sale" (if a baron, viscount, earl, or marquess) or "His Grace, the Duke of Sale." (24) (It is similar to the style of a knight, but unlike a knighthood can be inherited. I need a source on the knighthood.) Baronets and knights are not lords and are never addressed as "my lord"; however, their wives are called "Lady" prefixed to their surnames only, and can be called "my lady." (24a) There is always a distinction between the name of the peerage and the surname. For almost all peerages above viscounts, they are different, but of course it's very easy to get them confused, especially since there are several exceptions: Peerage type The Life Peerages Act 1958 Article · January 2008 with 15 Reads 1st Glenn Dymond Abstract This year sees the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Life Peerages Act 1958 on 30 April.

The Act for the first time enabled life peerages, with a seat and vote in the House of Lords, to be granted for other than judicial purposes, and to both men and women. This Library Note describes the historical background to the Act and looks at its passage through both Houses of Parliament. It also considers the discussions in relation to the inclusion of women life peers in the House of Lords. CitationsCitations0 House of Lords Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index House of Lords In British politics , the House of Lords is the unelected upper house of the United Kingdom Parliament . (The lower house is the House of Commons .) The House of Lords is unique in combining both legislative and judicial functions in the one body: it is both the upper house of Parliament and the highest court of appeal for criminal cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and for civil cases in the whole of the United Kingdom. The House of Lords is located in the Palace of Westminster , and is used for the State Opening of Parliament , as by convention, the Sovereign may not enter the elected House of Commons.

The members of the House are: Bishops Twenty-six clergymen of the Church of England , namely the Archbishop of Canterbury , the Archbishop of York , the Bishop of Durham , the Bishop of London , the Bishop of Winchester and the twenty-one longest-serving bishops of other dioceses. Judges The Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, who with other Lords of Appeal hear legal cases and together act as the UK's highest court. They are appointed for a term of years concluding during the year in which the Lord of Appeal turns seventy; at the end of which they no longer hear legal cases on a regular basis but remain members of the House of Lords. They are generally referred to as the Law Lords and during their time as judges traditionally refrain from political debate. Hereditary Peers Hereditary Peers inherit their seats. Originally several hundred Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons were eligible to sit; recent reforms mean that only ninety-two may. Currently, these ninety-two consist of fifteen "office-holders", that is, Deputy Speakers and Deputy Chairmen, who are elected by the whole House; seventy-five party or crossbench members, elected by their party or group.

These groups, and the number of peers each elect, are: Labour (2) Liberal-Democrat (3) Cross-Bench (28) Also members of the House are two who hold royal appointments: the Lord Great Chamberlain and the Earl Marshal . Twelve people who are hereditary peers but were not elected have been made life peers also. When an elected hereditary peer dies, there is a by-election, using a variant of the Alternative Vote system, to replace them. The electorate differs based on the group of the hereditary peer. In the case of party or Cross-Bench peers, the electorate is the party or group that elected the peer whose seat is now vacant. In the case of the fifteen office-holders, the whole House is the electorate. In 2003 the first two such by-elections were held. The first was won by Viscount Ullswater who replaced the Viscount of Oxfuird. Later, a by-election was held to replace Lord Milner of Leeds. There were 11 candidates, and the election was won by Lord Grantchester, with 2 of the 3 electors voting for him.

The British Labour party government plans to eventually eliminate all hereditary privilege in the House. Life Peers Life peers appointed members for life by the Queen (in practice, the Queen seeks the advice of the Prime Minister, who is the real appointer). Life Peers hold the title of Baron or Baroness. The Archbishops and Bishops are called Lord Spiritual, while the other lords are known as Lords Temporal. The House of Lords is presided over by the Lord Chancellor , the Government minister in charge of the Lord Chancellor's department which includes partial responsibilty for the administration of the British judicial system. In June 2003 the UK Government announced its intention to abolish the post of Lord Chancellor ; the new speaker of the House of Lords will not be a minister. In addition, it plans to create a new supreme court that will take over the judicial functions of the Lords of Appeal. Procedure Sittings The House of Lords meets at the Palace of Westminster in London in the lavishly decorated House of Lords Chamber. The House of Lords sits on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Friday sessions are only held when the House is very busy. The House holds a number of recesses each year.

The longest recess is the Summer Recess, which lasts from mid-July to mid-October. The other recesses, including the Easter, Whit, and Christmas Recesses, usually last for one to two weeks. Speaker The Lord Chancellor serves as the Speaker of the House of Lords. Often, a Deputy Speaker presides. The Lord Speaker is merely the House's mouthpiece; he has little power compared to the Speaker of the House of Commons . He does not have the authority to maintain order or discipline members; such measures may be taken only by the House as a whole. Debate The Speaker of the House of Commons may recognise MPs for speech in whatever order he pleases, but the Lord Chancellor has no such authority. Instead it is the House which decides, either by acclamation or by voting on a motion that a particular noble Lord "be now heard". Often, however, the Leader of the House of Lords or other senior Government minister will suggest an order, which is generally followed. A speech is always addressed to the House as a whole (My Lords), rather than, as is done in the House of Commons, to the Speaker. If a member wishes to refer to an individual Lord, he or she must do so in the third person .

The forms used are: for Dukes, the noble Duke, the Duke of..., for other Marquesses, Earls, and Viscounts, the noble Marquess (or Earl or Viscount), Lord..., for Barons, the noble Lord, Lord..., for Baronesses, the noble Baroness, Lady..., for Archbishops, the Most Reverend Primate, the Archbishop of..., and for Bishops, the Right Reverend Prelate, the Bishop of.... The words noble and gallant are used instead of noble if the Lord in question is a Field Marshal , Admiral of the Fleet , Marshal of the Royal Air Force, or holder of the Victoria Cross or George Cross . Similarly, noble and learned is used for the present or former Lord Chancellor, Lords of Appeal, Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, Lords Justices of Appeal, and Judges of the High Court. Voting All motions are at first subject to a voice vote . The Lord Speaker then gives his opinion as to which side won the voice vote. If his assessment is challenged by any Lord, then a division occurs. On either side of the House Chamber is a division lobby.

Those who wish to vote "Content" (yes) enter one lobby, while those who wish to vote "Not-Content" (no) enter the other. As members then exit the lobby and reenter the Chamber, their votes and names are recorded by tellers and clerks. The tellers then announce the numbers of Contents and Not-Contents to the Lord Speaker, who then announces the result to the House. Committees Unlike in the United States Congress , committees in the House of Lords are not very powerful. The entire house, rather than committees, conduct the review of bills. The Standing Committees used by the House of Commons are not present in the House of Lords. Lords Committees scrutinize government activities and investigate specific areas of legislation. The Committees of the House of Lords are as follows: Animals in Scientific Procedures Select Committee Constitution Committee Science and Technology Select Committee Select Committee on the Speakership of the House Some Committees, such as the Privileges Committee and the Procedure Committee, are permanent. Others, such as the Select Committee on the Speakership of the House, are temporary committees that expire after they make a final report.

Legislative Functions Conventions There is a convention known as the Salisbury Convention according to which the House of Lords will not oppose any government legislation promised by its election manifesto. And in the case of legislation not covered by this convention, the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 apply. They limit the power of the House of Lords to delaying a bill for up to one year, after which it may receive Royal Assent , if the Commons passes it again, without the Lords' consent. In the case of money bills (the main purpose of which relates to taxation or expenditure), the agreement of the Lords is not required at all, though in practice it is usually given. Royal Approval The monarch must assent to any legislation for it to enter into law, although it has been convention since the time of William and Mary that the monarch will assent to all legislation passed by Parliament. Queen Anne was the last monarch to refuse Royal Assent to a bill; she refused her approval to the Scotch Militia Bill in 1707 . History The two distinct houses of parliament emerged in the 14th century . One was composed of shire and borough representatives, this became known as the Commons.

The other was composed of religious leaders (Lords Spiritual) and magnates (Lords Temporal), this became known as the House of Lords. The 1707 Act of Union with Scotland and the 1801 Act of Union with Ireland entitled Scottish and Irish peers to elect representatives from among themselves to sit in the House of Lords. Elections for Irish representative peers ceased in 1922 . From 1963 all Scottish peers had the right to sit in the House of Lords. Until 1539 , bishops, abbots, and priors were members of the Lords. As a result of the dissolution of the monasteries, from then on only the bishops attended. In 1847 , following the creation of many new bishoprics, the Bishopric of Manchester Act limited the number of bishops in the Lords. The Parliament Acts After the election of 1906 the Liberal Party had a large majority in the House of Commons . Due to the naval race with Germany and new social programmes , the Liberal "people's budget" of 1909 proposed tax increases and new taxes targeting wealthy landowners.

These measures were unpopular in the conservative (and legislatively equal) House of Lords, where the budget was refused passage. The Liberals brought a complaint to the King, Edward VII who said he would intervene if they proved to have a mandate. The House of Commons called an election in 1910 and the Liberals were successfully reelected, though not by as large a margin as the previous election. Threatened with the appointment of 500 new peers if they refused, the Lords passed the Parliament Act. Under it, the House of Lords could only reject a proposal for up to two years, after which the Commons would automatically prevail. On August 10 1911 , the Parliament Act 1911 came into effect, removing the equal status of the House of Lords and its effective power of veto. The Parliament Act 1949 reduced the delaying power of the 1911 Act in respect of Public Bills other than Money Bills to two sessions and one year respectively, the exception being bills to extend the life of Parliament to beyond five years, in which case the Lords would have full power to defeat the bill.

The Life Peerages Act 1958 The Life Peerages Act 1958 permitted the creation of peerages for life, with no limit on numbers, to persons of either sex. The Peerage Act 1963 The Peerage Act 1963 allowed hereditary peeresses and all Scottish peers to be members of the House, and allowed hereditary peerages to be disclaimed for life. The politician best known for disclaiming his inherited peerage is Tony Benn . The House of Lords Act 1999 The act removed the right of most hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House. An amendment to the Bill enabled 92 hereditary peers to remain until the House was fully reformed. The 92 hereditary peers consisted of the Lord Great Chamberlain and the Earl Marshal (who perform certain ceremonial duties), 15 peers serving as 'office holders' elected by the whole house and 75 peers (2 Labour, 2 Liberal Democrat, 28 Cross Benchers and 42 Conservative, reflecting the traditionally conservative beliefs of the Lords) elected by peers of their respective parties.

In addition on November 2 , 1999 10 hereditary peers were given life peerages (six former Leaders of the House and four holders of peerages of the first creation). In March 2000 seven hereditary peers who had not been elected were included in a list of 33 new life peers and allowed to retake their seat in the Lords. The Labour Party and the House of Lords For many years the Labour Party in the United Kingdom advocated reform of the House of Lords, but this was obstructed by the House of Lords itself, whose members were mostly of the Conservative party. Most notorious were the so-called 'backwoodsmen', who never attended Parliament except to defeat important Labour legislation opposed by the Conservatives. Later the Labour party managed to extract another reform, the Parliament Act of 1949, which limited the power of the House of Lords to defeat House of Commons legislation. In 1968 , the Labour government of Harold Wilson attempted to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords, but this was defeated by a combination of traditionalist Conservatives, such as Enoch Powell , and Labour MPs like Michael Foot , who advocated outright abolition of the upper house.

This later became Labour party policy in the late 70s , but was dropped in favour of a reformed second chamber under Neil Kinnock . Finally when Labour returned to power in 1997 under Tony Blair , legislation was introduced to remove hereditary peers, as the first step in the reform of the House. However, in order to get the law passed by the House of Lords, the Government had to compromise and allow 92 hereditary peers to remain until reform of the House was completed. A free vote was held in the House of Commons in February 2003 , in which MPs could vote for a fully elected second chamber, an entirely nominated one, a chamber with a mixture of elected and nominated members, or for outright abolition. However, the result proved inconclusive, as MPs proceeded to vote against each option in turn. See also Women and the House of Lords - UK Parliament Women and the Lords Women and the House of Lords Women were given the right to stand for Parliament in 1918 but still could not become members of the House of Lords.

The Rhondda Case Margaret Haig Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda (1883–1958) was the daughter of David Alfred ('D.A.') Thomas, first Viscount Rhondda (1856–1918), a member of the House of Lords. As he had no sons he had made a special request for her daughter to be able to take his title after he died. However this did not entitle her to take his seat in the Upper House. One of the leading equalitarian feminists of her day, Lady Rhondda founded a pressure group called the Six Point Group and a feminist journal called 'Time And Tide'. She had been a militant suffragette in her youth, and had been jailed for setting fire to a post-box. In prison she went on hunger strike. She was determined to take her father’s seat in the Lords and based her claim on the Sex Disqualification Act 1919 which stated that "a woman shall not be disqualified by sex or marriage from the exercise of any public function". Her case was referred to the House of Lords Committee for Privileges and was heard in 1922.

Initially the Committee found in her favour but this decision was soon reversed following opposition from the Lord Chancellor, Lord Birkenhead (F. E. Smith). Private Members Bills Between 1924 and 1928 in the aftermath of the Rhondda case, various Bills were introduced into the Lords proposing that hereditary women peers should be able to sit in the Upper House. Viscount Astor, the husband of Nancy Astor, the first woman MP, also introduced a series of motions in the Lords to allow Peeresses to sit in the House, all of which were unsuccessful. Petitions After the Second World War, there was renewed interest in the subject. A pressure group was formed, chaired by Edward Iwi, which collected a petition of 50,000 signatures, although it was never presented to Parliament. On the 2 March 1948 another petition was presented to the House of Lords which bore the signatures of Lady Rhondda and Lady Ravensdale. The latter – formerly Irene Curzon - would become one of the first women to sit in the Lords. The Lords vote in favour On the 27 July 1949 the Lords voted on its composition.

Although no legislation followed, this vote established for the first time that the House of Lords was in favour of admitting women. Life Peerages Act 1958 But it was not until the Life Peerages Act 1958 that women were finally allowed to sit in the Upper House as life peers. Viscountess Rhondda lived to see the passage of the Life Peerages Act, but died on 20 July 1958, before the first women took their seats as life peers in the Lords in October. Hereditary women peers were finally allowed to sit in the House of Lords after the Peerage Act 1963.

Question: In the UK, in which year did the Life Peerage Act entitled women to sit in the House of Lords for the first time?
Answer: 1958