Peerage Act 1963
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| Long title | An Act to authorise the disclaimer for life of certain hereditary peerages; to include among the peers qualified to sit in the House of Lords all peers in the peerage of Scotland and peeresses in their own right in the peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom; to remove certain disqualifications of peers in the peerage of Ireland in relation to the House of Commons and elections thereto; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid. |
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| Citation | 1963 c. 48 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 31 July 1963 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1974, House of Lords Act 1999 |
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Status: Amended
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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Peerage Act 1963 (1963 c. 48) is the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that permitted women peers and all Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, and which allows newly inherited hereditary peerages to be disclaimed.
The Act resulted largely from the protests of one man, the Labour politician Tony Benn, then the 2nd Viscount Stansgate. Under British law at the time, peers of the United Kingdom (who met certain qualifications, such as age) were automatically members of the House of Lords and could not sit in, or vote in elections for, the other chamber, the House of Commons. When William Wedgwood Benn, Tony Benn's father, agreed to accept the Viscountcy, he ascertained that the heir apparent, his eldest son Michael, did not plan to enter the House of Commons. However, within a few years of acceptance of the title, Michael Benn was killed in action in World War II. Tony Benn, his younger brother, instead became the heir to the peerage. The younger Benn was elected to the House of Commons in 1950, and did not wish to leave it for the other House, so he campaigned through the 1950s for a change in the law.
In 1960, the 1st Viscount died and Tony Benn inherited the title, automatically losing his seat in the House of Commons for the constituency of Bristol South East. In the ensuing by-election, however, Benn was re-elected to the House despite being disqualified. An election court ruled that he could not take his seat, instead giving it to the runner-up, the Conservative Malcolm St Clair. In 1963, the Conservative Government agreed to introduce the 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 his seating, had 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 at the ensuing by-election.
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