Philosophers
129-619: Peerages in the United Kingdom form a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles , composed of various ranks , and within the framework of the Constitution of the United Kingdom form a constituent part of the legislative process and the British honours system . 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
258-546: A Cross-bench Convenor for administrative purposes, and to keep them up to date with the business of the House. Peers in the House of Lords can serve in the British government, when invited to do so, as ministers . Peers can even serve as prime minister , though this is no longer convention, and the last to do so was the 14th Earl of Home in 1963, who disclaimed his peerage within a few days of being appointed as prime minister to fight
387-462: A Lord High Steward would be appointed to preside over the trial – functionally this was usually done by temporarily elevating the Lord Chancellor to this role. Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville was the last person to be tried in the House of Lords on impeachment in 1806. In December 1935 Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham was elevated from Lord Chancellor to Lord High Steward to preside over
516-621: A judicial courtesy title of "Lord" or "Lady", with a territorial designation, for their remainder of their lives. In addition to serving as Presiding Officer of the Peers in the Lords, the Lord Chancellor also served as the head of the English and Welsh judiciary and a de facto 'Justice Minister'. The judicial function of the Lord Chancellor was removed with the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 , and
645-577: A brother) who inherited in this way would do so as co-parceners. In these circumstances, the title would in fact be held in abeyance until one of them renounced for herself and her successors in favour of the other, or the entire estate naturally descends to a single coparcener. In England and Wales , passage of a title in this fashion is effected under the rules laid down in the Law of Property Act 1925 . Premiership of Margaret Thatcher [REDACTED] Margaret Thatcher 's tenure as Prime Minister of
774-530: A by-election to sit in the Commons. Peers in the House of Lords are often appointed by the sovereign, on the advice of the government, to serve as a Privy Counsellor . The Privy Council is a formal body of advisers to the monarch, on matters such as the issuing of royal charters . In theory all peers, life and hereditary, are also prospective members of the Magnum Concilium regardless of whether they sit in
903-442: 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
1032-459: A major part in driving elected governments from office." Nigel Lawson, View from No. 11 , p. 161 Coal miners were highly organised and had defeated Prime Minister Heath. Thatcher expected a major confrontation, planned ahead for one, and avoided trouble before she was ready. In the end the miners' strike of 1984–85 proved a decisive victory for her—one that permanently discouraged trade unionists. The National Coal Board received
1161-404: A peerage was David Cameron , who was given a life peerage in 2023. 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
1290-484: A preference for indirect taxation over taxes on income, and value-added tax (VAT) was raised sharply to 15%, with a resultant actual short-term rise in inflation. The fiscal and monetary squeeze, combined with the North Sea oil effect , appreciated the real exchange rate . These moves hit businesses—especially the manufacturing sector—and unemployment exceeded 2 million by the autumn of 1980, up from 1.5 million at
1419-445: A right to Barons to attend parliament; in the late 14th century, this right (or "title") began to be granted by decree, and titles also became inherited with the rest of an estate under the system of primogeniture . The requirement of attending Parliament was both a liability and a privilege for those who held land as a tenant-in-chief from the King per baroniam – that is to say, under
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#17328490650651548-608: A salary for their role. However, peers who serve in the House of Lords are entitled to claim £342 allowance for each day they attend to help cover expenses. In an effort to ensure peers from outside the capital were not disadvantaged, peers whose registered home address is outside Greater London can also claim travel expenses and up to £100 towards the cost of a hotel or similar accommodation. Peers who serve in government as ministers are not entitled to claim these allowances, however, and thus their roles are often jointly given with sinecure roles, or they are appointed to salaried positions in
1677-579: 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 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 has a role as a system of honour or award, with
1806-467: A shock even to some supporters of the strikes. The NUM never held a strike vote, which allowed many miners to keep working and prevented other unions from supporting the strike. The mounting desperation and poverty of the striking families led to divisions within the regional NUM branches, and a breakaway union, the Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM), was soon formed. More and more frustrated miners resigned to
1935-602: A state visit. Prior to the Regency Act of 1937 , peers serving as Lord Chancellor, or in other senior political roles, could also be delegated royal functions to serve as Counsellors of State ; however, this is now reserved to the monarch's spouse and the members of the Royal Family in the immediate line of succession. Until 2009 the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords served as the highest appellate court within
2064-454: A strike by the NUM long in advance by building up coal stocks, keeping many miners at work, and co-ordinating police action to stop massive picketing. Her policies defeated the NUM strategy of causing severe cuts in the electricity supply—the legacy of the industrial disputes of 1972 would not be repeated. The images of crowds of militant miners attempting to prevent other miners from working proved
2193-474: A strike, and to abolish the closed shop. Further laws banned workplace ballots and imposed postal ballots. "The miners' strike was the central political event of the second Thatcher Administration. Just as the victory in the Falklands War exorcised the humiliation of Suez, so the eventual defeat of the NUM etched in the public mind the end of militant trade unionism which had wrecked the economy and twice played
2322-560: A surplus on services and a deficit on goods." In her first six months as prime minister, Thatcher repeatedly prioritised defence spending over economic policy and financial control. However, in 1980, she reversed this priority and tried to cut the defence budget. The 1981 Defence Review by John Nott , the defence minister, dramatically cut the capabilities of the Royal Navy's surface fleet. She replaced Francis Pym as defence secretary because he wanted more funding. The cuts were cancelled when
2451-579: A system called coparcenary . Following the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 , which replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture in the line of succession to the throne, there were calls from some hereditary peers' daughters to change the rules for hereditary peerages to match. In 2018 five daughters of hereditary peers took the government to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge
2580-507: A wave of patriotic enthusiasm and contributed to Thatcher's re-election, with one poll showing that 84% of the electorate approved of the Prime Minister's handling of the crisis. Restoring British control over a small colony was a response to aggression, but it also represented a sensibility that Britain had a responsibility to protect its " kith and kin ." Thatcher saw the issue as freedom versus oppression and dictatorship. Her sensibility
2709-634: Is generally thought that this was because the Thatcher government had not made public funding available for the NHS sufficient in creating its own supplies. It has been alleged that the Thatcher cabinet attempted to "cover up" the events of the scandal. In 2017, the Infected Blood Inquiry was announced into the scandal and a group legal action (Jason Evans & Ors) was brought at the High Court. Thatcher
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#17328490650652838-464: Is not political". After nine more men had died, most rights were restored to paramilitary prisoners, but official recognition of their political status was not granted. Thatcher later asserted: "The outcome was a significant defeat for the IRA." Thatcher also continued the " Ulsterisation " policy of the previous Labour government and its Secretary of State for Northern Ireland , Roy Mason , believing that
2967-479: Is the situation in which two or more people inherit a title equally between them as a result of which none can inherit until all but one have renounced their right to the inheritance. This could arise when a title passes through and vests in female heirs in the absence of a male heir. Before they could inherit, each of the female heirs would be an heir presumptive . After they inherited, since the title could not be held by two people simultaneously, two daughters (without
3096-578: Is used, especially at the request of the British government. The term peerage can be used both collectively to refer to the entire body of titled nobility (or a subdivision thereof), and individually to refer to a specific title (modern English language -style using an initial capital in the latter case but not the former). British peerage title holders are termed peers of the Realm . The peerage's fundamental roles are ones of law making and governance, with peers being eligible (although formerly entitled ) to
3225-564: The Argentine Navy back to its home harbours. However, it had to deal with a nearby land-based Argentine Air Force , using primarily surface-to-air heat-seeking missiles, Harriers , and V bombers, the last to crater the Port Stanley runway. Argentine forces in the Falklands surrendered on 14 June ; the operation was hailed as a great triumph, with only 258 British casualties. Victory brought
3354-620: The Barony of Halton which was created by the Earl of Chester , or the Irish hereditary Knight of Kerry which was created by the Earl of Desmond . Through acts like the Quia Emptores of 1290 these powers were stripped back, and the authority to create titles was entrenched as exclusive to the monarch. The modern peerage system is a vestige of the custom of English kings in the 12th and 13th centuries to grant
3483-660: The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 . The Earl Marshal is the only peer to retain a judicial function by right of office, as the sole judge of the High Court of Chivalry a civil law court with jurisdiction over matters of heraldry in England and Wales, though if not a professional lawyer, he normally appoints a professional lawyer as his lieutenant or surrogate. Since the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 , peers may resign from
3612-677: The Crown Honours Lists . Formerly, new peers were presented with an investiture ceremony, but this has not taken place since 1621 (investiture ceremonies for other honours are mostly managed by the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood ). 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
3741-841: 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
3870-632: The Falklands War in 1982. In longer-range terms she worked with Ronald Reagan to actively oppose Soviet communism during the Cold War . However, she also promoted collaboration with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in ending the Cold War . In her first years she had a deeply divided cabinet. As the leader of the "dry" faction she purged most of the One Nation "wet" Conservatives and took full control. By
3999-469: The Great Officers of State and government minister – served as the presiding officer of the peers in the House of Lords. Were a person not a peer to be appointed to the office of Lord Chancellor, they would traditionally be raised to the peerage upon appointment, though a scarcely used provision was made in 1539 for non-peers who are great officers of state but not peers to sit in between the benches in
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4128-447: The House of Lords Yacht Club . Until 2015 peers in the House of Lords could join the parliamentary rifle club which was located in a rifle range in the basement of the House of Lords. Though some peerages carry with them hereditary royal offices - for example the office of Earl Marshal has been consistently and hereditarily held by the dukes of Norfolk since 1672 - peerages don't automatically grant specific rights or privileges like
4257-780: The Lancaster House Agreement of December 1979. It resumed British control of Rhodesia, declared a ceasefire, ended guerrilla action, and quickly led to the creation of the Republic of Zimbabwe . Thus Thatcher's refusal to recognise the Muzorewa government ultimately allowed Mugabe to take power, an outcome that outraged whites in Rhodesia but which satisfied British opinion and was applauded internationally. Hugo Young (p. 183) states, "She had been instrumental in creating another Third World country." According to Robert Matthews ,
4386-602: The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales became the new head of the judiciary, while the former Lord Chancellor's ministry / Department for Constitutional Affairs was merged into the newly created Ministry of Justice in May 2007. Since then all Lord Chancellors have also held the office of Minister of Justice (in much the same way all First Lords of the Treasury hold the office of Prime Minister). In 2012 Chris Grayling would be
4515-575: The Royal Household . For example, the position of Leader of the House of Lords is usually appointed with the accompanying sinecure role of Lord Privy Seal , as the latter carries a salary. The Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords is appointed jointly to the role of Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms , and the Government deputy chief whip is appointed jointly as Captain of
4644-501: The Thatcher era. Since then, ruling parties have instead exclusively created life peerss and refrained from recommending any others to be elevated to a hereditary peerage, although there is nothing preventing future governments from doing so. Since 2009 almost all life peerages are created at the rank of baron, the sole exception being the Dukedom of Edinburgh in 2023. The government of
4773-603: The Unionists of Northern Ireland should be at the forefront in combating Irish republicanism . This meant relieving the burden on the mainstream British Army and elevating the role of the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Royal Ulster Constabulary . The " Falklands Factor ", along with the resumption of economic growth by the end of 1982, bolstered the Government's popularity and led to Thatcher's victory in
4902-721: The Yeomen of the Guard : This allows them to take a salary from the Royal Household as heads of the Sovereign's Bodyguard . The salaries of the Leader of the Opposition and Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords are paid for with public funds alongside the so called Cranborne Money , the annual payment to opposition parties in the House of Lords to help them with their costs. Peers who have served in
5031-443: 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 random points 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
5160-519: The feudal titles they replaced. For example, the Marquess of Salisbury owns the mineral rights below Welwyn Garden City , not because of the peerage, but because he also owns the separate historic feudal title ' Lordship of the Manor of Hatfield ' which granted these rights. Certain personal privileges are afforded to all peers and peeresses, but the main distinction of a peerage nowadays, apart from access to
5289-705: The mujaheddin . Thatcher visited Pakistan in October 1981 meeting with Pakistan leader General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq . She visited some of the many hundreds of thousands of Afghans gathered in refugee camps there giving a speech stating that the 'hearts of the free world were with them'. Five years later two of the Mujaheddin warlords Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Abdul Haq met Thatcher in Downing Street. The Polish crisis of 1980 and 1981 involved large-scale anti-Communist protests in
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5418-419: The untitled nobility ) despite their being grandchildren of the sovereign ( qv. Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall ), when Anne and her then husband, Mark Philips, declined the offer of peerage titles. For the majority of its history, hereditary peerages were the norm. Today, the only new hereditary peerages granted are to members of the royal family ; the last non-royal awardees of hereditary titles were in
5547-602: The " Suez Syndrome " to rest and again projecting Britain as a great power. Celebration of the SAS was a key component in the popular militarism of the 1980s, fuelled by the continuing "war" against international terrorism and by the Falklands conflict and Gulf War . The storming of the Iranian Embassy had shown that Britain could meet terror with counter-terror: Mrs Thatcher's black-clad "terminators" would protect us. Commenting on
5676-526: The "lesser barons". Certain other office-holders such as senior clerics and Freemen of the Cinque Ports were also deemed "Barons". The baronage was the collectively inclusive term denoting all members of the feudal nobility. As the baronage were ' overlords ' the term 'Lord' came to be used as an appellation. Under the old system of feudalism some Lords had the authority to effectively create titles of their own (through powers like Subinfeudation ), such as
5805-421: The 14th century, and that of viscount in the 15th century. A hereditary peer is a peer of the realm whose dignity may be inherited; those able to inherit it are said to be "in remainder". Hereditary peerage dignities may be created with writs of summons or by letters patent ; the former method is now obsolete. Writs of summons summon an individual to Parliament, in the old feudal tradition, and merely implied
5934-408: The 1970s but were also intended to ensure that the consequences for the participants would be severe if they took any future action. The reforms were also aimed, Thatcher claimed, to democratise the unions and return power to the members. The most significant measures were to make secondary industrial action illegal, to force union leadership to first win a ballot of the union membership before calling
6063-432: 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, technically, be commoners (though functionally part of
6192-572: The Conqueror prior to his ascension to the throne in 1066) and Lord of Mann (the title acquired with the Crown purchase of the Isle of Man under George III in 1765) are used respectively. All British subjects who were neither Royal nor Peers of the Realm were previously termed commoners , regardless of wealth or other social factors. Thus, all members of a peer's family, with the exception of their wife or unmarried widow, are (technically) commoners too;
6321-505: The Conservatives now had an overall majority of 144 MPs. The second term saw Thatcher in full charge. Thatcher was prime minister during what The Guardian described as "the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS." Thousands of haemophiliacs were infected with HIV, Hepatitis C , or both, via the clotting-agent Factor VIII . Britain had imported infected supplies of Factor VIII from risky overseas commercial sources; it
6450-510: The Conservatives won 42.4% of the vote, the Labour Party 27.6% and the Alliance 25.4%. Though the gap between Labour and the Alliance was narrow in terms of votes, the Alliance vote was scattered, and they won only a fraction of the seats that Labour held, with its concentrated base. The Conservatives' share of the vote fell slightly (1.5%) since 1979. Labour's vote had fallen by far more (9.3%), and
6579-470: The Crown was itself a hereditary dignity, it seemed natural for seats in the upper House of Parliament to be so as well. Baronies and other titles of nobility became unconditionally hereditable on the abolition of feudal tenure by the Tenures Abolition Act 1660 . Thus over time baronies by writ effectively became hereditary peerages even if this had not been the intention of the original issuer of
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#17328490650656708-416: 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
6837-449: The Government's popularity plunged, the party chairman, Lord Thorneycroft , and two cabinet ministers, Lord Carrington and Humphrey Atkins , confronted the Prime Minister and suggested she should resign; according to her adviser, Tim Bell , "Margaret just told them to go away". Thatcher's key ally in the party was Home Secretary , and later Deputy Prime Minister, William Whitelaw . His moral authority and support allowed her to resist
6966-460: The House of Lords Committee for Privileges and Conduct and administered by the Crown Office . Peerages can be refused by prospective recipients, and often have been throughout history for various different reasons. Winston Churchill declined the Dukedom of London so he could continue to sit in the House of Commons. Any peer who receives a writ of summons (which is in practice all life Peers bar Royal Peers, and some hereditary peers) may sit in
7095-427: The House of Lords (including those retired) have dining rights in the House of Lords dining halls, which also permit them to bring up to six guests. Peers may also use the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft at the Palace of Westminster for weddings and christenings for themselves and their families at the discretion of the Lady Usher of the Black Rod . There are formal and social clubs organised exclusively for peers, such as
7224-430: The House of Lords as the Lords Temporal . They sit alongside the Lords Spiritual , who are not peers, but bishops of the Church of England. Labour , elected to power in 1997, sought to remove all of the seats in the House of Lords reserved for hereditary peers via the House of Lords Act 1999 , but then Prime Minister Tony Blair relented by allowing 92 members to remain. 90 of these hereditary peers are elected to
7353-424: The House of Lords for life peers and some hereditary peers, is the title and style thereby accorded. The modern-day parliamentary peerage is a successor of the medieval baronage system which emerged in the English feudal era. Feudalism was introduced to England after 1066 by William the Conqueror and taken to Scotland by David I in 1124 when, after having lived in England as Earl of Huntingdon, he succeeded to
7482-440: The House of Lords from within their own populace , while the other two sit ex officio holding the hereditary constitutional offices of Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain . Since the Parliament Act 1911 and Parliament Act 1949 the House of Lords' purpose is now that of a revising legislative chamber, scrutinising and potentially changing proposed Parliamentary Bills before their enactment. Its membership for
7611-404: The House of Lords, whilst keeping their title and style. Though there is no mechanism for life peers to fully disclaim their peerage, hereditary peers may fully disclaim their peerage for their lifetime under the Peerage Act 1963 . The peerage remains extant until the death of the peer who had made the disclaimer, when it descends to his or her heir in the usual manner. The Crown does not have
7740-401: The House of Lords. This is a council summoned for nobles to discuss the affairs of the country with the monarch; however, it has not been convened since 1640. Peers can also be appointed as Lords-in-waiting where they may be called upon periodically to represent the sovereign; for example, one of their number is regularly called upon to greet visiting heads of state on arrival at the start of
7869-403: The House, meaning commoners could execute the role without the need for elevation to the peerage. Since 2006, however, in an effort to separate powers , the role of presiding officer has been fulfilled by the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords elected by the peers from amongst their own number. The Lord Chancellor retained their role as a government minister, however, and in June 2007 Jack Straw
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#17328490650657998-448: The Lords' self-regulation, though any member may draw attention to breaches of order or failure to observe customs. The Leader is often called upon to advise on procedures and points of order. However, neither the Lord Speaker nor the Leader of the House has the power to rule on points of order or to intervene during an inappropriate speech. Parties within the House of Lords have whips , however Cross Bench peers elect from among themselves
8127-482: The NUJ urged them not to work there; the " refuseniks " refused to go to Wapping. Enough printers did come—670 in all—to produce the same number of papers that it took 6,800 men to print at the old shop. The efficiency was obvious and frightened the union into holding out an entire year. Thousands of union pickets tried to block shipments out of the plant; they injured 574 policemen. There were 1,500 arrests. The pickets failed. The union tried an illegal secondary boycott and
8256-453: The SAS men involved and sat among them watching a re-run of the attack. The breaking of the siege by the SAS was later ranked by the public as one of television's greatest moments. Her decisiveness—christened the "resolute approach" by the Prime Minister herself—became Thatcher's trademark and a source of her popularity. In the words of one historian: The mood reflected Mrs Thatcher's Iron Lady stance, her proclaimed intention of laying
8385-422: The SAS's action, social services secretary Norman Fowler agreed: "Mrs Thatcher attracted public support because she seemed to be taking action which the public overwhelmingly thought was right but never thought any government would have the nerve to carry out". When the Soviet Union troops entered Afghanistan in December 1979 , Thatcher saw it as a typical example of "relentless Communist imperialism". However,
8514-515: The Scottish throne. A Barony was a form of feudal landholding, where individuals were appointed by the king, as his tenants-in-chief – that is to say people who held land by feudal tenure directly from the king as their sole overlord and were granted by him a legal jurisdiction (court baron) over said territory. The nation had been divided into many " manors ", the owners of the manors came to be known as barons; those who held many manors were known as "greater barons", while those with fewer manors were
8643-470: The United Kingdom began on 4 May 1979 when she accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding James Callaghan of the Labour Party , and ended on 28 November 1990 upon her resignation. She was elected to the position in 1979 , having led the Conservative Party since 1975, and won landslide re-elections for the Conservatives in 1983 and 1987 . She gained intense media attention as Britain's first female prime minister, and
8772-415: 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 (which is now by convention almost all new creations, with the exception of royal peerages ). Most peerage nominations are 'political peers' or 'working peers', nominated by
8901-430: The United Kingdom's legal system. The Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 allowed for the appointment of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary – judges meeting specific criteria made peers for life – who formed the main body of the committee. On 1 October 2009, the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 was repealed, owing to the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom . The House of Lords thus lost its judicial functions. At
9030-519: The United States, Reagan was supportive, but he also launched diplomatic initiatives to resolve the crisis without a war. Thatcher assembled and sent a naval task force to take back control in three days. In the six weeks it took to arrive, she engaged in diplomatic efforts moderated by Reagan's secretary of state Alexander Haig , but Argentina rejected all compromise proposals. Public opinion, and both major parties, backed Thatcher's aggressive response. The task force sank an Argentine cruiser , forcing
9159-430: The United States. Success came with the thaw in superpower relations, the consolidation of Thatcherism at home and the march of neo-liberal ideas internationally. On 2 April 1982, the ruling Argentine military junta invaded the Falkland Islands , and on 3 April invaded South Georgia , British Crown Colonies that Britain had always ruled but which Argentina had claimed . Thatcher had not previously shown concern for
9288-405: The balance of payments in manufactured goods was in deficit. Chancellor Nigel Lawson told the Lords' Select Committee on Overseas Trade : "There is no adamantine law that says we have to produce as much in the way of manufactures as we consume. If it does turn out that we are relatively more efficient in world terms at providing services than at producing goods, then our national interest lies in
9417-553: The bishop. White Rhodesians expected Britain to recognise the Muzorewa regime and end crippling sanctions. However, Thatcher reversed herself. She withheld recognition and manoeuvred the Muzorewa government into accepting new elections. They had to include Joshua Nkomo and his Zimbabwe African People's Union as well as Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union . These were revolutionary movements that Rhodesian security forces had been trying to suppress for years. Under her direction, foreign secretary Lord Carrington brokered
9546-450: The case of a single title, or divided when the family bears multiple titles. In the French nobility , often the children and other male-line descendants of a lawful noble titleholder self-assumed the same or a lower title of nobility; while not legal, such titles were generally tolerated at court during both the ancien regime and 19th century France as titres de courtoisie . Coparcenary
9675-470: The constitutional affairs of Northern Ireland is a matter for the people of Northern Ireland, this government, this parliament, and no-one else ". In 1981, a number of Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners in Northern Ireland's Maze Prison (also known in Northern Ireland as Long Kesh , its previous official name) went on hunger strike to regain
9804-509: The discretion of the monarch as the fount of honour (though functionally and mostly on the advice of the government); 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
9933-442: The economy , eventually including the privatisation of most nationalised industries , and the weakening of trade unions. She emphasised reducing the government's role and letting the marketplace decide in terms of the neoliberal ideas pioneered by Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek , promoted by her mentor Keith Joseph , and promulgated by the media as Thatcherism . In foreign policy, Thatcher decisively defeated Argentina in
10062-490: The existence or creation of an hereditary peerage dignity, which is automatically inherited, presumably according to the traditional medieval rules (male-preference primogeniture , like the succession of the British crown until 2011). Letters patent explicitly create a dignity and specify its course of inheritance (usually agnatic succession, like the Salic Law ). Some hereditary titles can pass through and vest in female heirs in
10191-430: The feudal contract wherein a King's Baron was responsible for raising knights and troops for the royal military service. When Kings summoned their barons to Royal Councils, the greater barons were summoned individually by the sovereign, lesser barons through sheriffs. In England in 1254, the lesser barons ceased to be summoned, and this right, entitlement or "title" to attend parliament began to be granted by decree in
10320-448: The first female prime minister, was not offered a hereditary earldom or any other peerage, but instead a baronetcy (a hereditary knighthood and not a peerage) was awarded to her husband Denis Thatcher (this was the last non-royal hereditary honour of any variety created in the UK to date). Thatcher was later given a life peerage in her own right in 1992. The most recent prime minister to receive
10449-566: The first non-lawyer to serve as Lord Chancellor for at least 440 years. As the Head of the judiciary in England and Wales, the Lord Chancellor also served as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ; however, the last lord chancellor to preside as a judge of this court was Lord Irvine of Lairg (in office 1997–2003). This function was also removed from the Lord Chancellor following
10578-892: The foreign ministry said the Kremlin was desperately trying to save its failing ally there. Thatcher supported the American plan to boycott the Moscow Olympics, as did Parliament. However, the athletes disagreed, and they went to Moscow anyway. Thatcher gave the go ahead for Whitehall to approve MI6 (and the SAS) to undertake 'disruptive action' in Afghanistan. Supporting the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Operation Cyclone , they also supplied weapons, training and intelligence to
10707-420: The form of a Writ of Summons from 1265. This body of greater barons evolved into the House of Lords. Magna Carta, first issued in 1215, declared that "No free man shall be seized, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, exiled or ruined in any way, nor in any way proceeded against, except by the lawful judgement of his peers", and thus this body of greater Barons were deemed to be 'peers' of one another, and it became
10836-569: The grantee equally, as well as to all of that grantee's remoter descendants, male and female. This practice was common in the Kalmar Union , and was frequently the case in the letters patent issued by King Eric of Pomerania , King Joseph Bonaparte conferred the title "Prince of Naples" and later "Prince of Spain" on his children and grandchildren in the male and female line. Historically, females have much less frequently been granted noble titles and, still more rarely, hereditary titles. However it
10965-412: The granting of a peerage title forming the highest rung of the modern British honours system. In the UK, five peerages or peerage divisions co-exist, namely: 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
11094-536: The heartland of Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe. Thatcher recognised that Soviet hegemony was vulnerable in Poland and offered public support for Lech Wałęsa and his Solidarity labour union , in close co-operation with the United States and Pope John Paul II (a long-time leader of Polish Catholicism). Thatcher considered Poland as a key centre of Soviet vulnerability. She offered limited help to Solidarity in tandem with
11223-408: The high number of people claiming unemployment benefit while working, unemployment never reached three million. By 1983, manufacturing output had dropped by 30% from 1978, although economic growth had been re-established the previous year. The productivity turnaround from labour-shedding proved to be a one-off and was not matched by growth in output. The industrial base was so reduced that thereafter
11352-404: The idea because it would lead to a "property-owning democracy". By the 1970s, many working-class people had ample incomes for home ownership, and eagerly accepted Thatcher's invitation to purchase their homes at a sizeable discount. The new owners were more likely to vote Conservative, as Thatcher had hoped. The downside to this was that it eventually led to council house shortages, as the share of
11481-535: The impending failure of the strike and, worn down by months of protests, began to defy the union's rulings, starting splinter groups and advising workers that returning to work was the only viable option. The miners' strike lasted a full year before the NUM leadership conceded without a deal. Conservative governments proceeded to close all but 15 of the country's pits, with the remaining 15 being sold off and privatised in 1994. Since then, private companies have acquired licences to open new pits and open-cast sites, with
11610-738: The internal threat from the " Heathite " wets . Following the Brixton riot in West London in April 1981, employment secretary Norman Tebbit , responding to a suggestion that rioting was caused by unemployment, observed that the unemployment of the 1930s was far worse than that of the 1980s—and that his father's generation never reacted by rioting. "I grew up in the 1930s with an unemployed father", Tebbit said. "He did not riot. He got on his bike and looked for work, and he went on looking until he found it." Over two million manufacturing jobs were ultimately lost in
11739-665: The islands and had proposed large-scale cuts to her naval forces . Thatcher listened primarily to Admiral Henry Leach , the First Sea Lord ; and to Admiral Sir Terence Lewin , the Chief of the Defence Staff . She immediately decided to expel the invaders. She replaced foreign minister Lord Carrington with Francis Pym and rounded up diplomatic support. The United Nations Security Council denounced Argentina's aggression, and France and other allies provided diplomatic and military support. In
11868-412: The labour market, price controls – everything that interfered with the functioning of the free economy. Under Margaret Thatcher's government, the taming of inflation displaced high employment as the primary policy objective. As a monetarist , Thatcher started out in her economic policy by increasing interest rates to slow the growth of the money supply and thus lower inflation. She had
11997-489: The largest amount of public subsidies going to any nationalised industry: by 1984 the annual cost to taxpayers of uneconomic pits had reached £1 billion. The year-long confrontation over strikes carried out from April 1984 by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), in opposition to proposals to close a large number of unprofitable mines, proved a decisive victory for Thatcher. The Government had made preparations to counter
12126-437: The last ever trial of a peer ‘by his peers’, with the trial of the 26th Baron de Clifford in the House of Lords for manslaughter. The right to be tried by other peers in the House of Lords was abolished at the request of the Lords in 1948 by Criminal Justice Act 1948 . There is no automatic right to a salary for being a peer - this includes peers who serve in parliament, who unlike MP's in the House of Commons , do not receive
12255-479: The late 1980s, however, she had alienated several senior members of her Cabinet with her opposition to greater economic integration into the European Economic Community , which she argued would lead to a federalist Europe and surrender Britain's ability to self govern. She also alienated many Conservative voters and parliamentarians with the imposition of a local poll tax . As her support ebbed away, she
12384-420: The laws that stop them from inheriting their fathers titles and thereby being elected to the House of Lords. Hereditary title Works Hereditary titles , in a general sense, are nobility titles , positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families. Though both monarchs and nobles usually inherit their titles, the mechanisms often differ, even in
12513-509: The majority of the original mines destroyed and the land redeveloped. The defeat of the miners' strike led to a long period of demoralisation in the whole of the trade union movement. The 51-week miners' strike of 1984–85 was followed a year later by the 54-week Wapping dispute launched by newspaper printers in London. It resulted in a second major defeat for unions and another victory for Thatcher's union policies, especially her assurance that
12642-514: The media spotlight with Queen Elizabeth II and Diana, Princess of Wales , increasingly assumed regal poses, such as taking the salute at the victory parade after the Falklands War , and becoming the centre of attraction on foreign visits. Tensions between the two were kept hidden until 1986, when the Sunday Times reported on the Queen's alleged criticism of Thatcher's policies, especially regarding
12771-485: The member to the House. A new writ is issued for every member at the beginning of each Parliament (after a general election). 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
12900-561: The money from the sale of the houses to be used to construct more council properties gradually fell by the end of the 1980s, and saw fewer councils building affordable housing. To deal with economic stagnation in the inner cities, the Government introduced "enterprise zones" starting in 1981; the idea began in Britain and was adopted by the United States and some EU countries. It targeted designated small, economically depressed neighbourhoods and exempted them from some regulations and taxes. The goal
13029-641: The most decisive landslide since the general election of 1945 . The Labour Party at this time had split, and there was a new challenge in the SDP–Liberal Alliance , formed by an electoral pact between the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party . However, this grouping failed to make its intended breakthrough, despite briefly holding an opinion poll lead. In the June 1983 general election,
13158-529: The most part comprises life peers , created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 , which includes those who can add value in specific areas of expertise in parliamentary debates, as well as former MPs and other political appointees from respective political parties. Those who do not sit with a political party, may sit in the house as a so called Crossbencher . Prior to July 2006 the Lord Chancellor – one of
13287-589: The norm to refer to these magnates as a 'peerage' during the reign of Edward II . Meanwhile the holders of smaller fiefdoms per baroniam ceased to be summoned to parliament , meaning the official political importance of ownership of manors declined, resulting in baronial status becoming a 'personal' title rather than one linked to ownership of territory. Eventually 'writs of summons' ceased to be issued, and Letters patent were used to create new lordships, with people being summoned to parliament by Letters Patent from 1388. The first baron to be created by patent
13416-633: The offer, and on 24 January 1986, its 6,000 members at Murdoch's papers went on strike. Meanwhile, News International had built and clandestinely equipped a new printing plant in the London district of Wapping . The principal print unions—the National Graphical Association (NGA), the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT 82) and the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (AUEW)—ran closed shops: only union members could be hired at
13545-510: The old Fleet Street plants; most were sons of members. However, the new plant in Wapping did not have a closed shop contract. The company activated its new plant with the assistance of another union, the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EETPU). Most journalists (members of the National Union of Journalists ) moved to Wapping, and NUJ Chapels continued to operate. However,
13674-554: 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
13803-578: The people of the Commonwealth, as "uncaring, confrontational and socially divisive." Thatcher often ridiculed the Commonwealth, which the Queen held in very high esteem. Biographer John Campbell reports that in July 1978, before Thatcher became prime minister, when asked by a Labour MP in the Commons what she meant by socialism: [S]he was at a loss to reply. What in fact she meant was Government support for inefficient industries, punitive taxation, regulation of
13932-538: The police would defend the plants against pickets trying to shut them down. The target was Britain's largest privately owned newspaper empire, News International (parent of The Times and News of the World and others, all owned by Rupert Murdoch ). He wanted to introduce technological innovations that would put 90% of the old-fashioned typesetters out of work. The company offered redundancy payments of £2,000 to £30,000 to each printer to quit their old jobs. The union rejected
14061-476: The power to cancel or revoke a peerage once it has been created. A peerage can only be removed from an individual by an act of parliament, an example of such being the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 . Under the privilege of peerage , peers themselves had the right to be tried for impeachment , felonies or for high treason by other peers in the House of Lords (instead of commoners on juries). In such cases
14190-494: 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 anyone can make a nomination to the House of Lords Appointment Commission, for a non-party political "cross bench" peer - sometimes called 'people's peers' . Since 2001 67 'people's peers' have been appointed. All honours, including peerages, are granted at
14319-593: The recession of 1979–81. This labour-shedding helped firms deal with long-standing X-inefficiency from over-manning, enabling the British economy to catch up to the productivity levels of other advanced capitalist countries. The link between the money supply and inflation was proven accurate, and by January 1982, the inflation rate had dropped back to 8.6% from earlier highs of 18%. Interest rates were then allowed to fall. Unemployment continued to rise, passing 3 million by January 1982 and remaining this high until early 1987. However, Tebbit later suggested that, due to
14448-468: The same country. The British crown has been heritable by women since the medieval era (in the absence of brothers), while the vast majority of hereditary noble titles granted by British sovereigns are not heritable by daughters. Often a hereditary title is inherited only by the legitimate, eldest son of the original grantee or that son's male heir according to masculine primogeniture . In some countries and some families, titles descended to all children of
14577-464: The ships destined for cuts proved essential in the Falklands War. One of Thatcher's largest and most successful policies assisted council tenants in public housing to purchase their homes at favourable rates. The "Right to Buy" had emerged in the late 1940s, but was too great a challenge to the post-war consensus to win Conservative endorsement. Thatcher from her earliest days in politics favoured
14706-410: The status of political prisoners , which had been revoked five years earlier under the preceding Labour government. Bobby Sands , the first of the strikers, was elected as an MP for the constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone a few weeks before he died of starvation. Thatcher refused to countenance a return to political status for republican prisoners, famously declaring "Crime is crime is crime; it
14835-543: The style of ' Duke of Lancaster ' (a title linked to the historic Duchy of Lancaster , which became the private estate of the British sovereign when the holder, Henry IV of England , ascended the throne in 1399). Likewise in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man (which are not strictly part of the United Kingdom, but possessions of the British Crown) the informal titles Duke of Normandy (a title associated with William
14964-460: The success of the Lancaster House negotiations can be explained by four factors: A balance of forces on the battlefield that clearly favoured the nationalists; international sanctions and their adverse effects on Rhodesia's economy and Salisbury's ability to wage war; a particular pattern of third party interests; and finally, the skill and resources that Lord Carrington as mediator brought to
15093-493: The table. Thatcher's determination to face down political violence was first demonstrated during the 1980 siege of the Embassy of Iran , London, when the armed forces were for the first time in 70 years authorised to use lethal force on the British mainland. For six days in May, 26 hostages were held by six gunmen; the siege came to a dramatic end with a successful raid by SAS commandos. Later that day, Thatcher went to congratulate
15222-588: The time of Thatcher's election just over a year earlier. Political commentators harked back to the Edward Heath government 's "U-turn" and speculated that Thatcher would follow suit, but she repudiated this approach at the 1980 Conservative Party conference, telling the party: "To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning ". That she meant what she said
15351-571: The time of creation, the 12 Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (the Law Lords) became the first wave of justices to the Supreme Court but were simultaneously disqualified from sitting or voting in the House of Lords until they retired from the court. Judges appointed to the new Supreme Court are not automatically made peers, but those who have not previously been independently granted a peerage, are entitled to use
15480-695: The writ. By the Tenures Abolition Act 1660 , many remaining baronies by tenure who had not got an established inherited writ of summons were converted into baronies by writ, thereby bringing them into line with the other peerages. While non-heritable "peerages for life" were often created in the early days of the peerage, their regular creation was not provided for by Act of Parliament until the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 and in 1958 more generally. The rank of earl dates to Anglo-Saxon times. The ranks of duke and marquess were introduced in
15609-448: Was Lord Beauchamp of Holt in the reign of Richard II . Feudal baronies had always been hereditable by primogeniture , but on condition of payment of a fine, termed " relief ", derived from the Latin verb levo to lift up, meaning a "re-elevation" to a former position of honour. By the beginning of the 14th century, the hereditary characteristics of the Peerage were well developed. Since
15738-530: Was challenged for her leadership and persuaded by Cabinet to withdraw from the second round of voting – ending her eleven-year premiership. She was succeeded by John Major , her Chancellor of the Exchequer . Thatcher was Britain and Europe's first female prime minister. She appointed few women to high office and did not make women's issues a priority, but her pioneering election was widely hailed as an achievement for women in general. Thatcher, having to share
15867-471: Was committed to reducing the power of the trade unions but, unlike the Heath government, adopted a strategy of incremental change rather than a single Act. Several unions launched strikes in response, but these actions eventually collapsed. Gradually, Thatcher's reforms reduced the power and influence of the unions. The changes were chiefly focused upon preventing the recurrence of the large-scale industrial actions of
15996-480: Was confirmed in the 1981 budget, when, despite concerns expressed in an open letter from 364 leading economists, taxes were increased in the middle of a recession, leading to newspaper headlines the following morning of "Howe it Hurts", a reference to the Chancellor Geoffrey Howe . In 1981, as unemployment soared (exceeding 2.5 million by the summer and heading towards 3 million before Christmas) and
16125-508: Was not uncommon for a female to inherit a noble title if she survived all kinsmen descended patrilineally from the original grantee or, in England and Iberia, if she survived just her own brothers and their descendants. Rarely, a noble title descends to the eldest child regardless of gender (although by law this has become the prevalent form of titular inheritance among the Spanish nobility ). A title may occasionally be shared and thus multiplied, in
16254-464: Was the first commoner to be appointed as Lord Chancellor since 1587. As the upper chamber , in contrast to the House of Commons, where proceedings are controlled by the speaker , proceedings in the Lords are controlled by peers themselves, under the rules set out in the Standing Orders . The Leader of the House of Lords has the responsibility of reminding the House of these rules and facilitating
16383-524: Was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. Her premiership ended when she withdrew from the 1990 Conservative leadership election . As prime minister, Thatcher also served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury , Minister for the Civil Service , and Leader of the Conservative Party . In domestic policy, Thatcher implemented sweeping reforms concerning the affairs of
16512-627: Was to attract private capital and new business activity that would bring jobs and progress to declining areas. Important projects included those in London Docklands , Salford and Gateshead. Before the 1979 election Thatcher was on record as supporting the all-white government of Ian Smith in Rhodesia. Under intense world pressure it held elections that included some black voters. One of them, Methodist Bishop Abel Muzorewa , became prime minister of " Zimbabwe-Rhodesia " in June 1979 with Smith's support. Thatcher, new to 10 Downing Street, praised
16641-631: Was widely shared in the UK. Historian Ezequiel Mercau argues that the islanders' demands for decolonisation were weak. Instead their predominant sentiment was a close "kith and kin" identification with the people of Great Britain that gave the Falklanders a "loyalty to the Crown ." In May 1980, one day before Thatcher was due to meet the Irish Taoiseach , Charles Haughey , to discuss Northern Ireland, she announced in Parliament that "the future of
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