Succession to Peerages and Baronetcies Bill

Succession to Peerages and Baronetcies Bill
	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	A Bill to amend the law regarding succession to peerages and baronetcies; and for connected purposes.
Introduced by	The Lord Northbrook;
Status: Not passed
History of passage through Parliament

The Succession to Peerages and Baronetcies Bill is a proposed law of the Parliament of the United Kingdom introduced on 20 November 2023 by Lord Northbrook.^[1]

The Bill proposes to change the law about hereditary peerages and baronetcies by removing male primogeniture to allow female heirs to take a hereditary peerage or baronetcy.

This is another attempt by a Bill to serve this purpose.

If enacted, it would align the hereditary peerage and baronetcy to the same laws of succession as the Crown. Previous attempts, such as Lord Lucas' Equality (Titles) Bill, and Lord Trefgarne's Succession to Peerages Bills 2015 and 2016, received significant support. The Government has previously promised to make this law.^[2]^[3]

As of 30th May, 2024, the Bill will make no further progress through Parliament due to the dissolution before the 2024 United Kingdom general election.^[4]

Harriett Baldwin supported the bill before it was timed out.^[5]^[6]^[7]

All these bills deal only with female succession, when there are other discriminations against succession that should also be addressed such as legitimacy, legitimation by subsequent marriage, IVF and donor conception, surrogacy, adoption and gender reassignment. All Acts of Parliament that modernise family law exclude succession to peerages, baronetcies and other dignities. This means that a child can be the child of the family for all purposes except succession to titles.^[8] Further there are a number of issues that need to be addressed in any Bill to prevent unintended consequences such as retrospective effect, the rights of the heir apparent, property destined to go with the title, hereditary offices like the Earl Marshall of England held by the Duke of Norfolk which would separate from the title and the name and coat of linked to the title.^[9]

References

^ "Succession to Peerages and Baronetcies Bill [HL]".
^ Dunn, Tom Newton (20 February 2021). "Ladies first in Tory plan to abolish male primogeniture". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
^ Cope, Rebecca (23 February 2021). "Tories to draw up new laws to allow women to inherit their father's titles". Tatler. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
^ "Succession to Peerages and Baronetcies Bill [HL]".
^ www.parliament.uk
^ www.telegraph.co.uk
^ "Hereditary Titles (Female Succession) Bill".
^ Agnew, C., and Black, G., 2018. The significance of status and genetics in succession to titles, honours, dignities and coats of arms: Making the case for reform. The Cambridge Law Journal, 77(2), pp.321-348.
^ Agnew, C., and Black, G., 2023. Reforming the law of succession to peerages, baronetcies and dignities: identifying problems and exploring solutions. Public Law, 2023(1), pp.104-125.

[1] "Succession to Peerages and Baronetcies Bill [HL]".

[2] Dunn, Tom Newton (20 February 2021). "Ladies first in Tory plan to abolish male primogeniture". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 20 November 2023.

[3] Cope, Rebecca (23 February 2021). "Tories to draw up new laws to allow women to inherit their father's titles". Tatler. Retrieved 20 November 2023.

[4] "Succession to Peerages and Baronetcies Bill [HL]".

[5] www.parliament.uk

[6] www.telegraph.co.uk

[7] "Hereditary Titles (Female Succession) Bill".

[8] Agnew, C., and Black, G., 2018. The significance of status and genetics in succession to titles, honours, dignities and coats of arms: Making the case for reform. The Cambridge Law Journal, 77(2), pp.321-348.

[9] Agnew, C., and Black, G., 2023. Reforming the law of succession to peerages, baronetcies and dignities: identifying problems and exploring solutions. Public Law, 2023(1), pp.104-125.

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