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    You are at:Home»Blog»UK PARLIAMENT TO CELEBRATE 60th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ACT THAT ENABLED WOMEN TO BE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS
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    UK PARLIAMENT TO CELEBRATE 60th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ACT THAT ENABLED WOMEN TO BE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS

    5 April 20183 Mins Read
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    On Monday 30 April, UK Parliament will mark 60 years since the Life Peerages Act 1958 received Royal Assent, which allowed women to sit in the House of Lords for the first time. The Act opened the House to the whole of society, with members being appointed to contribute to our parliamentary democracy based on their knowledge and experience, regardless of gender or background.

    11745 Display
    The disgraceful scene in the House’, Daily Graphic, 1906. © Parliamentary Art Collection WOA Ref. Coll.

     

    Women were excluded from the House of Lords before 1958. The Life Peerages Act allowed women and men to be created peers for life and have seats in the House of Lords. Over time, the number of women peers increased and their vital contribution has changed the face of the House of Lords.

    There are currently 202 female life peers and, since the Act passed, there have been seven female Leaders of the House of Lords, three female Government Chief Whips and two of the three Lord Speakers to date have been women. Other important firsts for women in the House of Lords include:

    • the first woman life peer to receive Letters Patent was Baroness Wootton of Abinger on 8 August 1958
    • the first woman life peer to take her seat  was Baroness Swanborough on 21 October 1958
    • the first woman life peer to speak in the House of Lords was Baroness Elliot on 4 November 1958
    • the first female Government whip was Labour peer Baroness Phillips between 1965-1970
    • the first female Government Chief Whip was Baroness Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe between March 1974 and May 1979
    • the first female Leader of the House of Lords was Baroness Young in September 1981
    • the first female Lord Speaker was Baroness Hayman in 2006.
    11746 Display
    Leaders of the House of Lords: Baroness Ashton of Upholland, Baroness Amos & Baroness Jay of Paddington’ by Desire Pfeiffer, 2008 © Parliamentary Art Collection WOA Ref. Coll.

    The House of Lords Library has produced two research briefings to mark the 60th anniversary of the passing of the Life Peerages Act which give historical and biographical information on the first Life Peers. Further information on the history of women in the Lords can also be found on Parliament’s Living Heritage webpage:

    • Life Peerages Act 1958: 60th Anniversary
    • Life Peerages Act 1958: First Life Peers
    • Living Heritage – Women and the Lords

    The celebration of the Life Peerages Act is part of UK Parliament’s Vote 100 project which is a year-long programme of events celebrating a century of women’s voices in Parliament, the journey towards universal suffrage and the first women MPs. Throughout 2018, Vote 100 will celebrate these milestones, and the contribution of women to politics in the UK, with a series of events, exhibitions and educational programmes.

    (Qualification of Women) Act, 1918
    Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act, 1918 © Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/PU/1/1918/8&9G5c47
    Harry Furniss
    A corner in the Ladies’ Gallery’ by Harry Furniss, pen and ink on paper, c.1888 © Parliamentary Archives, HC/LB/1/112/248

    The Life Peerages Act will be displayed this summer at “Voice and Vote: Women’s Place in Parliament”, a major free public exhibition held in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of Parliament, which will open on 27 June 2018. It will tell the story of women and parliament through immersive and interactive technologies to help recreate lost historic spaces that were used by women in the Palace of Westminster. It will include key historic objects from Parliamentary collections and significant loans from around the UK.

     

    www.parliament.uk/lords

    House of Lords Life Peerages Act Life Peerages Act 1958

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