Hereditary peer in the context of "Writ"

Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristics associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles or simply formal functions (e.g., precedence), and vary by country and by era. Membership in the nobility, including rights and responsibilities, is typically hereditary and patrilineal.

Membership in the nobility has historically been granted by a monarch or government, and acquisition of sufficient power, wealth, ownerships, or royal favour has occasionally enabled commoners to ascend into the nobility.

In English law, heirs of the body is the principle that certain types of property pass to a descendant of the original holder, recipient or grantee according to a fixed order of kinship. Upon the death of the grantee, a designated inheritance such as a parcel of land, a peerage, or a monarchy, passes automatically to that living, legitimate, natural descendant of the grantee who is most senior in descent according to primogeniture, males being preferred, however, over their sisters regardless of relative age; and thereafter the property continues to pass to subsequent descendants of the grantee, according to the same formula, upon the death of each subsequent heir.

Baronies created by writ of summons to Parliament usually descend to heirs of the body of the grantee, and may thus be inherited by females. By the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701 and the Acts of Union 1707, the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland descends to heirs of the body of the Electress Sophia of Hanover who are not Catholics or married to Catholics, subject to subsequent modification by Parliament (e.g. His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 and the Succession to the Crown Act 2013).

The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain. New peers continued to be created in the Peerage of Ireland until 1898 (the last creation was the Barony of Curzon of Kedleston).

The House of Lords Act 1999 reformed the House of Lords. Until then, all peers of the United Kingdom were automatically members of the House of Lords. However, from that date, most of the hereditary peers ceased to be members, whereas the life peers retained their seats. All hereditary peers of the first creation (i.e. those for whom a peerage was originally created, as opposed to those who inherited a peerage), and all surviving hereditary peers who had served as Leader of the House of Lords, were offered a life peerage to allow them to continue to sit in the House, should they wish.

In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the Dukedom of Edinburgh awarded for life to Prince Edward in 2023, all life peerages conferred since 2009 have been created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 with the rank of baron. Such peerages entitle (or perhaps obligate) the holder to sit and vote in the House of Lords (so long as they meet qualifications such as age and citizenship). Prior to 2009, life peers of baronial rank could also be created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 for senior judges, referred to as Law Lords, with functions then taken over by the new Supreme Court.

The legitimate children of a life peer appointed under the Life Peerages Act 1958 are entitled to style themselves with the prefix "The Honourable", although they cannot inherit the peerage.

The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given royal assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats (hereditary peers); the Act removed such a right. However, as part of a compromise, the Act allowed ninety-two hereditary peers to remain in the House. Another ten were created life peers to enable them to remain in the House.

The Act decreased the membership of the House from 1,330 in October 1999 to 669 in March 2000. As another result of the Act, the majority of the Lords were thence life peers, whose numbers had been gradually increasing since the Life Peerages Act 1958. As of June 2023, there were 825 members of the House of Lords, of whom 24 were senior Church of England bishops, whose representation in the House is governed by the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015.

Under the reforms of the House of Lords Act 1999, the majority of hereditary peers lost the right to sit as members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 2 of the Act, however, provides an exception from this general exclusion of membership for up to 92 hereditary peers: 90 to be elected by the House, as well as the holders of two royal offices, the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain, who sit as ex officio members. The initial cohort of excepted hereditary peers were elected in the 1999 House of Lords elections. Between 1999 and November 2002, vacancies among this group were filled by runners-up in the 1999 election. Since then, by-elections to the House of Lords have filled vacancies.

Candidature for both the 1999 elections and subsequent by-elections is restricted to peers in the Peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Peers in the Peerage of Ireland are only eligible for election if they hold a title in one of the other peerages, but if successful may use their Irish peerage title as a member of the House. The electorates are either the whole membership of the House of Lords (including life peers), or a party group of sitting hereditary peers. A standing order of the House, approved prior to the commencement of the House of Lords Act 1999, mandates that the 90 elected hereditary peers consist of:

By-elections to the House of Lords occur when vacancies arise among seats assigned to hereditary peers due to death, resignation, or disqualification. Candidates for these by-elections are limited to holders of hereditary peerages, and their electorates are made up of sitting Lords; in most cases the electorate are those sitting hereditary peers of the same party affiliation as the departed peer. Following the enactment of the House of Lords Act 1999, the number of hereditary peers entitled to sit in the House of Lords was reduced to ninety-two. The Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain were entitled to sit ex officio; the remaining ninety were elected by all the hereditary peers before the passing of the reform.

Before the passing of the 1999 Act, the Lords approved a Standing Order stating that the remaining hereditary peers shall consist of: