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Multiple Choice

Which statement about peers is true?

Life peerages are personal and last only for the holder’s lifetime; they do not pass on to children. That’s why the statement about life peers is true: their position can’t be inherited, so offspring don’t automatically become peers just because their parent is one. By contrast, hereditary peerages are inherited, though reforms since 1999 mean that most hereditary peers do not automatically sit in the House of Lords any longer, with only a limited number elected among themselves to remain. So saying that all peers pass their titles to offspring isn’t correct. It’s also not accurate to say hereditary peers are not allowed in the Lords, since they can sit (and historically did, though their automatic right was curtailed). Finally, peers aren’t generally elected; most are appointed by the monarch on the advice of ministers or the Lords Appointments Commission, with only a few exceptions where a limited election among hereditary peers exists.

Life peerages are personal and last only for the holder’s lifetime; they do not pass on to children. That’s why the statement about life peers is true: their position can’t be inherited, so offspring don’t automatically become peers just because their parent is one. By contrast, hereditary peerages are inherited, though reforms since 1999 mean that most hereditary peers do not automatically sit in the House of Lords any longer, with only a limited number elected among themselves to remain. So saying that all peers pass their titles to offspring isn’t correct. It’s also not accurate to say hereditary peers are not allowed in the Lords, since they can sit (and historically did, though their automatic right was curtailed). Finally, peers aren’t generally elected; most are appointed by the monarch on the advice of ministers or the Lords Appointments Commission, with only a few exceptions where a limited election among hereditary peers exists.