Members ‘retire’ from House of Lords
4 October 2011 (updated on 5 October 2011)
Two Members of the House of Lords have opted to ‘retire’ from the House of Lords. At the start of business on Monday 3 October, the Lord Speaker, Baroness D’Souza, announced that Lord Habgood and Lord Hutchinson of Lullington had given notification of their wish to retire permanently from the service of the House. The retirements were effective immediately.
The option to step down from active membership of the House of Lords has been introduced following a report by a Leader’s Group on Members Leaving the House, chaired by Lord Hunt of Wirral.
Lord Habgood and Lord Hutchinson are the first Members of the Lords to take up the option.
A former Archbishop of York, Lord Habgood was created a life Peer in 1995. Barrister and QC, Lord Hutchinson had been a member of the Lords since 1978.
Further information
The Leader's Group on Members Leaving the House, which was formed by Lord Strathclyde and was chaired by Lord Hunt of Wirral, published its report in January 2011.