First trans peer a step closer as hereditary candidate claims seat
Lady Simon allowed to inherit title but she may have to petition the Queen to avoid being called ‘Lord’
THE House of Lords could shortly welcome its first trans peer and only female hereditary member.
Matilda Simon was this week given permission to contest the next by-election for one of the upper chamber’s remaining 92 hereditary seats.
The vast majority of titles may only be passed to a male heir but because of a legal loophole, the candidate, born Matthew Simon in 1955, has inherited and retains the Barony of Wythenshawe, despite being in all other legal respects a woman.
The House of Lords confirmed that her claim to the peerage was approved by the Lord Chancellor last week.
The Barony was created in 1947 for Ernest Simon, the industrialist and former lord mayor of Manchester mainly remembered for his slum clearances and housing projects in the city.
His son Roger, the second Baron Simon, was one of the founders of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Women first entered the House of Lords in 1958, with female hereditary peers able to sit from 1963.
They are a rare occurrence, however, although more likely to emanate from Scotland, where peerages can more easily descend to women.
Recent examples include the Coun
‘If the title had been inheritable by a woman, it would have gone to Margaret, the older sister’
tess of Mar, a specialist goat cheese maker who retired two years ago, and Lady Saltoun, who retired in 2014.
Lady Simon winning a future byelection would be likely to reignite the debate over the persistence of primogeniture among the aristocracy.
In 2013, in the aftermath of the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Parliament passed a law to allow a first-born child to inherit the throne, but this principle only applies to the Royal family, not to the peerage.
In recent years, the Earl of Balfour spoke of his anger that his earldom would pass to his younger brother upon his death, rather than any of his daughters. He joked that a cunning ruse to ensure one of them succeeds would be if they transitioned to become a man.
However, a source close to the current process says that would not work.
The Gender Recognition Act 2014 states that a person changing gender “does not affect the descent of any peerage or dignity or title of honour”. So Lady Simon could inherit her father’s barony but a woman transitioning to become a man could not.
Lady Simon graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, before becoming a lecturer at Manchester University. Now a furniture maker, she calls herself a feminist, socialist and LGBT advocate.
The House of Lords told The Telegraph Lady Simon may have to petition the Queen to change the form of address to avoid being referred to formally as “Lord Simon”. However, an expert has said this may be unnecessary, pointing out that members would refer to her as “Lady” as a matter of courtesy.