Editing Peerages in the United Kingdom (section)

===Division and rank===

Most peerages since 1801, and all subsequent peerages from 1898, are created within the division of the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]]. Hereditary peerages are still extant in the other divisions: the [[Peerage of England]], the [[Peerage of Scotland]], the [[Peerage of Great Britain]] and the [[Peerage of Ireland]].

Since 2009 almost all life peerages are created, by convention, at the rank of baron, the sole exception being the royal life peerage of the [[Dukedom of Edinburgh]] in 2023. The reason for this is that the [[Life Peerages Act 1958]] restricts the issuing of [[Writ of summons|writs of summons]] to life peers (entitling the peer to sit in the House of Lords) to those created at the rank of baron only. While peerages remain part of the honours system, the main reason for creating new peers is for them to hold a seat in the House of Lords. A government could theoretically support the creation of a life peerage at a more senior rank as an honour for someone who displayed particularly meritorious service, who did not want to enter parliament, but so far no government has done so.