Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
Encyclopedia
The Prime Minister's Resignation Honours in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 are honours granted at the behest of an outgoing Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

 following his or her resignation. In such a list, a Prime Minister may ask the monarch to bestow peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

s, or other lesser honours, on any number of people of his or her choosing. A recent change, however, involves oversight by a parliamentary scrutiny committee, to ensure that the honours are appropriate.

The publication of resignation honours may also be used as the occasion for the granting of other political honours, as in the 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
The 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were officially announced in two supplements to the London Gazette of 1 August 1997 and marked the May 1997 resignation of Prime Minister John Major....

 when an additional 47 working peers were created at the behest of the three main parties.

Some previous lists have attracted criticism, for example the 1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
The 1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were announced on 27 May 1976 to mark the resignation of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The list of honours became known satirically as the "Lavender List".-Controversy:...

 of Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...

 (which became known as the "Lavender List"), which caused controversy as a number of recipients were wealthy businessmen whose principles were considered antipathetic to those held by the Labour party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 at the time.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...

 did not issue a list, apparently because of the "Cash for Honours" scandal.. Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

 did not publish a resignation honours list, although a dissolution list
2010 Dissolution Honours
The 2010 Dissolution Honours List was issued on 28 May 2010 at the advice of outgoing Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The list was gazetted on 15 June.-Life Peerages:Conservative* Timothy Boswell* Angela Browning* John Gummer* Michael Howard...

was issued on his advice (to similar effect).
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