Privy Council of The United Kingdom - Term of Office

Term of Office

Membership is generally for life. Formerly, the death of a monarch brought an immediate dissolution of the Council, as all Crown appointments automatically lapsed. By the 18th century, it was enacted that the Council would not be dissolved until up to six months after the demise of the Crown. By convention, however, the Sovereign would reappoint all members of the Council after its dissolution. In practice, therefore, membership continued without a break. Reappointment was made unnecessary from 1901 when the law was changed to ensure that Crown appointments were wholly unaffected by a change of monarch.

The Sovereign may however remove an individual from the Council. On 8 June 2011 Elliot Morley was expelled following his conviction on charges of false accounting in connection with an expenses scandal. Before this, the last individual to be expelled from the Council against his will was Sir Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet, who was removed on 13 December 1921 for pro-German activities during the First World War. Individuals may choose to resign to avoid expulsion. The last individual to leave the Privy Council voluntarily was Jonathan Aitken, who left on 25 June 1997 following allegations of perjury. He was one of only three Privy Counsellors to resign in the twentieth century (the others being John Profumo, who resigned on 26 June 1963, and John Stonehouse, who resigned on 17 August 1976).