The Lord Chancellor reports this morning that:

“Stephen Michael Wedgwood Benn had established his claim to the Viscountcy of Stansgate in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The Clerk of the Parliaments was accordingly directed to enter Viscount Stansgate on the register of hereditary peers maintained under Standing Order 10(5)”

Stephen is registering his interest in standing for election to the Lords should one of Labour hereditary peers die or resign. He will then claim the title his father renounced…