The Right Honourable (abbreviated "The Rt Hon." or "The Right Hon.") is an honorific prefix which belongs to certain classes of people in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth Realms.
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People entitled to the prefix in a personal capacity are:
In order to differentiate peers who are Privy Counsellors from those who are not, sometimes the suffix PC is added to the title.
In addition some people are entitled to the prefix in an official capacity, i.e. the prefix is added to the name of the office, but not the name of the person:
All other Lord Mayors and Lord Provosts are The Right Worshipful
The prefix is also added to the name of various corporate entities, e.g.:
The honorific is normally only used on the front of envelopes and other written documents: e.g. The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP is otherwise referred to simply as "Mr Blair".
In the House of Commons, members refer to each other as "the honourable member for ..." or "the right honourable member for ..." depending or not upon whether they are Privy Counsellors. However the title "the honourable member" is only a Parliamentary term and should not be used outside the House.
Generally within the Commonwealth, ministers and judges are The Honourable unless they are appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, in which case they are The Right Honourable. Such persons invariably include Prime Ministers and judges of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, and several other Commonwealth prime ministers.
Outside the United Kingdom, the role of the those possessing the honorific has changed. The Irish Privy Council was de facto abolished with the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922; nevertheless the Lord Mayor of Dublin, who was ex-officio a member of the Irish Privy Council, retains the usage of the honorific. The remaining members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland are entitled to the title The Right Honourable.
In Canada, members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada receive the honorific The Honourable (in French, Honorable), with only the occupants of the most senior public offices being made The Right Honourable (Très honorable), as they used to be appointed to the British Privy Council.
Although these appointments have ceased, the following public servants are awarded the title The Right Honourable for life:
Governors General also use the style His/Her Excellency during their term of office.
Several Canadian politicians, other than those holding the aforementioned positions, have become members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and thus entitled to use the title Right Honourable either because of their services in Britain such as serving as envoys to London or as members of the Imperial War Cabinet or due to their prominence in the Canadian Cabinet. These include:
(*)As Prime Minister. Note, Tupper was appointed when he was no longer Prime Minister and St. Laurent was appointed when he was a cabinet minister under Mackenzie King.
(**)Massey became Governor General over a decade later.
Though Canadian appointments to the British Privy Council ceased in the reign of King George VI the positions of Governor General, Prime Minister and Chief Justice are still awarded the style The Right Honourable. The title may also be granted for life by the Governor General to eminent Canadians who have not held any of the offices that would entitle them to it. It has been granted to the following individuals:
In Australia some Premiers of the Australian colonies in the 19th century were were appointed members of the British Privy Council and were thus entitled to be called The Right Honourable. After Federation in 1901, the Governor-General, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, the Prime Minister and some other senior ministers held the title. There has never been an Australian Privy Council.
In 1972 Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam declined appointment to the Privy Council, but the practice was resumed by Malcolm Fraser in 1975. In 1983 Bob Hawke declined the appointment, and the appointment of Australians to the Privy Council was abolished. The last Governor-General to hold the title was Ninian Stephen. The last serving politician to hold the title was Ian Sinclair, who retired in 1998.
The only living Australians holding the title The Right Honourable for life are:
The Lord Mayors of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart are styled The Right Honourable, but the style (which has no connexion with the Privy Council) attaches to the title of Lord Mayor, and not to their names, and is relinquished upon leaving office.
In New Zealand, the Prime Minister is customarily appointed members of the British Privy Council and is styled The Right Honourable. Unlike the Australian Labor Party, the ruling New Zealand Labour Party shows no inclination to abolish the title. The Governor-General is also usually styled The Right Honourable, but the current Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, is not.