House of Lords

1 History

This article is about the British House of Lords. For

other uses, see House of Lords (disambiguation).

Todays Parliament of the United Kingdom largely deThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament
scends, in practice, from the Parliament of England,
of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it
though the Treaty of Union of 1706 and the Acts of Union
meets in the Palace of Westminster.[3]
that ratied the Treaty in 1707 created a new Parliament
Unlike the elected House of Commons, most members of Great Britain to replace the Parliament of England and
of the House of Lords are appointed.[4] The member- the Parliament of Scotland. This new parliament was, in
ship of the House of Lords is made up of Lords Spir- eect, the continuation of the Parliament of England with
itual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26 the addition of 45 MPs and 16 Peers to represent Scotbishops in the established Church of England.[5] Of the land.
Lords Temporal, the majority are life peers who are apThe Parliament of England developed from the Magnum
pointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime MinConcilium, the Great Council that advised the King
ister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointduring medieval times.[18] This royal council came to be
ments Commission. However, they also include some
composed of ecclesiastics, noblemen, and representatives
hereditary peers.[6] Membership was once an entitlement
of the counties of England (afterwards, representatives
of all hereditary peers, other than those in the peerage of
of the boroughs as well). The rst English Parliament
Ireland, but under the House of Lords Act 1999, the right
[7] is often considered to be the "Model Parliament" (held
to membership was restricted to 92 hereditary peers.
in 1295), which included archbishops, bishops, abbots,
Very few of these are female since most hereditary peerearls, barons, and representatives of the shires and bor[8]
ages can only be inherited by men.
oughs of it.
The number of members is not xed; as of 12 June 2015
The power of Parliament grew slowly, uctuating as the
the House of Lords has 787 members (not including 39
strength of the monarchy grew or declined. For example,
who are on leave of absence or who are otherwise disduring much of the reign of Edward II (13071327), the
[2]
qualied from sitting), unlike the House of Commons,
nobility was supreme, the Crown weak, and the shire and
[2][9]
which has a 650-seat xed membership.
borough representatives entirely powerless. In 1569, the
The House of Lords scrutinises bills that have been ap- authority of Parliament was for the rst time recognised
proved by the House of Commons.[10] It regularly reviews not simply by custom or royal charter, but by an authoriand amends Bills from the Commons.[11] While it is un- tative statute, passed by Parliament itself.
able to prevent Bills passing into law, except in certain
Further developments occurred during the reign of Edlimited circumstances,[12] it can delay Bills and force the
ward IIs successor, Edward III. It was during this Kings
Commons to reconsider their decisions.[13] In this capacreign that Parliament clearly separated into two distinct
ity, the Lords acts as a check on the House of Commons
chambers: the House of Commons (consisting of the
that is independent from the electoral process.[14][15][16]
shire and borough representatives) and the House of
Bills can be introduced into either the House of Lords
Lords (consisting of the bishops and abbots and the
or the House of Commons. Members of the Lords may
peers). The authority of Parliament continued to grow,
also take on roles as government ministers. The House
and, during the early fteenth century, both Houses exof Lords has its own support services, separate from the
ercised powers to an extent not seen before. The Lords
Commons, including the House of Lords Library.
were far more powerful than the Commons because of the
The Queens Speech is delivered in the House of Lords great inuence of the great landowners and the prelates of
during the State Opening of Parliament. In addition to the realm.
its role as the upper house, until the establishment of the
The power of the nobility suered a decline during the
Supreme Court in 2009, the House of Lords, through the
civil wars of the late fteenth century, known as the Wars
Law Lords, acted as the nal court of appeal in the British
of the Roses. Much of the nobility was killed on the
judicial system.[17] The House also has a Church of Engbattleeld or executed for participation in the war, and
land role, in that Church Measures must be tabled within
many aristocratic estates were lost to the Crown. Morethe House by the Lords Spiritual.
over, feudalism was dying, and the feudal armies controlled by the barons became obsolete. Henry VII (1485
1

HISTORY

1509) clearly established the supremacy of the monarch,

symbolised by the Crown Imperial. The domination of
the Sovereign continued to grow during the reigns of the
Tudor monarchs in the 16th century. The Crown was at
the height of its power during the reign of Henry VIII
(15091547).
The House of Lords remained more powerful than the
House of Commons, but the Lower House continued to
grow in inuence, reaching a zenith in relation to the
House of Lords during the middle 17th century. Conicts
between the King and the Parliament (for the most part,
the House of Commons) ultimately led to the English
Civil War during the 1640s. In 1649, after the defeat and
execution of King Charles I, the Commonwealth of England was declared, but the nation was eectively under
the overall control of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of
England.[19]
The House of Lords was reduced to a largely powerless
body, with Cromwell and his supporters in the Commons
dominating the Government. On 19 March 1649, the
House of Lords was abolished by an Act of Parliament,
which declared that The Commons of England [nd] by
too long experience that the House of Lords is useless
and dangerous to the people of England.[19] The House
of Lords did not assemble again until the Convention ParThe rejection of the Peoples Budget, proposed by David Lloyd
liament met in 1660 and the monarchy was restored. It re- George (above), precipitated a political crisis in 1909.
turned to its former position as the more powerful chamber of Parliamenta position it would occupy until the
19th century.

An important vote: the House of Lords voting for the Parliament

Act 1911

1.1 19th century

The 19th century was marked by several changes to the
House of Lords. The House, once a body of only about
50 members, had been greatly enlarged by the liberality
of George III and his successors in creating peerages. The
individual inuence of a Lord of Parliament was thus diminished.
Moreover, the power of the House as a whole experienced a decrease, whilst that of the House of Commons
grew. Particularly notable in the development of the
Queen Anne addressing the House of Lords, c. 170814, by Peter Lower Houses superiority was the Reform Bill of 1832.
Tillemans
The electoral system of the House of Commons was not,
at the time, democratic: property qualications greatly
restricted the size of the electorate, and the boundaries of

1.3

Lords Reform

many constituencies had not been changed for centuries.

much enthusiasm, and the House of Lords remained priEntire cities such as Manchester were not represented by marily hereditary. In 1949, the Parliament Act reduced
a single individual in the House of Commons, but the 11 the delaying power of the House of Lords further to two
voters of Old Sarum retained their ancient right to elect sessions or one year.
two members of parliament. A small borough was sus- In 1958, the predominantly hereditary nature of the
ceptible to bribery, and was often under the control of a House of Lords was changed by the Life Peerages Act
patron, whose nominee was guaranteed to win an elec- 1958, which authorised the creation of life baronies, with
tion. Some aristocrats were patrons of numerous "pocket no numerical limits. The number of Life Peers then gradboroughs", and therefore controlled a considerable part ually increased, though not at a constant rate.
of the membership of the House of Commons.
The Labour Party had for most of the twentieth century a
When the House of Commons passed a Reform Bill to
correct some of these anomalies in 1831, the House of
Lords rejected the proposal. The popular cause of reform, however, was not abandoned by the ministry, despite a second rejection of the bill in 1832. Prime Minister Earl Grey advised the King to overwhelm opposition
to the bill in the House of Lords by creating about 80
new pro-Reform peers. William IV originally balked at
the proposal, which eectively threatened the opposition
of the House of Lords, but at length relented.

commitment, based on the partys historic opposition to

class privilege, to abolish the House of Lords, or at least
expel the hereditary element. In 1968, the Labour Government of Harold Wilson attempted to reform the House
of Lords by introducing a system under which hereditary
peers would be allowed to remain in the House and take
part in debate, but would be unable to vote. This plan,
however, was defeated in the House of Commons by a
coalition of traditionalist Conservatives (such as Enoch
Powell), and Labour members who continued to advoBefore the new peers were created, however, the Lords cate the outright abolition of the Upper House (such as
Michael Foot).
who opposed the bill admitted defeat, and abstained from
the vote, allowing the passage of the bill. The crisis dam- When Michael Foot attained the leadership of the Labour
aged the political inuence of the House of Lords, but did Party in 1980, abolition of the House of Lords became a
not altogether end it. Over the course of the century, how- part of the partys agenda; under his successor, Neil Kinever, the power of the Upper House experienced further nock, however, a reformed Upper House was proposed
erosion, and the Commons gradually became the stronger instead. In the meantime, the creation of hereditary peerHouse of Parliament.
ages (except for members of the Royal Family) has been
arrested, with the exception of three creations during the
administration of the Conservative Margaret Thatcher in
the 1980s.
1.2 20th century
Whilst some hereditary peers were at best apathetic
the Labour Partys clear commitments were not lost on
Baron Sudeley, who for decades was considered an expert on the House of Lords. In December 1979 the
Conservative Monday Club published his extensive paper
entitled Lords Reform Why tamper with the House of
Lords? and in July 1980 The Monarchist carried another
article by Lord Sudeley entitled Why Reform or Abolish
the House of Lords?.[20] In 1990 he authored a further
Having made the powers of the House of Lords a primary
booklet for the Monday Club entitled The Preservation
campaign issue, the Liberals were narrowly re-elected in
of the House of Lords.
January 1910. Prime Minister H. H. Asquith then proposed that the powers of the House of Lords be severely
curtailed. After a further general election in December
1.3 Lords Reform
1910, and with an undertaking by King George V to create sucient new Liberal peers to overcome Lords opMain article: Reform of the House of Lords
position to the measure if necessary, the Asquith Government secured the passage of a bill to curtail the powers
of the House of Lords.
The status of the House of Lords returned to the forefront
of debate after the election of a Liberal Government in
1906. In 1909, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David
Lloyd George, introduced into the House of Commons
the "Peoples Budget", which proposed a land tax targeting wealthy landowners. The popular measure, however,
was defeated in the heavily Conservative House of Lords.

The Parliament Act 1911 eectively abolished the power

of the House of Lords to reject legislation, or to amend
in a way unacceptable to the House of Commons: most
bills could be delayed for no more than three parliamentary sessions or two calendar years. It was not meant to be
a permanent solution; more comprehensive reforms were
planned. Neither party, however, pursued the matter with

1.3.1 19972010
The Labour Party included in its 1997 general election
Manifesto a commitment to remove the hereditary peerage from the House of Lords.[21] Their subsequent election victory in 1997 under Tony Blair nally heralded the
demise of the traditional House of Lords. The Labour

4
Government introduced legislation to expel all hereditary
peers from the Upper House as a rst step in Lords reform. As a part of a compromise, however, it agreed to
permit 92 hereditary peers to remain until the reforms
were complete. Thus all but 92 hereditary peers were expelled under the House of Lords Act 1999 (see below for
its provisions), making the House of Lords predominantly
an appointed house.

HISTORY

vote on 100% took place this showed a clear preference

for a fully elected upper house among those who voted
for the only other option that passed. But this was nevertheless only an indicative vote and many political and
legislative hurdles remained to be overcome for supporters of an elected second chamber. The House of Lords,
soon after, rejected this proposal and voted for an entirely
appointed House of Lords.[27]

Since 1999 however, no further reform has taken place.

The Wakeham Commission proposed introducing a 20%
elected element to the Lords, but this plan was widely
criticised.[22] A Joint Committee was established in 2001
to resolve the issue, but it reached no conclusion and instead gave Parliament seven options to choose from (fully
appointed, 20% elected, 40% elected, 50% elected, 60%
elected, 80%, and fully elected). In a confusing series of
votes in February 2003, all of these options were defeated
although the 80% elected option fell by just three votes in
the Commons. Socialist MPs favouring outright abolition
voted against all the options.

In July 2008 Jack Straw, the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, introduced a white paper to
the House of Commons proposing to replace the House
of Lords with an 80100% elected chamber, with one
third being elected at each general election, for a term
of approximately 1215 years.[28] The white paper states
that as the peerage would be totally separated from membership of the upper house, the name House of Lords
would no longer be appropriate: It goes on to explain that
there is cross-party consensus for the new chamber to be
titled the Senate of the United Kingdom, however to
ensure the debate remains on the role of the upper house
In 2005 a cross-party group of senior MPs (Kenneth rather than its title, the white paper is neutral on the title
Clarke, Paul Tyler, Tony Wright, Sir George Young and of the new house.
Robin Cook) published a report proposing that 70% of In Meg Russells article; Is the House of Lords already
members of the House of Lords should be elected each reformed?" she states three essential features of a legitimember for a single long term by the single transfer- mate House of Lords.[29] The rst is that it must have adable vote system. Most of the remainder were to be equate powers over legislation to make the government
appointed by a Commission to ensure a mix of skills, think twice before making a decision. The House of
knowledge and experience. This proposal was also not Lords, she argues, currently has enough power to make
implemented. A cross-party campaign initiative called it relevant. During Tony Blairs rst year he was defeated
"Elect the Lords" was set up to make the case for a pre- thirty-eight times in the Lords.[30] Secondly, as to the
dominantly elected Second Chamber in the run up to the composition of the Lords, Meg Russell suggests that the
composition must be distinct from the Commons, other2005 general election.
At the 2005 election, the Labour Party proposed further wise it would render the Lords useless. The third feature
She writes; In
reform of the Lords, but without specic details.[23] The is the perceived legitimacy of the Lords.[29][30]
general
legitimacy
comes
with
election.
Conservative Party, which had, prior to 1997, opposed
any tampering with the House of Lords, favoured an 80%
elected Second Chamber, while the Liberal Democrats
called for a fully elected Senate. During 2006, a crossparty committee discussed Lords reform, with the aim of
reaching a consensus: its ndings were published in early
2007.[24]

What will concern ministers in the coalition government

is how these features are interlinked. If the Lords have
a distinct and elected composition, this would probably
come about through xed term proportional representation. If this happens then the perceived legitimacy of
the Lords could arguably outweigh the legitimacy of the
On 7 March 2007, members of the House of Commons Commons. This would especially be the case if the House
voted ten times on a variety of alternative compositions of Lords had been elected more recently than the House
reect the will of the
for the upper chamber.[25] Outright abolition, a wholly of Commons as it could be said to
people better than the Commons.[30]
appointed house, a 20% elected house, a 40% elected
house, a 50% elected house and a 60% elected house were In this scenario there may well come a time when the
all defeated in turn. Finally the vote for an 80% elected Lords twice reject a Bill from the Commons and it is
chamber was won by 305 votes to 267, and the vote for a forced through. This would in turn trigger questions about
wholly elected chamber was won by an even greater mar- the amount of power the Lords should have and there
gin: 337 to 224. Signicantly this last vote represented would be pressure for it to increase. This hypothetian overall majority of MPs.[26]
cal process is known as the circumnavigation of power
[30]
It implies that it would never be in any govFurthermore, examination of the names of MPs voting theory.
ernments
interest
to legitimise the Lords as they would
at each division shows that, of the 305 who voted for the
be
forfeiting
their
own
power.
80% elected option, 211 went on to vote for the 100%
elected option. Given that this vote took place after the
vote on 80% whose result was already known when the

1.3
1.3.2

Lords Reform
2010present

The ConservativeLiberal Democrat coalition agreed,

following the 2010 general election, to clearly outline a
provision for a wholly or mainly elected second chamber,
elected by a proportional representation system. These
proposals sparked a debate on 29 June 2010. As an
interim measure, appointment of new peers will reect
shares of the vote secured by the political parties in the
last general election.
Detailed proposals for Lords reform including a draft
House of Lords Reform Bill were published on 17 May
2011. These include a 300-member hybrid house, of
which 80% are elected. A further 20% would be appointed, and reserve space would be included for some
Church of England bishops. Under the proposals, members would also serve single non-renewable terms of 15
years. Former MPs would be allowed to stand for election
to the Upper House, but members of the Upper House
would not be immediately allowed to become MPs.
The details of the proposal were:
The upper chamber shall continue to be known as
the House of Lords for legislative purposes.
The reformed House of Lords should have 300
members of which 240 are Elected Members and
60 appointed Independent Members. Up to 12
Church of England bishops may sit in the house as
ex-ocio Lords Spiritual.

5
which issued its nal report on 23 April 2012, making the
following suggestions:
The reformed House of Lords should have 450
members.
Party groupings, including the Crossbenchers,
should choose which of their members are retained
in the transition period, with the percentage of members allotted to each group based on their share of
the peers with high attendance during a given period.
Up to 12 Lords Spiritual should be retained in a reformed House of Lords.
1.3.3 House of Lords Reform Act 2014
A private members bill to introduce some reforms was
introduced by Dan Byles in 2013.[31] The House of Lords
Reform Act 2014 received the Royal Assent in 2014.[32]
Under the new law:
All peers can retire or resign from the chamber
(prior to this only hereditary peers could disclaim
their peerages).
Peers can be disqualied for non-attendance.
Peers can be removed for receiving prison sentences
of a year or more.[32]

Elected Members will serve a single, non renewable 1.3.4 Overcrowding

term of 15 years.
Elections to the reformed Lords should take place The size of the House of Lords has varied greatly throughhistory. From about 50 members in the early
at the same time as elections to the House of Com- out its [33]
1700s,
it increased to a record size of 1,330 in October
mons.
1999, before Lords reform reduced it to 669 by March
Elected Members should be elected using the Single 2000.[34]
Transferable Vote system of proportional represenIn April 2011, a cross-party group of former leading
tation.
politicians, including many senior members of the House
Twenty Independent Members (a third) shall take of Lords, called on the Prime Minister David Cameron to
their seats within the reformed house at the same stop creating new peers. He had created 117 new peers
time as elected members do so and for the same 15- since becoming prime minister in May 2010, a faster rate
of elevation than any PM in British history. The expanyear term.
sion occurred while his government had tried (in vain) to
Independent Members will be appointed by the reduce the size of the House of Commons by 50 memQueen after being suggested by the Prime Minister bers, from 650 to 600.[35]
acting on advice of an Appointments Commission.
In August 2014, despite there being a seating capacity of
There will no longer be a link between the peerage only around 230[36] or 400[37] seats in the Lords chamber, the House had 774 active members (plus 54 who
system and membership of the upper house.
were not entitled to attend or vote, having been suspended
The current powers of the House of Lords would not or granted leave of absence). This made the House of
change and the House of Commons shall retain its Lords the largest parliamentary chamber in any democstatus as the primary House of Parliament.
racy, surpassed in size only by Chinas National Peoples
Congress (which had 2,987 members in 2013).[37] In AuThe proposals were considered by a Joint Committee on gust 2014, former Speaker of the House of Commons
House of Lords Reform made up of both MPs and Peers, Baroness Boothroyd requested that older peers should

HISTORY

retire gracefully to ease the overcrowding in the House

of Lords. She also criticised successive prime ministers
for lling the second chamber with lobby fodder in an
attempt to help their policies become law. She made her
remarks days before a new batch of peers were due to be
appointed.[38]

1.4

Relationship with the Government

The House of Lords meets in a chamber in the Palace of Westminster.

The House of Lords does not control the term of the

Prime Minister or of the Government.[39] Only the Lower
House may force the Prime Minister to resign or call
elections by passing a motion of no-condence or by
withdrawing supply. Thus, the House of Lords oversight
of the government is limited.

tain types of bills may be presented for the Royal Assent

without the consent of the House of Lords (i.e. the Commons can override the Lords veto). The House of Lords
cannot delay a money bill (a bill that, in the view of the
Speaker of the House of Commons, solely concerns naMost Cabinet ministers are from the House of Com- tional taxation or public funds) for more than one month.
mons rather than the House of Lords. In particular,
Other public bills cannot be delayed by the House of
all Prime Ministers since 1902 have been members of
Lords for more than two parliamentary sessions, or one
the Lower House.[40] (Alec Douglas-Home, who became
calendar year. These provisions, however, only apply to
Prime Minister in 1963 whilst still an Earl, disclaimed
public bills that originate in the House of Commons, and
his peerage and was elected to the Commons soon afcannot have the eect of extending a parliamentary term
ter his term began.) In recent history, it has been very
beyond ve years. A further restriction is a constitutional
rare for major cabinet positions (except Lord Chancellor
convention known as the Salisbury Convention, which
and Leader of the House of Lords) to have been lled by
means that the House of Lords does not oppose legislapeers.
tion promised in the Governments election manifesto.
Exceptions include Lord Carrington, who was the Foreign
By a custom that prevailed even before the Parliament
Secretary between 1979 and 1982, Lord Young of
Acts, the House of Lords is further restrained insofar as Graham (Minister without Portfolio, then Secretary of
nancial bills are concerned. The House of Lords may neiState for Employment and then Secretary of State for
ther originate a bill concerning taxation or Supply (supTrade and Industry from 1984 to 1989), and Lord Manply of treasury or exchequer funds), nor amend a bill so
delson, who served as First Secretary of State, Secretary
as to insert a taxation or Supply-related provision. (The
of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President
House of Commons, however, often waives its privileges
of the Board of Trade. George Robertson was briey a
and allows the Upper House to make amendments with
peer whilst serving as Secretary of State for Defence benancial implications.) Moreover, the Upper House may
fore resigning to take up the post of Secretary General
not amend any Supply Bill. The House of Lords formerly
of NATO. From 1999 to 2010 the Attorney General for
maintained the absolute power to reject a bill relating to
England and Wales was a Member of the House of Lords;
revenue or Supply, but this power was curtailed by the
the most recent was Baroness Scotland of Asthal.
Parliament Acts, as aforementioned.
The House of Lords remains a source for junior ministers
and members of government. Like the House of Commons, the Lords also has a Government Chief Whip as
1.6 Former judicial role
well as several Junior Whips. Where a government department is not represented by a minister in the Lords or
Main article: Judicial functions of the House of Lords
one is not available, government whips will act as spokes[41]
men for them.
Historically, the House of Lords held several judicial
functions. Most notably, until 2009 the House of Lords
1.5 Legislative functions
served as the court of last resort for most instances of
UK law. Since 1 October 2009 this role is now held by
Further information: Act of Parliament
the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Legislation, with the exception of money bills, may be The Lords judicial functions originated from the ancient
introduced in either House.
role of the Curia Regis as a body that addressed the petiThe House of Lords debates legislation, and has power to
amend or reject bills. However, the power of the Lords to
reject a bill passed by the House of Commons is severely
restricted by the Parliament Acts. Under those Acts, cer-

tions of the Kings subjects. The functions were exercised

not by the whole House, but by a committee of Law
Lords. The bulk of the Houses judicial business was
conducted by the twelve Lords of Appeal in Ordinary,

7
who were specically appointed for this purpose under peers, their wives, and their widows (unless remarried)
the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876.
were entitled to trials in the House of Lords or the Lord
The judicial functions could also be exercised by Lords High Stewards Court; the Lords Spiritual were tried in
of Appeal (other members of the House who happened Ecclesiastical Courts. In 1948, the right of peers to be
to have held high judicial oce). No Lord of Appeal in tried in such special courts was abolished; now, they are
Ordinary or Lord of Appeal could sit judicially beyond tried in the regular courts. The last such trial in the House
the age of seventy-ve. The judicial business of the Lords was of Edward Southwell Russell, 26th Baron de Cliord
was supervised by the Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in 1935. An illustrative dramatisation circa 1928 of a trial
of a peer (the ctional Duke of Denver) on a charge of
and his or her deputy, the Second Senior Lord of Appeal
murder (a felony) is portrayed in the 1972 BBC Televiin Ordinary.
sion adaption of Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey
The jurisdiction of the House of Lords extended, in civil mystery Clouds of Witness.
and in criminal cases, to appeals from the courts of England and Wales, and of Northern Ireland. From Scotland, The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 resulted in the creappeals were possible only in civil cases; Scotlands High ation of a separate Supreme Court of the United KingCourt of Justiciary is the highest court in criminal mat- dom, to which the judicial function of the House of
ters. The House of Lords was not the United Kingdoms Lords, and some of the judicial functions of the Judicial
only court of last resort; in some cases, the Judicial Com- Committee of the Privy Council, were transferred. In admittee of the Privy Council performs such a function. dition, the oce of Lord Chancellor was reformed by the
The jurisdiction of the Privy Council in the United King- act, removing his ability to act as both a government mindom, however, is relatively restricted; it encompasses ap- ister and a judge. This was motivated in part by concerns
peals from ecclesiastical courts, disputes under the House about the historical admixture of legislative, judicial, and
of Commons Disqualication Act 1975, and a few other executive power. The new Supreme Court is located at
minor matters. Issues related to devolution were trans- Middlesex Guildhall.
ferred from the Privy Council to the Supreme Court in
2009.
The twelve Law Lords did not all hear every case; rather,
after World War II cases were heard by panels known
as Appellate Committees, each of which normally consisted of ve members (selected by the Senior Lord). An
Appellate Committee hearing an important case could
consist of more than ve members. Though Appellate
Committees met in separate committee rooms, judgement was given in the Lords Chamber itself. No further appeal lay from the House of Lords, although the
House of Lords could refer a preliminary question to
the European Court of Justice in cases involving an element of European Union law, and a case could be brought
at the European Court of Human Rights if the House
of Lords did not provide a satisfactory remedy in cases
where the European Convention on Human Rights was
relevant.

2 Membership
2.1 Lords Spiritual
Main article: Lords Spiritual

Members of the House of Lords who sit by virtue of their

ecclesiastical oces are known as Lords Spiritual.[42]
Formerly, the Lords Spiritual were the majority in the
English House of Lords,[43] comprising the churchs
archbishops, (diocesan) bishops, abbots, and those priors
who were entitled to wear a mitre. After the English
Reformation's highpoint in 1539, only the archbishops
and bishops continued to attend, as the Dissolution of the
Monasteries had just disproved of and suppressed the positions of abbot and prior. In 1642 during the few Lords
A distinct judicial functionone in which the
gatherings convened during English Interregnum which
whole House used to participateis that of trying
saw periodic war, the Lords Spiritual were excluded alimpeachments. Impeachments were brought by the
together, but they returned under the Clergy Act 1661.
House of Commons, and tried in the House of Lords;
a conviction required only a majority of the Lords The number of Lords Spiritual was further restricted by
voting. Impeachments, however, are to all intents and the Bishopric of Manchester Act 1847, and by later acts.
purposes obsolete; the last impeachment was that of The Lords Spiritual can now number no more than 26;
these are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville in 1806.
of York, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Durham,
Similarly, the House of Lords was once the court that
the Bishop of Winchester (who sit by right regardless of
tried peers charged with high treason or felony. The
seniority) and the 21 longest-serving bishops from other
House would be presided over not by the Lord Chanceldioceses in the Church of England[44] (excluding the diolor, but by the Lord High Steward, an ocial especially
ceses of Sodor and Man and Gibraltar in Europe, as these
appointed for the occasion of the trial. If Parliament was
lie entirely outside the United Kingdom).[45] Following a
not in session, then peers could be tried in a separate
change to the law in 2014 to allow women to become bishcourt, known as the Lord High Stewards Court. Only
ops, the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 was passed,

8
which provides that whenever a vacancy arises among the
Lords Spiritual during the ten years following the Act
coming into force, the vacancy has to be lled by a woman
bishop, if one is eligible. This does not apply to the ve
bishops who sit by right.

2 MEMBERSHIP
longer diocesans, are invariably given life peerages and
sit as Lords Temporal.
By custom at least one of the Bishops reads prayers
in each legislative day (a role taken by the chaplain
in the Commons).[43] They often speak in debates; in
2004 Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury,
opened a debate into sentencing legislation.[43] Measures
(proposed laws of the Church of England) must be put
before the Lords, and the Lords Spiritual have a role in
ensuring that this takes place.[43]

The current Lords Spiritual represent only the Church of

England. Bishops of the Church of Scotland traditionally sat in the Parliament of Scotland but were nally excluded in 1689 (after a number of previous exclusions)
when the Church of Scotland became permanently presbyterian. There are no longer bishops in the Church of
Scotland in the traditional sense of the word, and that
Church has never sent members to sit in the Westminster House of Lords. The Church of Ireland did obtain 2.2 Lords Temporal
representation in the House of Lords after the union of
Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Lords TemIreland and Great Britain in 1801.
poral have been the most numerous group in the House of
Of the Church of Irelands ecclesiastics, four (one archLords. Unlike the Lords Spiritual, they may be publicly
bishop and three bishops) were to sit at any one time, with
partisan, aligning themselves with one or another of the
the members rotating at the end of every parliamentary
political parties that dominate the House of Commons.
session (which normally lasted approximately one year).
Publicly non-partisan Lords are called crossbenchers.
The Church of Ireland, however, was disestablished in
Originally, the Lords Temporal included several hundred
1871, and thereafter ceased to be represented by Lords
hereditary peers (that is, those whose peerages may be
Spiritual. Bishops of Welsh sees in the Church of Enginherited), who ranked variously as dukes, marquesses,
land originally sat in the House of Lords (after 1847, only
earls, viscounts, and barons (as well as Scottish Lords of
if their seniority within the Church entitled them to), but
Parliament). Such hereditary dignities can be created by
the Church in Wales ceased to be a part of the Church of
the Crown; in modern times this is done on the advice
England in 1920 and was simultaneously disestablished in
of the Prime Minister of the day (except in the case of
Wales.[46] Accordingly, bishops of the Church in Wales
members of the Royal Family).
were no longer eligible to be appointed to the House as
In 1999, the Labour government brought forward the
bishops of the Church of England.
House of Lords Act removing the right of several hunOther ecclesiastics have sat in the House of Lords as
dred hereditary peers to sit in the House. The Act proLords Temporal in recent times: Chief Rabbi Immanuel
vided a temporary measure that only 92 individuals may
Jakobovits was appointed to the House of Lords (with
continue to sit in the Upper House by virtue of hereditary
the consent of the Queen, who acted on the advice of
peerages.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher), as was his succes[47]
sor Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. In recognition of his Of these, two remain in the House of Lords because they
work at reconciliation and in the peace process in North- hold royal oces connected with Parliament: the Earl
ern Ireland, the Archbishop of Armagh (the senior An- Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain. Of the reglican bishop in Northern Ireland), Lord Eames was ap- maining 90 members of the House of Lords sitting by
pointed to the Lords by John Major. Other clergymen virtue of a hereditary peerage in the House of Lords, 14
appointed include the Reverend Donald Soper, the Rev- are elected by the whole House and 74 are chosen by fellow hereditary peers in the House of Lords, grouped by
erend Timothy Beaumont, and some Scottish clerics.
party. This Act, included the Principality of Wales and
There have been no Roman Catholic clergymen apthe Earldom of Chester and removed all Royal Peers inpointed, though it was rumoured that Cardinal Basil
cluding the Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of York, Earl of
Hume and his successor Cormac Murphy O'Connor
Wessex, Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.
were oered peerages, by James Callaghan, Margaret
Thatcher and Tony Blair respectively, but refused, and The number of peers to be chosen by a party reects
Hume accepted instead the Order of Merit, a personal the proportion of hereditary peers that belonged to that
appointment of the Queen, shortly before his death. party (see current composition below) in 1999. When an
O'Connor said he had his maiden speech ready, but Ro- elected hereditary peer dies, a by-election is held, with
man Catholics who have received Holy Orders are forbid- a variant of the Alternative Vote system being used. If
den by Canon Law from holding oces connected with the recently deceased hereditary peer was elected by the
the government of any state other than the Holy See, so whole House, then so is his or her replacement; a heredit is unlikely that any Catholic cleric will ever sit in the itary peer elected by a specic party is replaced by a
House of Lords. Former Archbishops of Canterbury, vote of elected hereditary peers belonging to that party
having reverted to the status of bishop but who are no (whether elected as part of that party group or by the
whole house).

2.3

Qualications

The Lords Temporal also included the Lords of Appeal in

Ordinary, a group of individuals appointed to the House
of Lords so that they could exercise its judicial functions.
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, more commonly known as
Law Lords, were rst appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876. They were selected by the Prime
Minister, but were formally appointed by the Sovereign.
A Lord of Appeal in Ordinary had to retire at the age of
70, or, if his or her term was extended by the government,
at the age of 75; after reaching such an age, the Law Lord
could not hear any further legal cases.
The number of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (excluding those who were no longer able to hear cases because
of age restrictions) was limited to twelve, but could be
changed by statutory instrument. Lords of Appeal in
Ordinary traditionally did not participate in political debates, so as to maintain judicial independence. Lords of
Appeal in Ordinary held seats in the House of Lords for
life, remaining members even after reaching the judicial
retirement age of 70 or 75. Former Lord Chancellors and
holders of other high judicial oce could also sit as Law
Lords under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, although in
practice this right was infrequently exercised.
Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the existing
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary became judges of the new
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009 and are
barred from sitting or voting in the House of Lords until they retire as judges. One of the main justications
for the new Supreme Court was to establish a separation
of powers between the judiciary and the legislature. It is
therefore unlikely that future appointees to the Supreme
Court of the United Kingdom will be made Lords of Appeal in Ordinary.
The largest group of Lords Temporal, and indeed of the
whole House, are life peers. Life peerages rank only as
barons or baronesses, and are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958. Like all other peers, life peers are created
by the Sovereign, who acts on the advice of the Prime
Minister or the House of Lords Appointments Commission. By convention, however, the Prime Minister allows
leaders of other parties to select some life peers so as to
maintain a political balance in the House of Lords. Moreover, some non-party life peers (the number being determined by the Prime Minister) are nominated by an independent House of Lords Appointments Commission.
If a hereditary peerage holder is given a life peerage,
he or she becomes a member of the House of Lords
without a need for a by-election. In 2000, the government announced it would set up an Independent Appointments Commission, under Lord Stevenson of Coddenham, to select fteen so-called Peoples Peers for life
peerages. However, when the choices were announced in
April 2001, from a list of 3,000 applicants, the choices
were treated with criticism in the media , as all were distinguished in their eld, and none were ordinary people
as some had originally hoped.

9
In many historical instances, some peers were not permitted to sit in the Upper House. When Scotland united
with England to form Great Britain in 1707, it was provided that the Scottish hereditary peers would only be
able to elect 16 representative peers to sit in the House
of Lords; the term of a representative was to extend until
the next general election. A similar provision was enacted in respect of Ireland when that kingdom merged
with Great Britain in 1801; the Irish peers were allowed
to elect 28 representatives, who were to retain oce for
life. Elections for Irish representatives ended in 1922,
when most of Ireland became an independent state; elections for Scottish representatives ended with the passage
of the Peerage Act 1963, under which all Scottish peers
obtained seats in the Upper House.

2.2.1 Cash for Peerages

The Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925[48] made
it illegal for a peerage, or other honour, to be bought or
sold. Nonetheless, there have been repeated allegations
that life peerages (and thus membership of the House of
Lords) have been made available to major political donors
in exchange for donations. The most prominent case, the
2006 Cash for Honours scandal, saw a police investigation, with no charges being brought. A 2015 study found
that of 303 people nominated for peerages in the period
2005-14, a total of 211 were former senior gures within
politics (including former MPs), or were non-political appointments. Of the remaining 92 political appointments
from outside public life, 27 had made signicant donations to political parties. The authors concluded rstly
that nominees from outside public life were much more
likely to have made large gifts than peers nominated after prior political or public service. They also found that
signicant donors to parties were far more likely to be
nominated for peerages than other party members.[49]

2.3 Qualications
Several dierent qualications apply for membership of
the House of Lords. No person may sit in the House of
Lords if under the age of 21.[50] Furthermore, only citizens of the United Kingdom, Commonwealth citizens,
and citizens of Ireland may sit in the House of Lords.
The nationality restrictions were previously more stringent: under the Act of Settlement 1701, and prior to the
British Nationality Act 1948, only natural-born subjects
were qualied.
Additionally, some bankruptcy-related restrictions apply
to members of the Upper House. A person may not
sit in the House of Lords if he or she is the subject of
a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order (applicable in England
and Wales only), or if he or she is adjudged bankrupt (in
Northern Ireland), or if his or her estate is sequestered (in
Scotland). A nal restriction bars an individual convicted

10

3 OFFICERS

of high treason from sitting in the House of Lords until

completing his or her full term of imprisonment. An exception applies, however, if the individual convicted of
high treason receives a full pardon. Note that an individual serving a prison sentence for an oence other than
high treason is not automatically disqualied.
Women were excluded from the House of Lords until the
Life Peerages Act 1958,[51] passed to address the declining number of active members, made possible the creation of peerages for life. Women were immediately eligible and four were among the rst life peers appointed.
However, hereditary peeresses continued to be excluded
until the passage of the Peerage Act 1963.[52] Since the
passage of the House of Lords Act 1999,[53] hereditary
peeresses remain eligible for election to the Upper House;
there are two among the 90 hereditary peers who continue
to sit.

2.4

acteristic of the Westminster system, as the entire cabinet consists of members of the House of Commons or
the House of Lords; however, in June 2003, the Blair
Government announced its intention to abolish the post
of Lord Chancellor because of the oces mixed executive and judicial responsibilities. The abolition of the
oce was rejected by the House of Lords, and the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 was thus amended to preserve the oce of Lord Chancellor. The Act no longer
guarantees that the oce holder of Lord Chancellor is
the presiding ocer of the House of Lords, and therefore allows the House of Lords to elect a speaker of their
own.

Removal from House membership

In 2014, the House of Lords Reform Act 2014[54] made

provision for members resignation from the House, removal for non-attendance, and automatic expulsion upon
conviction for a serious criminal oence. In June 2015,
under the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension)
Act 2015,[55] the Houses Standing Orders may provide
for the expulsion or suspension of a member upon a resolution of the House.

Ocers

Traditionally the House of Lords did not elect its own

speaker, unlike the House of Commons; rather, the ex ofcio presiding ocer was the Lord Chancellor. With the
passage of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the post
of Lord Speaker was created, a position to which a peer is
elected by the House and subsequently appointed by the
Crown. The rst Lord Speaker, elected on 4 May 2006,
was Baroness Hayman, a former Labour peer. As the
Speaker is expected to be an impartial presiding ocer,
Baroness Hayman resigned from the Labour Party.[56]
In 2011, Baroness D'Souza was elected as the second
Lord Speaker, replacing Baroness Hayman in September
2011.[57]
This reform of the post of Lord Chancellor was made due
to the perceived constitutional anomalies inherent in the
role. The Lord Chancellor was not only the Speaker of the
House of Lords, but also a member of the Cabinet; his or
her department, formerly the Lord Chancellors Department, is now called the Ministry of Justice. The Lord
Chancellor is no longer the head of the judiciary of England and Wales. Hitherto, the Lord Chancellor was part
of all three branches of government: the legislative, the
executive, and the judicial.

Charles Pepys as Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor wore

black and gold robes whilst presiding over the House of Lords.

The Lord Speaker may be replaced as presiding ocer by

one of his or her deputies. The Chairman of Committees,
the Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees, and several Chairmen are all deputies to the Lord Speaker, and
are all appointed by the House of Lords itself at the beginning of each session. By custom, the Crown appoints
each Chairman, Principal Deputy Chairman and Deputy
Chairman to the additional oce of Deputy Speaker of
the House of Lords.[58] There was previously no legal requirement that the Lord Chancellor or a Deputy Speaker
be a member of the House of Lords (though the same has
long been customary).

Whilst presiding over the House of Lords, the Lord Chancellor traditionally wore ceremonial black and gold robes.
Robes of black and gold are now worn by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in the House of
The overlap of the legislative and executive roles is a char- Commons, on ceremonial occasions. This is no longer

11
a requirement for the Lord Speaker except for State oc- Serjeant-at-Arms.
casions outside of the chamber. The Speaker or Deputy
Speaker sits on the Woolsack, a large red seat stued with
wool, at the front of the Lords Chamber.
4 Procedure
When the House of Lords resolves itself into committee
(see below), the Chairman of Committees or a Deputy
Chairman of Committees presides, not from the Woolsack, but from a chair at the Table of the House. The
presiding ocer has little power compared to the Speaker
of the House of Commons. He or she only acts as the
mouthpiece of the House, performing duties such as announcing the results of votes. This is because, unlike in
the House of Commons where all statements are directed
to Mr/Madam Speaker, in the House of Lords they are
directed to My Lords, i.e. the entire body of the House.
The Lord Speaker or Deputy Speaker cannot determine
which members may speak, or discipline members for violating the rules of the House; these measures may be
taken only by the House itself. Unlike the politically neutral Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lord ChanBenches in the House of Lords Chamber are coloured red. In
cellor and Deputy Speakers originally remained members contrast, the House of Commons is decorated in green.
of their respective parties, and were permitted to participate in debate; however, this is no longer true of the new
See also the stages of a bill section in Acts of
role of Lord Speaker.
Parliament in the United Kingdom
Another ocer of the body is the Leader of the House of
Lords, a peer selected by the Prime Minister. The Leader
The House of Lords and the House of Commons assemof the House is responsible for steering Government bills
ble in the Palace of Westminster. The Lords Chamber
through the House of Lords, and is a member of the Cabis lavishly decorated, in contrast with the more modestly
inet. The Leader also advises the House on proper procefurnished Commons Chamber. Benches in the Lords
dure when necessary, but such advice is merely informal,
Chamber are coloured red. The Woolsack is at the front
rather than ocial and binding. A Deputy Leader is also
of the Chamber; the Government sit on benches on the
appointed by the Prime Minister, and takes the place of
right of the Woolsack, while members of the Opposition
an absent or unavailable Leader.
sit on the left. Crossbenchers, sit on the benches immeThe Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk and of- diately opposite the Woolsack.[59]
cer of the House of Lords (but is not a member of the
The Lords Chamber is the site of many formal cereHouse itself). The Clerk, who is appointed by the Crown,
monies, the most famous of which is the State Opening of
advises the presiding ocer on the rules of the House,
Parliament, held at the beginning of each new parliamensigns orders and ocial communications, endorses bills,
tary session. During the State Opening, the Sovereign,
and is the keeper of the ocial records of both Houses
seated on the Throne in the Lords Chamber and in the
of Parliament. Moreover, the Clerk of the Parliaments is
presence of both Houses of Parliament, delivers a speech
responsible for arranging by-elections of hereditary peers
outlining the Governments agenda for the upcoming parwhen necessary. The deputies of the Clerk of the Parlialiamentary session.
ments (the Clerk Assistant and the Reading Clerk) are
appointed by the Lord Speaker, subject to the Houses In the House of Lords, members need not seek the recognition of the presiding ocer before speaking, as is done
approval.
in the House of Commons. If two or more Lords simulThe Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod is also an ocer
taneously rise to speak, the House decides which one is
of the House; he takes his title from the symbol of his ofto be heard by acclamation, or, if necessary, by voting
ce, a black rod. Black Rod (as the Gentleman Usher is
on a motion. Often, however, the Leader of the House
normally known) is responsible for ceremonial arrangewill suggest an order, which is thereafter generally folments, is in charge of the Houses doorkeepers, and may
lowed. Speeches in the House of Lords are addressed to
(upon the order of the House) take action to end disorder
the House as a whole (My Lords) rather than to the preor disturbance in the Chamber. Black Rod also holds the
siding ocer alone (as is the custom in the Lower House).
oce of Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Lords, and in
Members may not refer to each other in the second perthis capacity attends upon the Lord Speaker. The Gentleson (as you), but rather use third person forms such as
man Usher of the Black Rods duties may be delegated to
the noble Duke, the noble Earl, the noble Lord, my
the Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod or to the Assistant
noble friend, The most Reverend Primate etc.

12

5 COMMITTEES

Each member may make no more than one speech on a

motion, except that the mover of the motion may make
one speech at the beginning of the debate and another
at the end. Speeches are not subject to any time limits
in the House; however, the House may put an end to a
speech by approving a motion that the noble Lord be no
longer heard. It is also possible for the House to end the
debate entirely, by approving a motion that the Question
be now put. This procedure is known as Closure, and is
extremely rare.
Once all speeches on a motion have concluded, or Closure
invoked, the motion may be put to a vote. The House rst
votes by voice vote; the Lord Speaker or Deputy Speaker
puts the question, and the Lords respond either Content
(in favour of the motion) or Not Content (against the
motion). The presiding ocer then announces the result
of the voice vote, but if his assessment is challenged by
any Lord, a recorded vote known as a division follows.
Members of the House enter one of two lobbies (the
Content lobby or the Not-Content lobby) on either
side of the Chamber, where their names are recorded by
clerks. At each lobby are two Tellers (themselves members of the House) who count the votes of the Lords. The
Lord Speaker may not take part in the vote. Once the division concludes, the Tellers provide the results thereof
to the presiding ocer, who then announces them to the
House.
If there is an equality of votes, the motion is decided according to the following principles: legislation may proceed in its present form, unless there is a majority in
favour of amending or rejecting it; any other motions are
rejected, unless there is a majority in favour of approving
it. The quorum of the House of Lords is just three members for a general or procedural vote, and 30 members for
a vote on legislation. If fewer than three or 30 members
(as appropriate) are present, the division is invalid.

4.1

Disciplinary powers

By contrast with the House of Commons, the House of

Lords has not had an established procedure for putting
sanctions on its members. When a cash for inuence
scandal was referred to the Committee of Privileges in
January 2009, the Leader of the House of Lords also
asked the Privileges Committee to report on what sanctions the House had against its members.[60] After seeking
advice from the Attorney General for England and Wales
and the former Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay of Clashfern, the committee decided that the House possessed
an inherent power to suspend errant members, although
not to withhold a Writ of summons nor to expel a member permanently.[61] When the House subsequently suspended Lord Truscott and Lord Taylor of Blackburn for
their role in the scandal, they were the rst to meet this
fate since 1642.[62]

through custom and practice and which govern questionable conduct within the House. They are brought into
play by a member standing up, possibly intervening on
another member, and moving the motion without notice.
When the debate is getting excessively heated, it is open
to a member to move that the Standing Order on Asperity of Speech be read by the Clerk. The motion can
be debated,[63] but if agreed by the House, the Clerk of
the Parliaments will read out Standing Order 33 which
provides That all personal, sharp, or taxing speeches be
forborn.[64] The Journals of the House of Lords record
only four instances on which the House has ordered the
Standing Order to be read since the procedure was invented in 1871.[65]
For more serious problems with an individual Lord, the
option is available to move That the noble Lord be no
longer heard. This motion also is debatable, and the debate which ensues has sometimes oered a chance for the
member whose conduct has brought it about to come to
order so that the motion can be withdrawn. If the motion
is passed, its eect is to prevent the member from continuing their speech on the motion then under debate.[66] The
Journals identify eleven occasions on which this motion
has been moved since 1884; four were eventually withdrawn, one was voted down, and six were passed.[67]

4.2 Leave of absence

In 1958, to counter criticism that some peers only appeared at major decisions in the House and thereby particular votes were swayed, the Standing Orders of the
House of Lords were enhanced.[68] Peers who did not
wish to attend meetings regularly or were prevented by
ill health, age or further reasons, were now able to request Leave of Absence.[69] During the granted time a
peer is expected not to visit the Houses meetings until
either its expiration or termination, announced at least a
month prior to their return.[70]

5 Committees
Unlike in the House of Commons, when the term committee is used to describe a stage of a bill, this committee does not take the form of a public bill committee, but
what is described as Committee of the Whole House. It is
made up of all Members of the House of Lords allowing
any Member to contribute to debates if he or she chooses
to do so and allows for more exible rules of procedure.
It is presided over by the Chairman of Committees.[71]

The term committee is also used to describe Grand Committee, where the same rules of procedure apply as in the
main chamber, except that no divisions may take place.
For this reason, business that is discussed in Grand Committee is usually uncontroversial and likely to be agreed
There are two other motions which have grown up unanimously.[72]

13
Public bills may also be committed to pre-legislative com- The House of Lords Act 1999 allocated 75 of the 92
mittees. A pre-legislative Committee is specically con- hereditary peers to the parties based on the proportion of
stituted for a particular bill. These committees are es- hereditary peers that belonged to that party in 1999:[50]
tablished in advance of the bill be laid before either the
House of Lords or the House of Commons and can take
Conservative Party: 42 peers
evidence from the public. Such committees are rare and
do not replace any of the usual stages of a bill, including
Labour Party: 2 peers
committee stage.[73]
Liberal Democrats: 3 peers
The House of Lords also has 15 Select Committees. Typically, these are 'sessional committees, meaning that their
Crossbenchers: 28 peers
members are appointed by the House at the beginning
of each session, and continue to serve until the next parOf the initial 42 hereditary peers elected as Conserliamentary session begins. In practice, these are often
vatives, one (Lord Willoughby de Broke) now sits as
permanent committees, which are re-established during
UKIP.[2][76]
every session. These committees are typically empowered to make reports to the House 'from time to time', 15 hereditary peers are elected by the whole House, and
that is whenever they wish. Other committees are 'ad- the remaining hereditary peers are the two royal ocehoc' committees, which are set up to investigate a specic holders, the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberissue. When they are set up by a motion in the House, lain, both being currently on leave of absence.[2]
the motion will set a deadline by which the Committee A report in 2007 stated that many members of the Lords
must report. After this date, the Committee will cease (particularly the life peers) do not attend regularly; the
to exist unless it is granted an extension. An example of average daily attendance was around 408.[77]
this in the current parliamentary session is the Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change.[74] The While the number of hereditary peers is limited to 92,
House of Lords may appoint a chairman for a commit- and that of Lords spiritual to 26, there is no maximum
tee; if it does not do so, the Chairman of Committees or limit to the number of life peers who may be members of
a Deputy Chairman of Committees may preside instead. the House of Lords at any time.
Most of the Select Committees are also granted the power
to co-opt members, such as the European Union Committee.[75] The primary function of Select Committees is to 7 Government Leaders and Minisscrutinise and investigate Government activities; to fulters in the Lords
l these aims, they are permitted to hold hearings and
collect evidence. Bills may be referred to Select Committees, but are more often sent to the Committee of the 7.1 Leaders and Chief whips
Whole House and Grand Committees.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston Leader of the House
The committee system of the House of Lords also inof Lords and Lord Privy Seal (Conservative) (Cabicludes several Domestic Committees, which supervise or
net member)
consider the Houses procedures and administration. One
of the Domestic Committees is the Committee of Selection, which is responsible for assigning members to many
of the Houses other committees.

Current composition

Main article: Members of the House of Lords

As of 12 June 2015, the composition of the House of
Lords is:[2]
Government
Opposition
Other
Note: These gures exclude Members who are on leave of
absence, disqualied as senior members of the judiciary
or disqualied as MEPs.[2]

Earl Howe Minister of State for the Defence

and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
(Conservative) (unpaid)
Lord Taylor of Holbeach Lords Chief Whip and
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at
Arms
Lord Gardiner of Kimble Government Deputy
Chief Whip and Captain of the Queens Bodyguard
of the Yeomen of the Guard

7.2 Other Ministers

Baroness Anelay of St Johns Minister of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Aairs (attends Cabinet)
Baroness Altmann Minister of State for Pensions

14

Lord Faulks Minister of State for Civil Justice (unpaid)

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon Parliamentary Under
Secretary of State for Transport and Home Oce
Lord Freud Parliamentary Under Secretary of
State for Work and Pensions (unpaid)

Dewan Negara (Malaysia)

Defunct
Irish House of Lords (sat 12971800)
Chamber of Peers (France)

Lord Bates Minister of State for Home Oce (unpaid)

Chamber of Peers (Portugal)

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Parliamentary Under

Secretary of State for Energy, Climate Change and
Wales Oce (unpaid) and Government whip

House of Peers (Japan)

Lord Nash Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

for Education (unpaid)

House of Lords (Austria)

Baroness Neville-Rolfe Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Intellectual Property

REFERENCES

Chamber of Peers (Spain)

Prussian House of Lords

9 References

Baroness Shields Parliamentary Under Secretary

of State for Internet Safety and Security (unpaid)

[1] Baroness D'Souza Biography and Factle. 8 January

2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.

Baroness Williams of Traord Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government

[2] Lords by party, type of peerage and gender. Parliament

of the United Kingdom. 12 June 2015.

Baroness Verma Parliamentary Under Secretary

of State for International Development

See also
Gunpowder Plot
Constitution Committee
House of Lords Library
Introduction (House of Lords) Introduction ceremony
Lord-in-Waiting
Parliament in the Making
Parliament Week
Parliamentary Archives
Reform of the House of Lords

8.1

Overseas counterparts

Extant
House of Ariki of the Cook Islands
House of Nobility (Sweden)
Canadian Senate

[3] Quick Guide to the House of Lords (PDF). Parliament

of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
[4] Conventions: Joint Committee. Parliamentary Debates
(Hansard). House of Lords. 25 April 2006.
[5] Companion to the Standing Orders and guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords. May 2010. Retrieved 1
July 2011.
[6] House of Lords Appointments Commission website. 8
February 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
[7] House of Lords brieng paper on Membership:Types
of Member, Routes to membership, Parties & groups
(PDF). Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 1
July 2011.
[8] Adonis, Andrew (1993). Parliament Today (2nd ed.). p.
194.
[9] Current state of the parties. Parliament of the United
Kingdom. 8 November 2010. Archived from the original
on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
[10] What individual Lords do. Parliament of the United
Kingdom. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
[11] Guide to the House of Lords. BBC Democracy Live.
31 May 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
[12] UK Parliament. Parliament Act 1911 as amended (see
also enacted form), from legislation.gov.uk. s.2 exempts
bills extending the life of a Parliament from the restrictions on the Lords powers to delay bills, while s.6 excludes
Provisional Order bills.
[13] Carmichael, Paul; Dickson, Brice (1999). The House of
Lords: Its Parliamentary and Judicial Roles. Hart Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-84113-020-0.

15

[14] Feldman, David (31 March 2011), The Constitutional Reform Process (WRITTEN EVIDENCE SUBMITTED TO
THE HOUSE OF LORDS SELECT COMMITTEE ON
THE CONSTITUTION), Cambridge, United Kingdom:
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[34] House of Lords - Annual Report and Accounts 19992000. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 19
May 2008. This major change had the eect of reducing
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1999 - the highest gure ever recorded - to 669 in March
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[15] Reidy, Aisling; Russell, Meg (June 1999), Second Chambers as Constitutional Guardians and Protectors of Human
Rights, London: The Constitution Unit, School of Public
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[35] Crick, Michael (19 April 2011). Stop making new lords,
political big-wigs urge Cameron. BBC News. Retrieved
4 August 2014.

[16] Carmichael, Paul; Dickson, Brice (1999). The House of

Lords: Its Parliamentary and Judicial Roles. Hart Publishing. pp. 4041. ISBN 978-1-84113-020-0.
[17] Parliamentary sovereignty. Parliament of the United
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[18] Loveland (2009) p. 158
[19] An Act abolishing the House of Lords. 19 March 1649.
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[20] The Monarchist, no. 57, p. 27 34
[21] Labours 1997 pledges: The constitution. BBC. 6 May
2002. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
[22] Lords report fails to satisfy. BBC. 20 January 2000. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
[23] Election issues: Constitutional Reform. BBC. 5 April
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[24] The House of Lords: Reform Cm 7027 (PDF). Retrieved 9 April 2010.

[36] Lansdale, James; Bishop, Emma (5 August 2014). Peers

ght for space in crowded House. BBC News. Retrieved
23 November 2014.
[37] Ghose, Katie (1 August 2013). Crowded house why we
have too many lords. The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August
2014.
[38] Savage, Michael (4 August 2014). Betty Boothroyd urges
older peers to retire. The Times. Retrieved 4 August
2014.
[39] Parliament and government. Parliament of the United
Kingdom. 21 April 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
[40] Wasson, Ellis (31 August 2009). A History of Modern
Britain: 1714 to the Present. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN
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[41] House of Lords (2013). Companion to the standing orders
and guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords (PDF)
(23 ed.). London: The Stationery Oce. Retrieved 25
March 2013.
[42] Lords Spiritual and Temporal. Parliament of the United
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[43] Shell (2007) p.54

[25] MPs back all-elected Lords plan. BBC. 7 March 2007.

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[26] Assinder, Nick (14 March 2007). Where now for Lords
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[27] Peers reject Lords reform plans. BBC. 14 March 2007.
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[28] Straw unveils elected Lords plan. BBC. 14 July 2008.
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[29] Russell, Meg (July 2003). Is the House of Lords Already
Reformed?". The Political Quarterly 74 (3): 311318.
doi:10.1111/1467-923X.00540. ISSN 0032-3179. Retrieved 5 June 2012.

[44] Shell (2007) p.53

[45] Explanatory Notes to The House of Commons (Removal
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Kingdom: Oce of Public Sector Information. 21 May
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[46] Shell (2007) p.55
[47] Biography of the Chief Rabbi. London, United Kingdom: Oce of the Chief Rabbi. Retrieved 16 November
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[48] UK Parliament.
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[30] Treadwell (2010) p.2

[49] Mell, Radford and Thevoz, pp 8, 13,17, 22

[31] Dan Byles: House of Lords Reform Private Members

Bill. PoliticsHome (Press release). 4 June 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2014.

[50] The Standing Orders of the House of Lords relating to

Public Business. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 8
April 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2010.

[32] House of Lords Reform Act 2014. Parliament of the

UK. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.

[51] UK Parliament. Life Peerages Act 1958 as amended (see

also enacted form), from legislation.gov.uk.

[33] Hughes, Darren (16 June 2013). The Supersized House

of Lords. Electoral Reform Society.

[52] UK Parliament. Peerage Act 1963 as amended (see also

enacted form), from legislation.gov.uk.

16

[53] UK Parliament. House of Lords Act 1999 as amended (see

also enacted form), from legislation.gov.uk.
[54] UK Parliament. House of Lords Reform Act 2014 as
amended (see also enacted form), from legislation.gov.uk.
[55] UK Parliament. House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015 as amended (see also enacted form), from
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[56] Interview with the Lord Speaker. Parliament of the
United Kingdom. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
[57] Baroness D'Souza elected Lord Speaker. BBC News.
Retrieved 21 May 2012.
[58] Deputy Speakers. Parliament of the United Kingdom.
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[59] House of Lords brieng paper, A Guide to Business, page
3. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
[60] The Powers of the House of Lords in respect of its Members. House of Lords, Committee for Privileges. paragraph 2.
[61] The Powers of the House of Lords in respect of its Members. House of Lords, Committee for Privileges. paragraph 8.
[62] Sparrow,, Andrew (21 May 2009). "'Sullied' members
suspend two peers in rst case since 1642. The Guardian.
p. 6.

11 FURTHER READING

[73] Companion to the Standing orders of the House of

Lords. Parliament of the United Kingdom. p. 128. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
[74] Ad-Hoc Committee on Public Service and Demographic
Change. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved
16 June 2012.
[75] Companion to the Standing orders of the House of
Lords. Parliament of the United Kingdom. p. 214. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
[76] Lists of Members of the House of Lords. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
Willoughby de Broke, Lord UK Independence Party
[77] The House of Lords: Reform (PDF). London: The Stationery Oce. February 2007. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-10170272-0. OCLC 83593847. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
taking the 20052006 session, the average attendance was
around 408, or 56% of members.

10 Bibliography
Carroll, Alex (2007). Constitutional and Administrative Law (4th ed.). Pearson Longman. ISBN 9781-4058-1231-3.

[63] Companion to the Standing Orders and guide to the proceedings of the House of Lords. Parliament of the United
Kingdom. October 2006. paragraph 4.58.

Hayter, Paul (2007). Companion to the Standing Orders and guide to the Proceedings of the House of
Lords (21st ed.). Her Majestys Stationery Oce.

[64] The Standing Orders of the House of Lords (PDF). Parliament of the United Kingdom. 23 April 2015.

Jones, Bill; Dennis Kavanagh; Michael Moran;

Philip Norton (2007). Politics UK (6th ed.). Pearson Education. ISBN 978-1-4058-2411-8.

[65] See Lords Journal vol. CIII p. 629, vol. CIV p. 381, vol.
182 p. 90, and vol. 231 p. 644 and 6489.
[66] Companion to the Standing Orders and guide to the proceedings of the House of Lords. October 2006. paragraphs 4.59 and 4.60.

Loveland, Ian (2009). Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Human Rights (5th ed.). Oxford
University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-921974-2.

[67] See Lords Journal vol. CXVI p. 162, vol. CXXIII p. 354,
vol. 192 p. 231, vol. 215 p. 2001, vol. 218 p. 119, vol.
221 p. 539, vol. 225 p. 194, vol. 226 p. 339, vol. 228 p.
308, vol. 229 p. 89, and vol. 233 p. 791.

Mell, Andrew; Radford, Simon; Thevoz, Seth

Alexander (2015). Is there a market for peerages?
Oxford University Department of Economics discussion paper, No.744.

[68] House of Lords Reform and Proposals for Reform since

1900. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
[69] The House of Lords: Reform. The Stationery Oce.
2007. p. 12. ISBN 0-10-170272-8.
[70] Parliament of the United Kingdom, Ocial Website
FAQ. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 7
October 2010.

Shell, Donald (2007). The House of Lords (3rd ed.).

Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-54435.

11 Further reading

[71] Companion to the Standing orders of the House of

Lords. Parliament of the United Kingdom. p. 138. Retrieved 1 July 2011.

Harry Jones (1912). Liberalism and the House of

Lords: The Story of the Veto Battle, 18321911.
London: Methuen.

[72] Companion to the Standing orders of the House of

Lords. Parliament of the United Kingdom. p. 40. Retrieved 1 July 2011.

Smith, Philip Vernon (1884). The House of Lords

and the nation. London.

17

12

External links

Ocial House of Lords website

Ocial House of Lords publications website
Archives of the House of Lords
Coordinates:
512955.7N
51.498806N 0.124861W

00729.5W

18

13

13
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