House of Lords
The House of Lords[a] is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.[5] Like the lower house, the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.[6] One of the oldest institutions in the world, its origins lie in the early 11th century and the emergence of bicameralism in the 13th century.[7][8][9]
This article is about the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. For other uses, see House of Lords (disambiguation).
The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled
since 1 May 2021
since 11 May 2021
since 6 September 2022
since 27 May 2015
since 7 September 2022
since 1 June 2021
- Conservative Party (278)
- Labour Party (173)[b]
- Liberal Democrats (80)
- Democratic Unionist Party (6)
- Green Party (2)
- Plaid Cymru (2)
- Ulster Unionist Party (2)
- Independents (2)
- Non-affiliated (37)
- Crossbenchers (182)
- Lord Speaker (1)
- Lords Temporal: for life
- Lords Spiritual: for period as a diocesan bishop
No annual salary, but tax-free daily allowance and expenses paid.
In contrast to the House of Commons, membership of the Lords is not generally acquired by election. Most members are appointed for life, on either a political or non-political basis.[10][11] Hereditary membership was abolished in 1999, apart from 92 excepted hereditary peers: 90 elected through internal by-elections, plus the Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain as members ex officio. No members directly inherit their seats any longer. The House of Lords also includes up to 26 archbishops and bishops of the Church of England, known as Lords Spiritual.[11][12] Since 2014, membership may be voluntarily relinquished or terminated upon expulsion.[11]
As the upper house of Parliament, the House of Lords has many similar functions to the House of Commons.[13] It scrutinises legislation, holds the government to account, and considers and reports upon public policy.[14] Peers may also seek to introduce legislation or propose amendments to bills.[14] While it is unable to prevent bills passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances, it may delay the enactment of bills for up to one year.[15][16] In this capacity, as a body independent from the pressures of the political process, the House of Lords is said to act as a "revising chamber" focusing on legislative detail, while occasionally asking the House of Commons to reconsider its plans.[17][18]
While peers may also serve as government ministers, they are typically only selected to serve as junior ministers.[19] The House of Lords does not control the term of the prime minister or of the government;[20] only the Commons may vote to require the prime minister to resign or call an election.[21] Unlike the House of Commons, which has a defined number of seats, the number of members in the House of Lords is not fixed. As of 11 April 2024, it has 790 sitting members. The House of Lords is the only upper house of any bicameral parliament in the world to be larger than its lower house,[22] and is the second-largest legislative chamber in the world, behind the National People's Congress of China.[23]
The King's Speech is delivered in the House of Lords chamber during the State Opening of Parliament. In addition to its role as the upper house, the House of Lords, through the Law Lords, acted as the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom judicial system until the establishment of the Supreme Court in 2009.[24] The House of Lords also has a Church of England role, in that Church Measures must be tabled within the House by the Lords Spiritual.
Committees[edit]
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, where any member is allowed to contribute to debates and provides for flexible rules of procedure. It is presided over by the Chairman of Committees.[124]
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 unanimously.[125]
Public bills may also be committed to pre-legislative committees. A pre-legislative Committee is specifically constituted for a particular bill. These committees are established in advance of the bill being laid before either the House of Lords or the House of Commons and can take evidence from the public. Such committees are rare and do not replace any of the usual stages of a bill, including committee stage.[126]
The House of Lords also has 15 Select committees. Typically, these are sessional committees, meaning that their members are appointed by the House at the beginning of each session, and continue to serve until the next parliamentary session begins. In practice, these are often permanent committees, which are re-established during every session. These committees are typically empowered to make reports to the House "from time to time", that is, whenever they wish. Other committees are ad-hoc committees, which are set up to investigate a specific issue. When they are set up by a motion in the House, the motion will set a deadline by which the Committee must report. After this date, the committee will cease to exist unless it is granted an extension. One example of this is the Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change.[127] The House of Lords may appoint a chairman for a committee; if it does not do so, the Chairman of Committees or a Deputy Chairman of Committees may preside instead. Most of the Select Committees are also granted the power to co-opt members, such as the European Union Committee.[128] The primary function of Select Committees is to scrutinise and investigate Government activities; to fulfil 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 Whole House and Grand Committees.
The committee system of the House of Lords also includes several Domestic Committees, which supervise or consider the House's procedures and administration. One of the Domestic Committees is the Committee of Selection, which is responsible for assigning members to many of the House's other committees.
