House of Lords

   The upper chamber of Parliament that is subordinate to the elected House of Commons. The House of Lords dates back to Anglo-Saxon times. As the Commons came to be elected by a mass franchise in the nineteenth century, its importance in the constitution diminished, as did respect for its hereditary basis. It was widely portrayed as an anachronism in an increasingly democratic age. Its pro-Conservative leanings proved an obstacle for more radical administrations, Liberal and later Labour. Its composition and powers were reformed in the twentieth century, primarily by the Life Peerages Act (1958), the House of Lords Act (1999) and the two Parliament Acts (1911, 1949). As a result of the 1999 changes which removed the right of most hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords, its membership was virtually halved from 1,295 to 695 and currently fluctuates around 700, with the two main parties broadly equally represented. Labour has yet to produce a viable scheme for Phase Two that can command substantial agreement between the main political parties. Many MPs favour an elected or predominantly elected house, although several members of the Government have voted for a mainly appointed body. Upper chambers in bicameral legislatures have three important roles: to provide continuity and stability in parliament and law-making; to act as a constitutional longstop, preventing or delaying the passage of radical innovations; and to act as a revising body. The Lords fulfils all of these roles, some 60 per cent of its time being spent on examining legislation and 35 per cent on scrutinising the work of government. In addition to scrutinising and revising UK legislation, the House – via its Committee on the European Community – examines proposals advanced by the European Commission and draws attention to those that raise important issues of policy or principle. In its judicial capacity, the Lords is also the highest court of appeal in Britain, but this role is due to be transferred to a new supreme court under the terms of the Constitutional Reform Act.

   Further reading: P. Norton, Parliament in British Politics, Palgrave, 2005