4.4 The House of Lords

Originally the members of the House of Lords was comprised of those who had inherited a title (known as hereditary peers), senior judges who sat as Law Lords, and the most senior bishops in the country. During the twentieth century the awarding of a title for life (known as a life peerage) became more common. The Prime Minister nominated people who should receive a title for their lifetime only. In this way, people who had served the country and were thought to be suitable members of the House of Lords were able to bring their expertise to the House.

Figure 10 Inside the House of Lords

Most life peerages were given to former politicians who had retired from the House of Commons. For example, James Callaghan, who was Prime Minister from 1976 to 1979, was made a life peer in 1987, taking the title Lord Callaghan of Cardiff, while Margaret Thatcher, the first female Prime Minister, was made a life peer in 1992 and became known as Baroness Thatcher. When men are made life peers they are called lords; women life peers are called baronesses.

During the late 1990s the Labour Government decided that in a modern society an inherited title should not automatically allow someone to participate in making law. They felt that some of the members of the House of Lords should be elected and some should be nominated. The right of most of the hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords was abolished in 1999. As a result of this change three types of peer now sit in the House of Lords: life Peers, Bishops and elected hereditary Peers.

The House of Lords is characterised by ‘independence of thought’. Some members (Peers) have a political background, most don’t. They represent a wide range of professions – including medicine, law, business, the arts, science, sports, education, the armed forces, diplomacy and public service.

Currently, there are about 825 members who are eligible to take part in the work of the House of Lords. The majority are life Peers. Others include 26 archbishops and bishops and 92 hereditary Peers. There is no upper limit on the total number of members.

• Life peers: the majority (about 700) of members are appointed for their lifetime by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. Any British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen who is a UK resident and taxpayer over the age of 21 is eligible to be nominated or can apply to become a member, via the independent House of Lords Appointments Commission.
• Archbishops and bishops: 26 Church of England archbishops and bishops sit in the House. When they retire as bishops their membership of the House ceases and is passed on to the next most senior bishop.
• Elected hereditary members: the House of Lords Act 1999 ended the right of most hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House; 92 remain.

To learn more about the work of the House of Lords watch the following video.

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Transcript: How the Lords works with the Commons to make a Bill law

BARONESS JENKIN OF KENNINGTON

So here we are in Central Lobby. This is the heart of Parliament. And we are equidistant between the Commons Chamber and the Lords Chamber. Usually this space is teeming with people. It's where any member of the public can come. But today we're here to talk about the House of Lords, so we're going through to the Peers' Lobby.

So here we are in the Peers' Lobby. Again, this is usually teeming with people. They might be members of the public who have come to watch our proceedings and they walk through here to go up to the gallery where they watch what's going on in the Chamber. But through those gates is the Chamber where, of course, most of our work is done, whether it's questions, debates, or part of the legislation, that is where it all happens.

- The press reports show how damaging that can be, but I shall indeed take all the Noble Lords' points on board.

LORD INGLEWOOD

We're right at the heart of the House of Lords, the Chamber. And it's in the Chamber that we debate government policy, pass laws, and generally scrutinise the activities of the whole of what's going on in Britain today. And despite the gold leaf, the carved wood, the heavily embossed leather, it's actually very much a working chamber. And I'm standing at the despatch box, which was where government ministers lead with government business.

- However, I can report to the House that a pilot to return these bookings--

LORD INGLEWOOD

Behind me on my right here is the government's side. And most of these benches are occupied by the Peers who are the government party, save that right at the far end over my shoulder is where the bishops always sit.

I'm now crossing the Chamber of the House of Lords on to the opposition side. And the opposition sit along the benches on my left. And it's not only the main opposition party, it's also the crossbenches who are the independents. And one of the unusual characteristics of the House of Lords is that there is a large independent presence, which means that no one party has an overall majority.

There are three other important parts of the Chamber that I think it's useful to know about. The first one is the Woolsack, which is where the Lord Speaker sits. Over to my right here is the Clerk's Table. And the Clerks are the administrators, the civil servants who keep us all right. And finally over my shoulder is the Royal Throne.

BARONESS JENKIN OF KENNINGTON

So here we are in the Grand Committee Room. But it's also known as the Moses room. And you will see from that picture of Moses coming down the mountain why it's known as that. It's used for debates and where we discuss some of the detail of the legislation. It enables the Chamber to be used for one bit of legislation and here for another. And the Minister sits here at the despatch box, his civil servants sit behind him, and members of the public can sit here and watch the proceedings in a very intimate experience for them.

LORD HASKEL

We're in one of the division lobbies. This is where we settle our arguments. There are two division lobbies- one for content, which means you are happy with the arguments, and the other is a not content, where you disagree. And we're in the not content.

If there is a dispute it is put to the vote. When the vote is called bells ring throughout the House of Parliament and you have eight minutes to walk through this lobby. After eight minutes they see how many people have walked through, they go into the Chamber, and they will read out who has won and who has lost. And that's the way we settle our arguments.

LORD FAULKES

This is the royal gallery. And the gallery is used for ceremonial occasions, which don't take place that often. But it's used every day for meetings. For example, here we have a table of six chairs. There are other tables like this. And there may be a meeting which has been set up involving people from outside the Houses of Parliament. Or it may be simply Peers hatching together some plan. Sometimes it is very crowded and very busy. There's a lot going on. And other times it's very quiet and slightly slightly spooky, particularly late at night.

That way is the Chamber but it's on the upper floor that a lot of the work is done in the committee rooms.

BARONESS PARMINTER

We're off on the Committee Corridor with the House of Lords Chamber over there and the river over there. And this space is really quiet now but normally it's abuzz with people. Peers will spend as much time up here on the Committee Corridor as they do down in the Chamber. You just get that sense that everything's alive here. All the issues that are worrying people out there in the street they're actually going to be talking about here in this corridor.

Well, we're up in one of the committee rooms. Some of the rooms are bigger than this, some are smaller, but they all pretty much look the same. And this is where we do the important work of scrutinising government policy and trying to influence future public policy debates. We will have people from all parties, and indeed no parties, coming together to really dig deeply into an issue that we feel strongly needs investigating, be it energy, or transport, or how we're going to feed the world in the future.

So these doors here mark the end of the House of Lords Committee Corridor. Down below us is the Central Lobby, which is the central point of the Houses of Parliament with two chambers flowing off from it. The House of Lords one side, House of Commons over there.

End transcript: How the Lords works with the Commons to make a Bill law

How the Lords works with the Commons to make a Bill law