The House of

Lords
 The House of Lords, also known as the House of
Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the
United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment,
heredity or official function.
• Life Peers - are
appointed
members of the
peerage whose
titles cannot be
inherited, in
contrast to
hereditary peers.
• The Palace of Westminster in London, England
What does the House of
Lords do?
THE HOUSE OF LORDS:
• scrutinises bills that have been
approved by the House of
Commons
• regularly reviews and amends
bills from the Commons.
• can delay bills and force the
Commons to reconsider their
decisions
• does not control the term of the
prime minister or of the
government
 UNTIL THE • the House of Lords, through the Law
ESTABLISHMENT OF Lords, acted as the final court of appeal in
THE SUPREME COURT the United Kingdom judicial system
IN 2009 • he House of Lords also has a Church of
England role
 Srtucture

The number of members in the House of Lords is

not fixed. Currently, it has 770 sitting members.
 There are currently 770 sitting
members of the House of Lords,
of which 682 are life peers (as of
CURRENT 8 December 2020).
COMPOSITION
• Conservative Party: 42 peers
• Labour Party: 2 peers
• Liberal Democrats: 3 peers
• Crossbenchers: 28 peers
A diagram of House of Lords
 Qualifications
• No person may sit in the House
of Lords if under the age of 21
• only United Kingdom, Irish and
Commonwealth citizens may sit in
the House of Lords
• Individuals convicted of high
treason are prohibited from sitting
in the House of Lords until
completion of their full term of
imprisonment.
Removal from House
membership

• Traditionally there was

no mechanism by which
members could resign or
be removed from the
House of Lords
• The Peerage Act 1963
permitted a person to
disclaim their newly
inherited peerage
Thank you for
attention!