2.2 HoL

Question 1

What is the HoL?

Answer 1

• the unelected chamber of the Westminster Parliament
• composed of life peers, elected hereditary peers & Anglican bishops; it does not possess democratic legitimacy, & so its main focus is on scrutinising the HoC

Question 2

Briefly describe the composition of the HoL

Answer 2

• HoL’s is often referred to as the ‘upper chamber’ despite the fact it has considerably less authority than the HoC
• it is different to the HoC because members are not elected - they are appointed & so therefore it cannot claim the legitimacy/representative function that the HoC does
• throughout most of its history the HoL was primarily composed of peers, whose claim to membership was based on their possession of a hereditary noble title, as well as a small number of bishops who represented the church
• authority & power of the HoL was increasingly diminished after the Parliament Act of 1911 removed its right to veto legislation passed by the HoC
• unlike the HoC, which has a defined number of seats, the number of members in the HoL is not fixed: as of February 10th 2025, it has 835 sitting members
• in 1999 under the HoL act, the current Labour PM Tony Blair removed the right of the 750 hereditary peers to continue sitting in the upper chamber: …he got rid of 658 peers
• furthermore, Blair ensured that 92 hereditary peers could still be appointed; he made this deliberate act in order to avoid conflict & to reach a reasonable compromise
• you can have different types of peers in the HoL: hereditary, life & bishop peers of the CofE