HOL

• Monarch is allowed to sit at the head of the Lords
• 80% of the Lords are life peers
• More divided amongst parties - no clear majority
• Crossbenchers - Many more unafilliated Lords than MPs
• Hereditary peers inherit their titles and their right to sit in the Lords
• Before the House of Lords Act 1999, there were hundreds of hereditary peers but this was reduced to just 92 that were elected by fellow hereditary peers
• Life peers have to be appointed to their position for the rest of their life due to their experience in a particular field to best advise and check on the Commons, making them very important in reviewing legislature
• Life peers are appointed by the monarch on behalf of the PM and have existed since the Life Peerages Act 1958 and the proportion of them has significantly increased since the House of Lords Act 1999
• Life peers have continued to be appointed since 1958 and have to be approved by the House of Lords Appointment Commission (est. 2000)
• Changes to the HOL have included the introduction of life peers
• Proposed changes to the HOL have mostly included electing peers, improving democracy and legitimacy and also reduce the divide between the rich ruling class and ordinary working people
• 2003 - free vote for a wholly appointed House of Lords was backed by the Lords while the Commons were unable to agree on anything
• 2007 white paper - 50/50 appointed and elected

  MPs voted for 80% elected and wholly elected

  Lords backed wholly appointed again
• 2012 - House of Lords Bill - proposed a chamber of 360 elected members, 90 appointed, 12 bishops and 8 ministerial members

  MPs approved the 2nd reading of the bill but 91 Tory MPs rebelled and Labour MPs indicated they would vote against a programme motion leading to the bill being abandoned
• Peers want to keep their appointed positions and power while MPs want it to be more elected and therefore more democratic to distribute power