Structure and Role of House of Lords

• How many hereditary peers are there in the Lords currently?

  92
• What are hereditary peers?

  Someone who is a Lord because of the family they were born into and they inherited the title
• What is a life peer?

  A member of the House of Lords who is appointed (usually by the Prime Minister) for their lifetime and their title is not hereditary.
• What is a Lord Spiritual?

  Member of the House of Lords who are senior bishops of the Church of England or a significant figure in any other religious organisation in the UK
• What is a crossbencher?


  A member of the House of Lords who are not formal members of any political party and so are independentnminded.
• Why are there so many cross benchers in the House of Lords?

  So there can be no government majority
• Why was the Parliament Act 1911 passed?

  House of Lords attempted to veto the People’s budget
• What commission can appoint crossbenchers and scrutinise political appointments?

  House of Lords Appointments Commission
• What does the House of Lords Appointments Commission not have the power to do?

  No right to veto
• Name of a Conservative party donor recommended by Johnson but HOLAC refused to endorse

  Peter Cruddas
• Example of government rejecting Lords amendments when it is fully committed to a policy and possesses a sizeable majority

  Following Johnson’s 80 seat election victory in 2019, in January 2020, House of Commons decisively rejected all five of the House of Lords’ amendments to the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill. One of these was the Dubs amendment, which would have ensured that unaccompanied child refugees would still be able to join relatives in the UK after Brexit.