The upper chamber of the British Parliament. It derived from the medieval kings’ Great Council. In the 13th and 14th centuries, as the councils gave way to parliaments, the Lords evolved into a separate body which, together with the House of Commons, presented bills to the crown for enactment as statutes. The immense individual importance of many peers did not prevent them gradually losing to the Commons the right to levy taxes on the king’s behalf. The House of Lords was abolished in 1649 and revived in 1660. It was put on what is still its constitutional basis vis-à-vis the crown and the House of Commons by the Glorious Revolution (1688–89). Following the 1832 Reform Act, its influence gradually declined as that of the House of Commons increased. The Parliament Act of 1911 reduced the Lords’ powers to a “suspensory veto” of two years (further reduced to one year in 1949). By it bills can be delayed, but if passed again by the Commons, become law. The House of Lords has no power to revise or delay money bills. It still performs several useful parliamentary roles. These include the revision of bills from the Commons, the initiation of non-controversial legislation, scrutiny of the executive, and enquiry by select committee. Debate in the Lords is less raucously partisan and sometimes better informed than in the Commons.

The House of Lords currently consists of the Lords Spiritual (26 archbishops and bishops in order of seniority) and the Lords Temporal (approximately 670 life peers and 92 hereditary peers, with approximately 50 further members who are ineligible to participate in its proceedings). From the 16th century until 1999, the House was dominated by the hereditary peers, Lords Temporal whose titles, once created, descended to their heirs. Non-hereditary peers were introduced by the Life Peerage Act of 1958; and in 1999 hereditary peers were excluded from the House, except for 92 representatives. This hereditary remnant was intended as a transitional arrangement, pending further reform of the House. The House of Lords formerly acted as the highest court of appeal in the UK legal system, but this function was removed to a new Supreme Court in 2009.