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The upper chamber of Parliament, the House of Lords, is not democratic in any sense at all.
It consists of four catagories of peer. The majority are hereditary peers, a total of almost 800, nut of whom only about half take an active interest in the affairs of the state. A smaller number, between 350 and 400, are "life" peers - an idea introduced in the year 1958 to elevate to the peerage certain people who have rendered political or public service to the nation. Only a quarter of this life peers are women.. All life peers are created on the recom-
mendation of the Prime Minister of the day, with nominations also sought from opposition parties. The purpose was not merely to honour but also to enhance the quality of buisness done in the Lords.
Nine of the most senior judges, the Lords of Appeal in Oridinary, are also entitled to sit in the Lords.. Finally, alongside these secularpeers, the Lords Temporal, are the twenty-six most senoir bishops ans archbishops of the Curch of England, the Lords Spiritual.
The lords of appeal - known as the Law Lords - and the Lords Spiritual are the ancient non-hereditary compenent of the Lords.
Until 1911 the Lords were able to reject bills passed in the Commoners, and thus frustrate not only the government of the day, but also the will of the Commoners. Since then the Lords have been unable to challenge financial legislation, and have only been able to delay other legislation (since 1949 for no more than one session) but not prevent it. Theit only other surviving dicretionary power is to veto an attempt by the Commons to prolong ist own life beyond ist five-year term. The role of the Lords, therefore, is now more to warn than frustrate over-zealous governments, and they have done this more by the proposition of amendments to legislation which causes them unease, than by direct oppositions.
Although there are over a thousand peers entitled to sit in the House of Lords, average daily attendance is only about 300 and most of these are life peers, who retain a strong interest in the affairs of the state. The House of Lordsis presided over by the Lord Chancellor , the senior law officer of the state. The position is not like that of the Speaker, for the Lord Chancellor is not impartial, but a government officer and besides, the Lords are expected to conduct their buisness in a far more orderly fashion than the Commons. He is responsible for the administration of justice and he is also an automatic member of the Cabinet.
A larger number of peers support the Conservative Party than either Labour or the Liberal Democrats, who collectively with independent peers (who, unlike the Commons, have "cross-
benches" across the back of the chamber to sit upon), can marshall almost the same number of active peers as the Conservatives.
In 1988 there were 446 Conservative peers, 117 Labour peers, 61 Liberal Democrats, 25 Social Democrats and 226 crossbenchers. This preponderance in favour of the Conservatives arises partly because the majority of hereditary peers sympathise more with the Conservative Party than with ist oppnents, but also because Labour declined to nominate candidates for life peerages for a periode during the 1980´s since ist party policy included abolition of the Lords, on the grounds that it was an undemocratic anachromnsm. Depite this preponderance, however, no Conservative government can be absolutely sure of majority, if ist propsals are contoversial. Peers, of whatever party loyality, are far freer to vote according to their own convictions rather than party policy than are members of the Commons.
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