House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Lord Speaker | The Lord McFall of Acluith since 1 May 2021 |
Senior Deputy Speaker | The Lord Gardiner of Kimble since 11 May 2021 |
Leader | Nicholas True Baron of True, Conservative since 6 September 2022 |
Structure | |
Seats | |
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Political groups |
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Salary | No annual salary, but tax-free daily allowance and expenses paid. |
Meeting place | |
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House of Lords Chamber Palace of Westminster City of Westminster London, England United Kingdom | |
Website | |
www | |
Footnotes | |
The House of Lords is one of the two Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom (UK). It is in London, the capital city of the UK. The other house is the House of Commons. Together, the two houses form the government and parliament of the UK.
The House of Lords is not elected (voted for), except in the case of the holders of the seats reserved for hereditary peers (who are chosen by the House or by other hereditary peers in their parties).
Many members of the House of Lords sit as Crossbenchers. This means they do not support either the government or opposition parties, but instead are independent of party politics. They got their name because the benches where they sit are placed across the aisle which separates the government and opposition supporters.
There are several criticisms of the House of Lords, including:
These criticisms have led some to question whether there is a need for a second/upper house at all, and whether the two house system in British politics is still useful.[5] People such as Tony Benn and Rebecca Long-Bailey, have said the House of Lords should be gotten rid of.[6][7] This is also supported by the Scottish National Party (SNP).[8] This would mean the United Kingdom would have one level of government, which is called unicameralism and is present in many other countries.