The House of Lords (also known as House of Peers for ceremonial purposes) is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons (which is the lower house of Parliament and referred to as "the Commons"), and the Lords. Membership of the House of Lords was once a right of birth to hereditary peers, but following a series of reforms these n...
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The House of Lords (also known as House of Peers for ceremonial purposes) is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons (which is the lower house of Parliament and referred to as "the Commons"), and the Lords. Membership of the House of Lords was once a right of birth to hereditary peers, but following a series of reforms these now only form a portion of the membership. As of October 2009 the House of Lords has 724 members, 78 more than the 646-seat House of Commons. The House of Lords, like the House of Commons, assembles in the Palace of Westminster.
The full, formal title of the House of Lords is The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.
Today's Parliament of the United Kingdom largely descends, in practice, from the Parliament of England, though the 1706 Treaty of...
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