The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house,the House of Commons,it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London,England. One of the oldest extant institutions in the world,its origins lie in the early 11th century and the emergence of bicameralism in the 13th century.
David Martin Scott Steel,Baron Steel of Aikwood,is a retired Scottish politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh,Selkirk,and Peebles,followed by Tweeddale,Ettrick,and Lauderdale,he served as the final leader of the Liberal Party,from 1976 to 1988. His tenure spanned the duration of the alliance with the Social Democratic Party,which began in 1981 and concluded with the formation of the Liberal Democrats in 1988.
William Thomas Rodgers,Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank,is a British politician and life peer. As a Labour Party member of Parliament,he served as Secretary of State for Transport from 1976 to 1979,and was one of the "Gang of Four" of senior Labour politicians who defected to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He subsequently helped to lead the SDP into the merger that formed the Liberal Democrats in 1988,and later served as the party's leader in the House of Lords between 1997 and 2001.
Alexander Charles Carlile,Baron Carlile of Berriew,is a British barrister and crossbench member of the House of Lords. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Montgomeryshire from 1983 to 1997.
Eric Reginald Lubbock,4th Baron Avebury,was an English politician and human rights campaigner. He served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Orpington from 1962 to 1970. He then served in the House of Lords,having inherited the title of Baron Avebury in 1971,until his death. In 1999,when most hereditary peers were removed from the House of Lords,he was elected by his fellow Liberal Democrats to remain. When he died,he was the longest serving Liberal Democrat peer.
Robert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil,7th Marquess of Salisbury,Baron Gascoyne-Cecil,is a British Conservative politician. From 1979 to 1987 he represented South Dorset in the House of Commons,and in the 1990s he was Leader of the House of Lords under his courtesy title of Viscount Cranborne. Lord Salisbury lives in one of England's largest historic houses,the 17th-century Hatfield House in Hertfordshire,and currently serves as Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire.
In the United Kingdom,life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited,in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the Dukedom of Edinburgh awarded for life to Prince Edward in 2023,all life peerages conferred since 2009 have been created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 with the rank of baron and entitle their holders to sit and vote in the House of Lords,presuming they meet qualifications such as age and citizenship. The legitimate children of a life peer appointed under the Life Peerages Act 1958 are entitled to style themselves with the prefix "The Honourable",although they cannot inherit the peerage itself. Prior to 2009,life peers of baronial rank could also be so created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 for senior judges.
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom for all civil cases and for all criminal cases originating in England,Wales and Northern Ireland,as well as some limited criminal cases from Scotland. As the United Kingdom's highest appellate court for these matters,it hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population.
Christopher John Rennard,Baron Rennard,is a British life peer in the House of Lords,appointed to the Liberal Democrats' benches in 1999. He was Director of Campaigns &Elections for the Liberal Democrats from 1989 to 2003,and Chief Executive of the party from 2003 to 2009.
John Ambrose Cope,Baron Cope of Berkeley,PC is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.
Anthony Paul Lester,Baron Lester of Herne Hill,QC was a British barrister and member of the House of Lords. He was at different times a member of the Labour Party,Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Democrats. Lester was best known for his influence on race relations legislation in the United Kingdom and as a founder-member of groups such as the Institute of Race Relations,the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination and the Runnymede Trust. Lester was also a prominent figure in promoting birth control and abortion through the Family Planning Association,particularly in Northern Ireland.
The Abortion Act 1967 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that legalised abortion in Great Britain on certain grounds by registered practitioners,and regulated the tax-paid provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service (NHS).
Liverpool Mossley Hill was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Mossley Hill suburb of Liverpool. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom,elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.
Peter Mahon was a British Labour,and later Liberal,politician.
Brian Francis Kerr,Baron Kerr of Tonaghmore,,was a Northern Irish barrister and a senior judge. He held office as Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and then as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. In 2009,he was the last person to receive a law life peerage under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876. At the time of his retirement on 30 September 2020,he was the longest-serving justice of the Supreme Court,and the court's last original member.
Out4Marriage is a 'multi-platform' political campaign that was started on 8 May 2012 in response to the British Government's consultation concerning the legalisation of same-sex marriage in England and Wales. It centres on YouTube—and other social media—videos in which those filmed give their views on why they support marriage for same-sex individuals,with each video finishing with the tagline "And that's why I'm out for marriage. Are you?". Creators of the videos have included members of the public,Members of Parliament,peers and celebrities.
Kevin Joseph Maximilian Shinkwin,Baron Shinkwin is a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords.
Tomasz Kmiec is a Polish-Canadian politician who serves as the Member of Parliament for Calgary Shepard in the House of Commons of Canada under the Conservative Party of Canada,first elected in 2015. He currently serves as Shadow Minister for Immigration,Citizenship and Refugees.
Benedict Richard Victor Rogers is a British human rights activist and journalist based in London. His work focuses on Asia,particularly Burma,North Korea,Indonesia,the Maldives,East Timor,Pakistan and Hong Kong. He is a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal,The New York Times and The Huffington Post and has appeared on BBC,CNN,Sky,Al Jazeera and other television and radio stations.
Luke John de Pulford is a human rights campaigner,particularly in the areas of modern slavery and human rights abuses in China. In 2015,de Pulford co-founded Arise,which he led until 2022. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China,which he co-founded with leading legislators from eight legislatures in 2020. De Pulford is also co-founder of the Coalition for Genocide Response,sits as a Commissioner on the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission,advises the World Uyghur Congress,and is the trustee of several charities.
