Related Research Articles
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.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster in London. Parliament possesses legislative supremacy and thereby holds ultimate power over all other political bodies in the United Kingdom and the Overseas Territories. While Parliament is bicameral, it has three parts: the sovereign, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The three parts acting together to legislate may be described as the King-in-Parliament. The Crown normally acts on the advice of the prime minister, and the powers of the House of Lords are limited to only delaying legislation.
The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 are two Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which form part of the constitution of the United Kingdom. Section 2(2) of the Parliament Act 1949 provides that the two Acts are to be construed as one.
Whilst the House of Lords of the United Kingdom is the upper chamber of Parliament and has government ministers, for many centuries it had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers and for impeachments, and as a court of last resort in the United Kingdom and prior, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of England.
John William MacDougall was a British Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Glenrothes from the 2005 general election until his death; he was first elected to the House of Commons for Central Fife in the 2001 general election.
In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right to sit in the House of Lords; they did not elect a limited group of representatives. All peers who were created after 1707 as Peers of Great Britain and after 1801 as Peers of the United Kingdom held the same right to sit in the House of Lords.
The House of Lords Act 1999 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given royal assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats ; the Act removed such a right. However, as part of a compromise, the Act allowed ninety-two hereditary peers to remain in the House. Another ten were created life peers to enable them to remain in the House.
Peter Charles Snape, Baron Snape is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich East from February 1974 until he stood down in the 2001 election. He is the former chairman of his hometown football club, Stockport County, as well as being a major shareholder in the club at the time. Lord Snape became Vice-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Speedway Racing in July 2015.
The British peerage is governed by a body of law that has developed over several centuries. Much of this law has been established by a few important cases, and some of the more significant of these are addressed in this article.
The privilege of peerage is the body of special privileges belonging to members of the British peerage. It is distinct from parliamentary privilege, which applies only to those peers serving in the House of Lords and the members of the House of Commons, while Parliament is in session and forty days before and after a parliamentary session.
Alexander Henry Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee,, is a Scottish peer, Conservative politician and Chief of the Clan Scrymgeour.
John Steven Bassam, Baron Bassam of Brighton, is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and a member of the House of Lords.
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.
Thomas Murray Elder, Baron Elder, was a British Labour politician and member of the House of Lords. A childhood friend of Gordon Brown, he served as the general secretary of the Scottish Labour Party, the chief of staff to Labour leader John Smith, and a special adviser to Donald Dewar at the Scottish Office.
Peter Derek Truscott, Baron Truscott is a British petroleum and mining consultant, independent member of the House of Lords and writer. He was a Labour Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1994 to 1999 and was elevated to the peerage in 2004. He has written on Russia, defence and energy, and works with a variety of companies in the field of non-renewable resource extraction.
Thomas Taylor, Baron Taylor of Blackburn, was a businessman and Labour politician. He was a member of Blackburn Council for 22 years, serving as its leader from 1972 to 1976. In 1978, he became a member of the House of Lords. In 2009, he was suspended from the House, along with Baron Truscott, as a result of the cash for influence scandal, the first peers to be suspended since the 17th century.
The 2009 cash for influence scandal was a political scandal in the United Kingdom in 2009 concerning four Labour Party Life Peers offering to help make amendments to legislation for up to £120,000. The Lords Privileges Committee recommended the two men be suspended from the House for up to six months after an investigation into allegations made against four Labour peers. Lord Taylor of Blackburn was suspended as a Labour Party member pending the investigation while Lord Truscott quit the party. On 20 May, the House of Lords considered the report of the Privileges Committee and voted to suspend Lord Taylor and Lord Truscott for six months.
Erskine May is a parliamentary authority originally written by British constitutional theorist and Clerk of the House of Commons, Thomas Erskine May.
The Marriage Act 2013 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced same-sex marriage in England and Wales.
The House of Lords Act 2015 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which authorised the House of Lords to expel a member, or to suspend a member for a definite period of time. This power may only be exercised for conduct which either was committed or became public knowledge after the Act comes into force. A member who is expelled is disqualified from becoming a member again.
References
- ↑ retired from house under House of Lords Reform Act 2014
- ↑ "No. 57685". The London Gazette . 27 June 2005. p. 8317.
- ↑ Whispered over tea and cake: price for a peer to fix the law, Sunday Times, 25 January 2009
- ↑ Lords Sub-Committee on Lords Interests Report
- ↑ The Conduct of Lord Moonie, Lord Snape, Lord Truscott and Lord Taylor of Blackburn Lords Privileges Committee Report
