House of Lords of the United Kingdom

House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
56th UK Parliament
Type
Type	Upper House of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Leadership
Lord Speaker	Norman, Lord Fowler, Non-affiliated Since 1 September 2016
Leader of the House	Natalie, Baroness Evans of Bowes Park, Conservative Since 14 July 2016
Leader of the Opposition	Angela, Baroness Smith of Basildon, Labour Since 27 May 2015
Third Party Leader	Richard, Lord Newby, Liberal Democrat Since 13 September 2016
Structure
Seats	804 (excl. 34 peers on leave of absence or otherwise disqualified from sitting)
Political groups	HM Government      Conservative Party (252) HM Most Loyal Opposition      Labour Party (202) Crossbench      Crossbenchers (177) Other groups      Liberal Democrats (102)      Non-affiliated (31)      Democratic Unionist Party (3)      UK Independence Party (3)      Ind. Labour (2)      Ulster Unionist Party (2)      Green Party (1)      Ind. Social Democrat (1)      Ind. Ulster Unionist (1)      Plaid Cymru (1) Lords Spiritual      Bishops (26) (sits with government)
Salary	No annual salary, but tax-free daily allowance and expenses paid.
Meeting place
House of Lords Chamber Palace of Westminster Westminster London United Kingdom
Website
www.parliament.uk/lords

HM Government

HM Most Loyal Opposition

Crossbench

Other groups

Lords Spiritual

The House of Lords of the United Kingdom, referred to ceremonially as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster. Officially, the full name of the house is: The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.

Unlike the elected House of Commons, all members of the House of Lords (excluding 90 hereditary peers elected among themselves and two peers who are ex officio members) are appointed. The membership of the House of Lords is drawn from the peerage and is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26 bishops in the established Church of England. Of the Lords Temporal, the majority are life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. However, they also include some hereditary peers including four dukes. Membership was once an entitlement of all hereditary peers, other than those in the peerage of Ireland, but under the House of Lords Act 1999, the right to membership was restricted to 92 hereditary peers. Very few of these are female since most hereditary peerages can only be inherited by men.