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Understanding the House of Lords: A Quiz on Its History and Functions

Test your knowledge about the House of Lords, its history, functions, and significant events through this engaging quiz.

#House of Lords #UK Parliament #Constitutional Reform #Political History #Legislative Process

1 Since 1999 however, no further reform has taken place (see ________).

2 The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 resulted in the creation of a separate Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, to which the judicial function of the House of Lords, and some of the judicial functions of the ________, were transferred.

3 The ________ of the House of Lords is just three members for a general or procedural vote, and 30 members for a vote on legislation.

4 When the ________ scandal was referred to the Committee of Privileges in January 2009, the Leader of the House of Lords also asked the Privileges Committee to report on what sanctions the House had against its members.

5 In 1649, after the defeat and execution of King Charles I, the ________ was declared, but the nation was effectively under the overall control of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England.

6 Additionally, some ________-related restrictions apply to members of the Upper House.

7 Formerly, the Lords Spiritual were the majority in the House of Lords,[7] including the ________'s archbishops, diocesan bishops, abbots, and priors.

8 In 1909, the ________, David Lloyd George, introduced into the House of Commons the "People's Budget", which proposed a land tax targeting wealthy landowners.

9 Conflicts between the King and the Parliament (for the most part, the House of Commons) ultimately led to the ________ during the 1640s.

10 For example, during much of the reign of Edward II (1307–1327), the ________ was supreme, the Crown weak, and the shire and borough representatives entirely powerless.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • a year after Richard William Briginshaw entered the House of Lords as a life peer, he wrote a pamphlet calling for it to be abolished.
  • General Sir Edward Jones was the only man to follow his father as a member of the Army Board in the 20th century, and later served as Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in the House of Lords.
  • in Amgen v Hoechst, the House of Lords affirmed that an incredible similarity between two patents does not constitute patent infringement in the UK.
  • the House of Lords took the unprecedented decision to set aside R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate Ex parte Pinochet Ugarte (No.1) because of concerns a judge could have been biased.
  • the British architect William Benson was relieved from his position as Surveyor General of the Royal Works after falsely insisting that the House of Lords Chamber was in imminent danger of collapse.
  • the Select Vestries Bill is read in the House of Lords at the start of each session of Parliament before a debate on the Queen's Speech, to demonstrate that the House chooses and sets its own business independently of the Crown.
  • Wogan Philipps was the only member of the Communist Party of Great Britain to sit in the House of Lords.
  • Karan Bilimoria invented Cobra Beer and was the first Parsi in the House of Lords.
  • British free market economist Ralph Harris, considered to be an architect of Thatcherism, became a life peer shortly after Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister, but sat on the cross-benches in the House of Lords to show his political independence.
  • Sir Edwin Landseer's iconic painting, Monarch of the Glen (pictured), was intended for the House of Lords, but the House of Commons refused to grant the £150 commission.
  • British politician David Renton, Baron Renton served for over 60 years in Parliament, representing two parties and then as a life peer, and was the oldest member of the House of Lords when he died.
  • Chrystal Macmillan (pictured) was the first female graduate with a degree in science from the University of Edinburgh, and the first woman to argue before the House of Lords.
  • Helene Hayman, Baroness Hayman, elected the first Lord Speaker of the House of Lords in 2006, was the first woman to give birth while serving as a British Member of Parliament in the 1970s, and is reported to have been the first woman to breast feed at the Palace of Westminster.
  • Giles Mompesson was officially branded a "notorious criminal" by the House of Lords in 1623 after a career of graft and extortion as licensor of inns.
  • Samuel Pepys drank purl in a bawdy house behind the House of Lords.
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