House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its members, who sit on red benches, are appointed or originally inherited their position. Not all lords are entitled to sit in the House of Lords - since the House of Lords Act 1999, only 92 hereditary peers are allowed to sit in the House, the rest being appointed life peers. The total number of peers sitting in the House is about 745. Of those sitting, there are two types - Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual. The latter are there by virtue of their ecclesiastical office in the Church of England and the Church of Ireland. There are also the twelve Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (commonly referred to as Law Lords), who are members of the House, but do not exercise any legislative powers - instead judging cases which have reached the House in its status as the final national court of appeal.