Prime Minister written statement – made at on 8 February 2007.
Tony Blair
Prime Minister
I am today announcing the re-appointment of the House of Lords Appointments Commission for a further 18 months, as from the beginning of this year, pending further discussions on House of Lords reform.
The Commission's membership is unchanged. The Chairman is Lord Stevenson of Coddenham CBE, the Chairman of HBOS plc and a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords.
The independent members are: Ms Angela Sarkis CBE, National Secretary of the YMCA England; and Mrs Felicity Huston, Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland and a tax consultant.
In addition, there are also three party-political members who are each nominated by one of the three main political parties: the Labour Party member is the right hon. the Baroness Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde; the Conservative Party member is the right hon. the Lord Hurd of Westwell CH CBE; the Liberal Democrat member is the Lord Dholakia QBE DL.
The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.
