the House and holding their seats therein for life. The spiritual peers are the archbishops and senior bishops of the Church of England.
Temporal peerages are conferred by the Sovereign on the advice of her ministers as a mark of distinction. They are all, except the judicial peerages, hereditary and, with the exception of the Scottish and Irish peerages, they carry with them, for men over 21 years of age, a right to a seat in the House of Lords. A summons to Parliament cannot be withheld from a peer who is entitled to it, although most of the work of the House is done by fewer than 85 of the 801 peers who receive the writ of summons. Party politics have little effect upon the membership of the House, which remains relatively stable over a long period of time.
The House of Lords is presided over by the Lord Chancellor, who is the Speaker of the House. The permanent officers include the Clerk of the Parliaments, who is charged with keeping the records of proceedings and judgments and who pronounces the words of assents to Bills; the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, who enforces the orders of the House; and the Serjeant-at-Arms, who attends the Lord Chancellor.
The House of Commons is a popular assembly elected by an almost universal adult suffrage and containing members from all sections of the community regardless of income or occupation. There are at present 625 members of the House of Commons, each representing a single-member constituency.
Members of the House of Commons hold their seats during the life of a Parliament. They are elected either at a General Election which takes place after Parliament has been dissolved and a new one summoned by the Sovereign, or at a by-election which is held when a vacancy occurs in the House as a result of the death or resignation of a member during the life of a Parliament. Election is decided by secret ballot in which all United Kingdom citizens (except members of the House of Lords) and all citizens of the Commonwealth and of the Republic of Ireland who are resident in the United Kingdom are entitled to vote, provided that they are 21 years old or over, and unless they are serving a prison sentence or have been certified as insane. All who are entitled to vote are entitled to stand for election, except clergymen of the established Churches of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and of the Roman Catholic Church; undischarged bankrupts; and persons holding certain offices under the Crown.
The chief parliamentary officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker, who is elected by the members as president of the House immediately after a new Parliament is formed. Other parliamentary officers of the House are the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, and the Deputy-Chairman, who may act as Deputy-Speaker; both these officers are elected by the House. In addition there are the party officials, i.e. the Government and Opposition Whips. Non-Parliamentary or permanent officers of the House, i.e. those who are not members of Parliament, include the Clerk of the Commons, who is appointed by letters patent and is charged with keeping the records, endorsing Bills, signing Orders, etc.; the Serjeant-at-Arms, who is likewise appointed by letters patent and attends the Speaker in the House; the Counsel to the Speaker; the Examiner of Petitions for Private Bills and Taxing Officer; the Speaker’s Secretary; the Librarian; the Chaplain to the Speaker; the Accountant; and the Editor of Official Reports of Debates—Hansard.
Both Houses of Parliament enjoy certain privileges and immunities designed to protect them from unnecessary obstruction in carrying out their duties. These privileges apply collectively to the Houses and individually to each member.
In the House of Commons, the Speaker formally claims from the Crown for the Commons their ancient and undoubted rights and privileges’ at the beginning of each Parliament. These include freedom from arrest; freedom of speech; and the right of access
