2.2.2 – The Comparative Powers of the House of Commons and House of Lords
Last week, the House of Lords announced a new Lord Speaker. This will be Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, who will take over from Lord McFall of Alcluith, who is stepping down from the role. Lord Forsyth, a former Conservative cabinet minister and MP from 1983 to 1997, will serve a five-year term.
The Lord Speaker is the presiding officer of the House of Lords and is broadly equivalent to the Speaker of the House of Commons. Their role in the Lords chamber includes:
- Chairing proceedings from the Woolsack, a large red, wool-stuffed seat that traditionally symbolised the importance of wool to England’s wealth
- Putting questions to the House and announcing the results
- Selecting Private Notice Questions (the Lords’ equivalent of Urgent Questions)
- Applying the sub judice rule in the Lords, under which peers do not discuss a case that is currently, or soon to be, heard in court
The Lord Speaker is a relatively new creation. Prior to 2006, the Lord Chancellor presided over the House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor was also head of the judiciary and a Cabinet member, giving them exceptional power – particularly for an unelected office-holder. Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the presiding role was removed from the Lord Chancellor’s responsibilities and a separate office was created. In June 2006, Baroness Hayman became the first Lord Speaker.
Alongside their role in the chamber, the Lord Speaker also chairs the House of Lords Commission, which oversees the administration of the House. Alongside the Lord Great Chamberlain and the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lord Speaker also holds joint responsibility for Westminster Hall, the 11th-century great hall and the oldest surviving part of the Palace of Westminster. In 2022, Westminster Hall was used for the lying-in-state of Queen Elizabeth II. The Lord Speaker also represents the House of Lords publicly and performs an ambassadorial role. In these respects, the office is broadly comparable to the Speaker of the House of Commons.
However, despite these similarities, there are key differences between the roles -primarily relating to their control over proceedings. In the Commons, the Speaker (or a deputy chairing proceedings) has strong authority. Notably, they:
- Call MPs to speak
- Select amendments for votes
- Rule on points of order
- Maintain order and discipline in the chamber
By contrast, the House of Lords is more collegiate and self-regulating. The Lord Speaker does not decide who speaks next: the House does so itself. Nor do they select amendments – any peer can table them. Recently, the Lords were criticised for the sheer number of amendments tabled to the Assisted Dying Bill, with 1,071 put forward in total.
As a result, the election of a new Lord Speaker is unlikely to lead to significant change in how the Lords operates. The scope for an office-holder to put a personal stamp on the role is far more limited than in the Commons. Nonetheless, it remains an important position – particularly as the House of Lords navigates the removal of hereditary peers and significant legislation proposed by the Labour government.
When Lord Forsyth takes office on 2 February, he will become just the fifth Lord Speaker since the position was created in 2006. Unlike the Speaker of the House of Commons, the role has a term limit of five years, and Lord Speakers can serve a maximum of two terms although nobody to date has done so.
The position has been held by:
- Baroness Hayman (Lab), 2006-11
- Baroness D’Souza (Crossbencher), 2011-16
- Lord Fowler (Con), 2016-21
- Lord McFall (Lab), 2021-26
Lord Forsyth defeated Baroness Bull (Crossbencher) in the election held earlier this month. As there were only two candidates, this was a straight forward affair. However, when there are more than two candidates, the alternative vote is used, which requires Peers to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives more than half the votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are redistributed to the candidate with the next highest mark. This process is repeated until a candidate reaches the quota, or only two candidates remain and the candidate with the most votes is deemed the winner.
In the inaugural contest in 2006, nine candidates were nominated, requiring eight counts until Baroness Hayman was deemed the winner despite note reaching the quota.