British Parliament
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Parliament also includes the Sovereign and the upper house, the House of Lords; the House of Commons is the dominant branch. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 646 members, who are known as "Members of Parliament" or MPs. Members are elected by the first-past-the-post system of election, holding office until Parliament is dissolved (a maximum of five years). Each member is elected by, and represents, an electoral district known as a constituency. The House of Commons is the source of the vast majority of government ministers and every Prime Minister since 1902, with the very brief exception of Sir Alec Douglas-Home in 1963, has been drawn from it (Home did actually rule from the House of Commons, however, taking a seat in the House shortly after being chosen as Prime Minister).
The House of Commons evolved at some point during the 14th century and has been in continuous existence since. The House of Commons (the "lower house") was once far less powerful than the House of Lords (the "upper house"), but is now by far the dominant branch of Parliament. The House of Commons' legislative powers exceed those of the House of Lords; under the Parliament Act 1911, the Lords' power to reject most bills was reduced to a mere delaying power. Moreover, the Government of the United Kingdom is answerable to the House of Commons; the Prime Minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support of the lower house.
The full, formal style and title of the House of Commons is The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. The term "Commons" derives from the Norman French word communes, referring to the geographic and collective communities of their representatives. It is often misunderstood that "Commons" comes from the word "commoners", referring to those sitting in the House, similar to the way in which the name "House of Lords" indicates that those sitting in the "Other Place" are elevated to the Peerage. This explanation, however, is ahistorical. Both Houses, the Commons and Lords, meet in the Palace of Westminster. Both Houses have in the past met elsewhere, and retain the right to do so, provided the Mace is present.
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". The Sovereign, the House of Commons (which is the lower house of Parliament and referred to as "the Commons"), and the Lords together comprise the Parliament.
Members of the House of Lords are known as "Lords of Parliament". The House of Lords does not have a fixed number of members: currently there are 751 members, consisting of 26 "Lords Spiritual" and 725 "Lords Temporal". The Lords Spiritual are the two archbishops and 24 most senior bishops of the Church of England, while the Lords Temporal are 633 current Life Peers, the 90 Hereditary Peers and the two Great Officers of State.
Lords Spiritual are "Lords of Parliament" (and not peers) so long as they continue to occupy their ecclesiastical positions, whereas Lords Temporal serve for life. By convention, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York are offered life peerages on retirement from those ecclesiastical positions.
The House of Lords originated in the 14th century and has been in almost continuous existence since. The name "House of Lords" was not used as a name for the Upper House until 1544. It was abolished in 1649 by the revolutionary government that came to power during the English Civil War, but was restored in 1660. The House of Lords was once more powerful than the elected House of Commons. Since the 19th century, however, the powers of the House of Lords have been steadily declining; now, the Upper House is far weaker than its elected counterpart. Under the Parliament Acts (passed in 1911 and 1949), all government legislation excluding "money bills" (which include the annual Finance Bill implementing the Budget) passed by the House of Commons can be delayed for twelve months, but cannot be rejected. This power is called a suspensive veto in political science.
Further reforms were enacted under the House of Lords Act 1999, which removed the automatic hereditary right of peers to sit in the Upper House. Two hereditary peers, the Duke of Norfolk [The hereditary Earl Marshal, who organises openings of Parliament, coronations and state funerals] and the Marquess of Cholmondley [hereditary Lord High Chamberlain, who has a role in the openings of Parliament] retain seats because of their offices of state Great Officers of State, and an additional 90 are elected to represent the other hereditary peers. Further reforms have been contemplated but have not been passed into law : among the proposals are removing hereditary peers and directly electing at least 50% of the House of Lords.
In addition to performing legislative functions, the House of Lords also holds judicial powers: it constitutes the highest court of appeal for most cases in the United Kingdom. The judicial functions of the House of Lords are not performed by the whole Chamber, but rather by an Appelate Committee of members with experience of high judicial office, who are known as "Law Lords". The House of Lords is not the only court of last resort in the United Kingdom; in some cases, that role is fulfilled by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 will transfer the judicial functions of the Lords to a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, but the provisions enacting the transfer have not yet been brought into force. It is understood that the Law Lords are "resistant" and have yet to formally decide on a new location, away from the Houses of Parliament : their present offices are "most agreeable", it seems, while possible new offices nearby in a re-modelled listed neo-Gothic Middlesex Guildhall are being considered.