In Britain, we have a Parliament. Parliament makes new laws and oversees the government of the country. There are two chambers, or Houses of Parliament – the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is made up of Members of Parliament (we call them MPs) whom we vote for at General Elections. It has much more power than the House of Lords. The government needs to have the support of a majority in the House of Commons. If it loses this support, the government would have to resign.

　　The House of Lords is different. It has much less power. But it is also more independent of the government. Sometimes, the House of Lords is able to force the government to reconsider its policies or proposals. The members of the House of Lords are called “peers”. Some peers are appointed by the government or other political parties. Some peers are appointed by an independent body. And some of the peers are “hereditary peers” – they are members of old noble families who have inherited their place in the House of Lords. And then there are bishops and archbishops of the Church of England – they are in the House of Lords, too, and so are the most senior judges in the country. In other words, of the 746 members of the House of Lords, not one has been elected by the people. How complicated, you may think. How undemocratic. How out-of-date.

　　A lot of people in this country think so as well. But it has been difficult to agree what sort of House of Lords should replace the present one. Four years ago, Parliament looked at a number of possible ways of reforming the House of Lords, and rejected all of them. Recently the government suggested that most of the House of Lords should be elected, but that some peers should be appointed by the government or other political groups. Last night the House of Commons debated this issue. To everyone’s surprise, it agreed by a large majority that all the members of the House of Lords should be elected by the people – no more appointed members, no more hereditary peers.

　　This is a big and important change. It will take time to implement. The government will have to present a bill (a draft law) to Parliament, and to decide in detail when and how elections to the House of Lords should be held, and what powers the new House of Lords will have. Many members of the present House of Lords will not be happy – they are, after all, likely to loose their jobs. But change is now inevitable. Last night’s vote in the House of Commons was an important step towards creating a modern, democratic system of government in Britain.

　　The picture is of Baronness Amos, the Leader of the House of Lords. She was born in Guyana and came to Britain when she was nine year’s old.