The Changing Role of the House of Lords
The House of Lords has been the subject of long-term research at the Constitution Unit. Our Director, Professor Meg Russell, is considered a leading voice on the House of Lords, both in terms of how the chamber operates and options for its reform.
Major research outputs include Professor Russell's Oxford University Press book, The Contemporary House of Lords: Westminster Bicameralism Revived, and a Constitution Unit report, Enough is Enough: Regulating Appointments to the House of Lords, which helped to encourage action on tackling the size of the chamber.
Professor Russell has in the past been a specialist adviser to the House of Lords Appointments Commission and the Lord Speaker's Committee on the Size of the House (of Lords). Today, she provides frequent commentary on the chamber’s work, and on live issues such as the Prime Minister's peerage appointments.
Since 2005, the Unit has also published a record of all government defeats in the House of Lords.
Government defeats in the House of Lords