Currently, it has 783 sitting members. The House of Lords is the only upper house of any bicameral parliament in the world to be larger than its lower house, and is the second-largest legislative chamber in the world behind the Chinese National People’s Congress.

As of August 2021, there are 4 dukes, 1 marquess, 25 earls, 17 viscounts, 44 barons and 2 Lords of Parliament among the 92 hereditary peers entitled to sit in the House of Lords.

Excluded hereditary peers The following 650 hereditary peers had their entitlement to sit in the House of Lords removed by the House of Lords Act 1999.

1999
20th century. 1999: The House of Lords Act 1999 removes the right of most hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House. During the passage of the legislation an amendment is accepted, enabling 92 hereditary peers to remain until further reform is proposed.

Disadvantages

• The Lords lack legitimacy as so far, they are not elected.
• The Lords are inferior to Commons in LAW- The Parliament Act of 1911 and 1949.
• Parliament Act of 1911- Removed the Veto and allowed them only two years of a delay.
• Parliament Act of 1949- Reduced to a year of delay.

The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the entitlement of most of the hereditary Peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords and of the 92 hereditary Peers who retain their seat in the Lords, 75 were elected by their fellow hereditary Peers.

The House of Lords Reform Act 2014 allowed peers to retire or resign, to be excluded for serious criminal offences, or to be removed for non-attendance during a whole session.

After its election victory in 1997, Labour began its plan to make the Lords more democratic and representative – the first stage of which was the removal of the hereditary element. An important amendment allowed 92 hereditary peers to remain members of the Lords for an interim period. …

Out of about 750 hereditary peers, only 92 may sit in the House of Lords. These offices are hereditary in themselves, and in recent times have been held by the Dukes of Norfolk and the Marquesses of Cholmondeley respectively. These are the only two hereditary peers whose right to sit is automatic.

Members of the House of Lords are drawn from the peerage, made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. Membership was once an entitlement of all hereditary peers, other than those in the peerage of Ireland, but the House of Lords Act 1999 restricted it to 92 hereditary peers.

A look through the most recent list of expenses claimed by members of the House of Lords shows there are 61 peers who are registered to live in Scotland.

Hereditary peers are those whose right to sit in the Lords is due to their title being inherited from their fathers (or, much less frequently, their mothers). Currently, there are 814 hereditary peers although only 92 can sit in the Lords at any one time.