<P> Traditionally there was no mechanism by which members could resign or be removed from the House of Lords (compare the situation as regards resignation from the House of Commons). The Peerage Act 1963 permitted a person to disclaim their newly inherited peerage (within certain time limits); this meant that such a person could effectively renounce their membership of the Lords . This might be done in order to remain or become qualified to sit in the House of Commons, as in the case of Tony Benn (formerly the second Viscount Stansgate), who had campaigned for such a change . </P> <P> The House of Lords Reform Act 2014 made provision for members' resignation from the House, removal for non-attendance, and automatic expulsion upon conviction for a serious criminal offence (if resulting in a jail sentence of at least one year). In June 2015, under the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015, the House's Standing Orders may provide for the expulsion or suspension of a member upon a resolution of the House . </P> <P> Traditionally the House of Lords did not elect its own speaker, unlike the House of Commons; rather, the ex officio presiding officer was the Lord Chancellor . With the passage of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the post of Lord Speaker was created, a position to which a peer is elected by the House and subsequently appointed by the Crown . The first Lord Speaker, elected on 4 May 2006, was Helene Hayman, a former Labour peer . As the Speaker is expected to be an impartial presiding officer, Hayman resigned from the Labour Party . In 2011, Frances D'Souza was elected as the second Lord Speaker, replacing Hayman in September 2011 . D'Souza was in turn succeeded by Norman Fowler in September 2016, the incumbent Lord Speaker . </P> <P> This reform of the post of Lord Chancellor was made due to the perceived constitutional anomalies inherent in the role . The Lord Chancellor was not only the Speaker of the House of Lords, but also a member of the Cabinet; his or her department, formerly the Lord Chancellor's Department, is now called the Ministry of Justice . The Lord Chancellor is no longer the head of the judiciary of England and Wales . Hitherto, the Lord Chancellor was part of all three branches of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial . </P>

Who gets to sit in the house of lords