<P> In the ensuing years, the Commons grew more assertive, the influence of the House of Lords having been reduced by the Reform Bill crisis, and the power of the patrons reduced . The Lords became more reluctant to reject bills that the Commons had passed with large majorities, and it became an accepted political principle that the confidence of the House of Commons alone was necessary for a government to remain in office . </P> <P> Many more reforms were introduced in the latter half of the 19th century . The Reform Act 1867 lowered property requirements for voting in the boroughs, reduced the representation of the less populous boroughs, and granted parliamentary seats to several growing industrial towns . The electorate was further expanded by the Representation of the People Act 1884, under which property qualifications in the counties were lowered . The Redistribution of Seats Act of the following year replaced almost all multi-member constituencies with single - member constituencies . </P> <P> In 1908, the Liberal Government under Asquith introduced a number of social welfare programmes, which, together with an expensive arms race, forced the Government to seek higher taxes . In 1909, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, introduced the "People's Budget", which proposed a new tax targeting wealthy landowners . This measure failed in the heavily Conservative House of Lords, and the government resigned . </P> <P> The resulting general election returned a hung parliament, but Asquith remained prime minister with the support of the smaller parties . Asquith then proposed that the powers of the Lords be severely curtailed . After a further election in December 1910, the Asquith Government secured the passage of a bill to curtail the powers of the House of Lords after threatening to flood the House with 500 new Liberal peers to ensure the passage of the bill . </P>

In which house of parliament the presiding officer is not a member of house