Evaluate the view that although the House of Lords have less power than the House
of Commons it exerts more influence over the Government
The House of Lords, as well as the Commons built up the Houses of Parliament our
government. They are consisting out of peers and elected MPs. However, the Lords
main work is to scrutinise the work from the Houses of commons, while the house of
commons tries to pass legislation and to change our constituency. Due to the split of
powers, it is hard to say, who got more influence and power in and over the
Government. Nevertheless, the view that the House of Commons got more power is
more convincing. Therefore, in this essay I will argue the view that the House of
Lords does not exert more influence over the Government.
It can be argued that the Lords have less influence on the Government than the
House of commons, in terms of legislation, as the House of Commons is an elected
body by the people which means they got high level of legitimacy and a strong
mandate. They can use their legitimacy and mandate to pass the legislation, which
they have advertised in their manifesto. The legislation which is on the way get
passed it often popular and beneficial for the electorals. However, The House of
Lords is not able to do anything against the passing of the legislation. The only thing
is that they can delay the process by one year and scrutinise the legislation they are
trying to pass. Therefore, the parties in charge try to pass their important legislation
first, as they know it will go through after at least a year. Nevertheless, to delay the
legislation in not an advantage, as it will pass anyway even though the House of
Lords would reject it several times, or they are not happy with it. Therefore, it can be
said that the House of commons have more influence on the Government than the
House of Lords, as the House of Commons Is able to pass legislation even if the
House of Lords is not happy with the passing legislation.
On the other hand it can be argued that the house of Lords have more influence on
the Government, as the house of commons, when it comes to accountability. The
main job of the Lords is to hold the Government to account and make sure that
decision, which were made a beneficial and representative for the people. The Lords
are really good equipped to hold the Government to account, as they are experts in
their current area. For example a farmer helps to hold the Government to account,
as he knows exactly what is going on in the farmer industry and if the decisions
which were made are beneficial for the People or not. Furthermore the Lords got a
huge amount of time to hold the Government to account, which the House of
Commons doesn’t have. Another benefit are the resources, which are not given in
the House of Commons. Every Lord is able due to a secretary and special money to
get as much information and evidence as they need. All these advantages make it
easier for the Lords to hold the Government to account. However, despite the fact
that they are experts when it comes to accountability the house of Lords are even
