In modern times, a vast majority of ministers belong to the Commons rather than the Lords

The House of Commons scrutinises (тщательно исследовать) the Government through "Question Time", during which members have the opportunity to ask questions of the Prime Minister and of other cabinet ministers. In practice, the House of Commons' scrutiny of the Government is fairly weak. Since the first-past-the-post electoral system is employed, the governing party often enjoys a large majority in the Commons, and there is often little need to compromise with other parties.

The House of Lords ("the Lords") is the upper house of the Parliament of the UK. The House of Lords, like the House of Commons, assembles in the Palace of Westminster.

Number of members- 707

Membership of the House of Lords is made up of the Lords Spiritual (26 senior bishops of the Church of England who hold office by virtue of their ecclesiastical role within the Established church) and the Lords Temporal(the majority are life peers who are appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister).

The House of Lords does remain a source for junior ministers, such as Lord Malloch-Brown (Foreign and Commonwealth Office). From 1999 to 2010 the Attorney-General has been a Lord; the most recent was Lady Scotland of Asthal. The House of Lords also has a Government Chief Whip.

No person may sit in the House of Lords if under the age of 21. Furthermore, only citizens of the United Kingdom, Commonwealth citizens, and citizens of Ireland may sit in the House of Lords. The nationality restrictions were previously more stringent: under the Act of Settlement 1701, and prior to the British Nationality Act 1948, only natural-born subjects were qualified.

The House of Lords has not had an established procedure for putting sanctions on its members

As to the structure of the Upper Chamber, it consists of life peers and hereditary peers. Life peers are nominated by the Queen for special services rendered to the country or excellency of expertise in this or that field. E.g. Elton John, Paul MacKartney, Mike Jugger.

Hereditary peers sit in the House of Lords because their fathers used to sit there. They are dukes, barons, etc.

At present the upper chamber is gets more representation of minority groups: there appeared the so-called ‘black lords’ – Euroafricans and Asians. Another experiment is alotting special money compensation to get lords interested in attending the sessions. They are paid 14 pounds for every session they attend.

Work of both Chambers is steeped in, and often obstucted by tradition (opening of the Parliament, the Black Rod service, ‘thronging’ of the Speaker, treading the red line) – ceremonial occasions, official gowns and special language of parliamentary debate.

Westminster is not the only parliament in the UK. There is the Assembly of the States in the Channel Islands and there is the Tynwald in the Isle of Man (both are dependencies) and the parliaments of Wales, Nothern Ireland and Scotland. But they deal with domestic matters and in matters affecting their common interests Westminster has overriding authority.