10 Facts About Lord Speaker

Lord Speaker is the presiding officer, chairman and highest authority of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial.

The Lord Chancellor continued to act as speaker of the House of Lords in an interim period after the Act was passed while the House of Lords considered new arrangements about its speakership.

Main functions of the Lord Speaker are to take the chair in debates held in the chamber of the House of Lords, to advise the House of Lords on procedural rules, to take formal responsibility for security in the areas of the Palace of Westminster occupied by the House of Lords and its members, to speak for the House of Lords on ceremonial occasions, and to represent the House of Lords as its ambassador in the UK and overseas.

Lord Speaker has assumed most of the duties that the Lord Chancellor used to have in relation to his parliamentary role.

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However, the Lord Speaker Chancellor continues to hand the speech to the Queen during the State Opening of Parliament, representing the Government in doing so.

The proposals include allowing the Lord Speaker, during Question Time and ministerial statements, to take on the role of advising the House which party should speak next when there is a dispute.

Lord Speaker thus elected then replaced the Lord Chancellor on the Woolsack.

The Lord Speaker earns a salary of £104,360, less than the Speaker of the House of Commons, though the Speaker of the House of Commons' salary includes £81,932 paid for being an MP.

The Lord Speaker is preceded by the Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms or Principal Doorkeeper of the House.