Originally the House of Lords was one of three houses of parliaments, but after its merge with the House of Clergy it became equal to the House of Commons. This meant that neither party where more effective than the other at checking one another’s power as they were both equal, however after the House of Commons became an elected house, it healed most of the power, making the House of Lords the under dog. The powers of the House of Lords where then restrained further in 1911 due to the Parliament Act, which meant that the House of Lords could no longer, block a bill but only delay it for two years, later to be reduced to one year.
In 1958 another change commenced to the House of Lords meaning that all but 92 hereditary peers where removed. The life peerages act of 1958 then replaced the hereditary peers which gave the prime minister the right to appoint members of the upper house for life depending on if they have achieved something great within their life, or excel in the line of business that they are in such as sport, business, charity. However this had a more positive effect on the house regarding its checking powers because after this the House of Lords inflicted over 400 defeats on the labour and conservative governments including the prevention of anyone under 15 being placed in a secure college within young offenders detention centres, which could of led to their harm. However the House of Lords only has the power to block a bill for a year which means that the House of Lords can still proceed with a bill after this time such as the hunting act which the House of Lords blocked in 2004, however it still came into effect in February 2005.
Yet, the reformed House of Lords means that technically no party has a majority because during the days of hereditary peers the conservative party was hugely popular amongst the lords, however now there is no majority, with