>"Membership was once a right of birth to hereditary peers but, following a series of reforms, only 92 members (as of 1 July 2011) sitting by virtue of a heredi

>"Membership was once a right of birth to hereditary peers but, following a series of reforms, only 92 members (as of 1 July 2011) sitting by virtue of a hereditary peerage remain." Importantly, they will not pass on their peerages to their children. There are no longer hereditary peerages in the UK, it's just that they didn't strip the current ones of their titles. There are still members of the clergy in there though, which is wrong. IMO the unelected house of lords is often the most effective part of our government. I don't like it but I find it very difficult to argue against.