American Reacts to How To Become A Lord 

Andrew Lloyd Webber's most noted moment as a member of the House of Lords was flying back from New York in his own personal private jet to vote for the first time in 3 years; the vote was cast in support of reducing tax credits (in-work benefits) for the lowest paid workers in the uk, before he immediately flew back to the US after the vote failed.

No, the Lords aren't the people on the other side of the Prime minister's 'benches, these are the opposition parties. The Lords are not allowed into the commons chamber unless invited. Their role is to modify or suggest changes in government bills before becoming law. They also serve on inter-party committees to formulate bills and policies along with members of the commons.

David Cameron was recently elected to the House of Lords after Rishi Sunak gave him a peerage, as he had retired from Politics and the Conservative Party, the only way Rishi could get him back on hand to help get laws through was to make him a Lord.

if youre curious about other functions of uk politics then jay foremans 'politics unboringed' series is a great one to continue on with - informative and entertaining

I love how attentive you are when watching videos. I can really tell that you have an interest in learning about the subjects that you're researching. Those edited-in google searches, as well as the pauses to read Map Men letters and posters etc. make it even better in my eyes. Thank you

Famous American Lords include This Is Spinal Tap's Christopher Guest or, to give him his full title Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest. Guest is married to one Jamie Leigh Curtis, who is titled The Right Honourable the Lady Haden-Guest.

Please, always do these when you're that tired. This was one of your best reactions, love it 😅

It's your stopping the videos, commenting, then replaying it again is what I like the most - it's what I would do anyway, but with your great reactions. 02:26 _"I need to go to bed..."_ 😂😂😂😂

Basically new legislation is debated and voted on in the House of Commons by the over 600 MP's. If the Bill is passed it's sent 'Up' to the House of Lords to be examined in detail. If they agree to the Bill it is sent to the Monarch to be signed into Law. If they disagree they can send it back to the Common for further debate and amendments that would make it acceptible to the Lords. (A bit like a teacher marking your work, and asking you to make improvements to bring it up to standard). The House of Lords can't veto a Bill, just ask the Common to look at it again, and delay it.

So the reason for the Bishops is partly due to the UK being a sort of theocracy and interestingly some of them actually do an amount of good when it comes to humanitarian

You could become a Lord if you naturalised as a British citizen. There’s Lord Lebedev, (officially “Baron Lebedev, of Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and of Siberia in the Russian Federation”) born in Moscow in 1980 who is both a Russian and British citizen (and whose father was a KGB agent) - he owns the London Evening Standard and was nominated by Boris Johnson in 2020 for “philanthropy and services to the media”’ this was rather controversial!

you on andrew lloyd webber: im sure he’s a fine man…. every brit watching: NO! NO!

you are thinking of Laird as in landowner .

You've got a great understanding of UK humour JJ!

The way that I see it is that the Lords really dont have a lot of power other than saying "not right now" "try again" "not quite right yet" and there is apparently a time limit on their ability to delay things. The Commons really "makes the laws" and the Lords is supposedly less "political" because they dont have to worry about being voted out of office. They do have a lot of privileges that are just crazy tho.

Ta to Wikipedia. You're too young to know/remember Seb Coe, I suspect. Coe retired from the House of Lords on 31 January 2022. Seb Coe studied Economics and Social History at Loughborough University and won his first major race in 1977-an 800 metres event at the European indoor championships in San Sebastián, Spain. Seb Coe was instrumental in asking Queen Elizabeth II to star in Happy and Glorious, a short film featuring James Bond, which formed part of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. The director of the ceremony, Danny Boyle first pitched the idea to Coe, who loved it so much that he took it to Edward Young, Deputy Private Secretary to the Queen. A friend of Coe's from their days of advising William Hague, Young "listened sagely, laughed, and promised to ask the Boss". Coe was subsequently informed that she would love to take part. Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe CH KBE Hon FRIBA (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. He set nine outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events - including, in 1979, setting three world records in the space of 41 days - and the world record he set in the 800 metres in 1981 remained unbroken until 1997. Coe's rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s. Following Coe's retirement from athletics, he was a Conservative member of parliament from 1992 to 1997 for Falmouth and Camborne in Cornwall, and became a Life Peer on 16 May 2000. He headed the successful London 2012 Olympic bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics and became chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. In 2007, he was elected a vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and re-elected for another four-year term in 2011. In August 2015, he was elected president of the IAAF. In 2012, Coe was appointed Pro-Chancellor of Loughborough University where he had been an undergraduate, and he is also a member of the university's governing body. He was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the IAAF Hall of Fame. In November 2012, he was appointed chairman of the British Olympic Association. Coe was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December 2012.

I never thought I would become so interested in watching videos about UK politics/history! The Map Men (Man) + JJ combo makes it very palatable (and funny!).

I love these videos and your reaction to them... its a perfect combo 😂😂😂

Bung the Tories a full brown envelope? Seems to work for most people these days. Then you can get them to give you £200million for non-existent PPE & buy yourself your own plane. 'Lady' Mone.

The UK House of Lords is truly the most comically archaic national-level upper house in the Global North Anglosphere, followed closely by the Canadian Senate (which is basically a fixed-sized version of the old country's without hereditary or religious titles), then the US Senate (which has been fully elected since 1913 but continues to be so via single-winner elections - which isn't very modern for multi-member bodies like legislatures) leaving the Australian Senate most fit for purpose (which, while malapportioned in federalist fashion, nonetheless has always been elected and has, since 1949, done so via statewide multi-member elections by a Proportional Representation voting system - the ever-cool PR-STV, to be exact) out of all of these. New Zealand, of course, abolished it's upper house (Legislative Council) all the way back in 1951.

The companies that advertise the purchase of tiny plots of land in Scotland as a means of acquiring a title of "Lord" are not beimg entirely honest. In Scotland there is a tradition that the owner of an estate is known as the "Laird" or, if female the Lady Laird. This DOES NOT make one a Lord, nor does it allow use of the title Lord. Current legal opinion is that the use of the title Laird only applies where one owns a fairly large area of land. In fact, the Land Registry of Scotland would not register the acquisition of a square foot of land. One would find it impossible to use the Laird title when one could not prove ownership of the land in question. If you think about it there are millions os Scottish home owners who are not able to use the title despite being able to prove ownership of rather more than one square foot. PS Love the videos.

Great video! You should also consider reacting to MPs Behaving Badly to see some funny highlights from the House of Commons

There are more videos about the lord system in the series. You're going to end up watching all of his videos.

The House of Lords is in a separate chamber from the House of Commons.

In answer to one of your earlier questions in this video, no buying a “Lordship of the manor” title does not make you a Peer (either hereditary or a Life Peer) and the title belongs to the manor, not to you, so you cannot sell on the title but you can sell on the manor (property and its land) and then you are no longer the Lord of the manor, instead it’s whoever bought the property. These titles are ancient and were created by the Monarch at the time when the feudal system of being given land by the King and then swearing allegiance to the King in return (including fighting for him in wars and providing a set number of warriors and never rising up against him) was the system of government. At least this is in England. I’m not sure if it’s the same in Scotland so not sure if those online ones offering a square foot of grassland for £500 is a scam or not.

so to give an example if you are lord or lady but not inherited an estate then travelling to london and staying there to debate may cost more than £300 this is similar to why MPs get paid. That was startedto help poor working class people stand for parliament without wealth being a disadvantage

I would suggest watching Free tours by foot they do tours round places.

No, you do not have to donate money to be chosen by the Prime Minister. Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson was appointed for her expertise on disability as a former Paralympian. Many of the Life Peers were chosen like this. The other religious leaders appointed to the Lords are to balance out the fact that Church of England Bishops and Archbishops are Lords. No the Lords and the Commons sit and debate in different chambers. You do not have to be a UK citizen. You can be a Commonwealth citizen, so Canadian for instance. The Lords’ job is to scrutinise and amend the bills, they have a couple of goes at this with a bill going back and forth between the 2 houses before it must either pass or fail but I don’t believe that the Lords can themselves block a bill, only the Commons. The Lords act to hold the government to account and has many more independent (of political affiliation) members than the Commons does. They can themselves introduce a bill into parliament just like the Commons can, but I believe that they have no power to interfere with any bills to do with taxation. I believe the longest that the Lords can delay the passing of a bill into law is one year. It’s the same as the Monarch. The Monarch’s only political role is symbolic. All power they hold is theoretical as while everything is carried out in their name it is in fact ordered and carried out by others and they have no say in the matter. Even signing a bill into law by giving Royal Assent is symbolic as they could not in reality refuse without breaking their Coronation Oath and therefore being in breach of their constitutional duty. Parliament could then revoke their oath to the Monarch and pass an an Act stating that the Monarch had abdicated the throne and their heir is now the new Monarch or even decide to change the position of Head of State to one carried out by an elected politician (God forbid as all we need is yet another corrupt politician!).

Wish u watched the adverts too.

The Lords and the Commons each have their own chamber. Both can write laws. Lords get limited expenses and no salaries. Commons get unlimited expenses and £80,000 salaries. Commons sleep in their offices. Most parliamentary work is done in committees, so the Houses usually have only a handful of attendees. A Commons bill can only be refused 3 times by the Lords. Every member of the Lords is now elected by ^someone^. Not all bishops can sit in the House; only the senior 26. Top judges are made Lords.

You have a better understanding of this (insane and ridiculous) topic than most people. Welcome to British politics!

The buy a plot of land in Scotland is a total scam - if owning land in Scotland made you a Lord then tens of thousands of people who own property in Scotland would all be using the title. It’s also worth noting that the Scottish Land Registry has a minimum size of land that can be registered so all of the souvenir plots are still legally owned by the company who sold them according to the Land Registry. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souvenir_plot?wprov=sfti1

hi hun. maybe do a couple of videos on Yorkshire. we call it gods own country. we have different sayings etc x

Andrew Lloyd Webber taught me how to eat spaghetti without making a mess. True story.

Just imagine if Arnold Schwarzenegger had of stayed in London back in the late 1960s early 1970s become a firm citizen, skipped Hollywood but gone straight into politics, he could have become a Lord!!!! Arnie rejecting a legislation "ba-hahaHAHAHAHAHAHA.... NO! .... Gow and REDOW ITTTT!"

Love your videos about our strange but beautiful country ,I'm from England and would love to know if I descend from the Vikings !!!❤❤❤

thanks

You really need to start at the beginning with Jay's Politics Unboringed. Our Political systems have evolved for over a thousand years. For good and bad. There is a reasons for everything that goes on. Many of those reasons are historical and have never been changed. Either because they are still appropriate and relevant, cermonial, rememberances or because they've been totally forgotten about! Most have been introduced to allow for changes brought about by significant events such as Wars, Conflicts, Religion, Demographics, Geographical, Scientific and other discoveries, Education, etc. etc. ... in the name of "Progress". It all gets a bit confusing if you start too near the end. For example ... There was a time, way back, when the Monarch's word was law. Then, the monarch ruled with a devolved system that involved the support and loyalty of a heredity system of land owning Aristocracy (aka Nobles, Peers):- Duke (wife Duchess) Marquis (wife Marchiness) Earl (wife Countess) Viscount (wife Viscountess) Baron (wife Baroness) All these heredity titles could also be allocated to the offspring of the monarch at their discretion. Until very recently, the British heredity system was based on male primogeniture. This means the Title and any entailed Property/Estate passes to/through, the next eldest son. Once the Title runs out of male heirs, it reverted to the 'Crown'. Without going into the whole history 😂 There are now just 92 places allocated to the House of Lords for Hereditary Peers. The others are individuals, of either sex appointed by the Prime Minister on the basis of various conventions (mostly based on their contribution to some area of British Political, Military, Scientific, Medical, Cultural, Charitable, etc. life) and recommendations by Public and other Organisations. These individuals are "Life Peers" only. Which means they do not pass on their Title to anyone else. The are 'entitled' with a 'Knighthood' or 'Dameship', and 'invested' (usually at Buckingham Palace) by the monarch or other senior member of the royal family, in their absence. The House of Lords is the Upper Chamber. It is where the State Opening of Parliament takes place. The Monarch makes the 'Speech' from the throne in the house of Lords. The Monarch is not allowed into the House of Commons. You need to react to/watch a YT video of a State Opening of Parliament, with a full commentry, to have some understanding of what is going on. Then of course, there's the 'House of Commons'... but that's another story 😮😉😂

The 26 bishops aren't all the bishops in the country, just the most powerful. And the UK is a theocracy, so it's not strange to have powerful religious leaders (whether the country should or should not be a theocracy is another question entirely)

it holds no legal power, it is an advisory house, they can only reject the legislation 3 times before the Commons can retroactively put it into law. each time it's rejected changes can be made or they can ignore it and pass another vote to send it back to the Lords. ultimately the Lords will fail if the commons is determined enough. they do some good at times, but they also can interfere with elected members of the commons and slow things down.

Jay must have meant “Archbishop in the Church of England”, not “Bishop”. Only the Archbishes of Canterbury and York are automatically in. Then it's the most senior bishops in the CofE up to the quota. This (obviously) doesn't include Welsh, Scottish, or Irish bishops (or Archbishops), even if they are Anglican. Equally obviously, it doesn't include Catholic, non-conformist Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu or Muslim clerics, although they are in with a good shout of being appointed life peers. Two Chief Rabbis and another senior (London) female rabbi have managed it.

Bribery and corruption, be a KGB agent or a relation of a Tory.

You do not have to be a British Citizen to be appointed a life or an hereditary peer.

This is not really a comedy. This brilliant bloke is proving what a load of money grabbing tosses the Lord are.

Be wary of componies seeling you plots of land to become a lord. The piece of land they 'sell' you is too small to be legally registered and thus no legal transfer of ownership takes place and neither are any rights or privileges. The company can then 'sell' that same plot over and over to multiple people. Even if you did buy land in Scotland and registered it with the land registry you won't be a lord or lady. You may call yourself a 'laird', but it's an old courtesy title, with no legal significance or privilege. It's a good novely gift, but it essencially a joke.

Like the US, the UK has a bicameral system, so the House of Lords and the House of Commons never "face each other" directly, they have different functions. Personally, I don't see any point in bicameralism. It works very well here (Sweden) with a single chamber, proportional, democratically elected parliament. (Psst, you don't need a constitutional court either).

The "Pay some money to buy a patch of land in Scotland and become a Lord" thing isn't a scam, but it's not like you're a "proper" Lord. My brother did it for himself for his birthday as a laugh, cost him about 25 quid. He got a square foot of land in Scotland, they put the money towards conservation I think. And when he renewed his AA membership (a roadside breakdown assistance and insurance company, not Alcoholics Anonymous), he got to use the title "Lord ________" which is printed on all the documents, which is kind of neat. His wife rolled her eyes at him of course.

Fun fact: Andrew Lloyd Weber only went into the House of Lords once to vote for cuts in benefits to the poorest in society to help fund tax cuts for him and his rich friend. Andrew Lloyd Weber not so great guy

Why Andrew Lloyd Webber? why any of them?

The House of Lords is a complete waste of taxpayers money, and should be abolished.

Love your videos but sometimes you have to try to not filter things through your American eyes. The House of Lords is an upper house like your senate but is meant to be independent of party politics. Nobody argues that it doesn't need reform - of course it does - but English history goes back a long way and the House of Lords is part of the checks and balances in the system, along with the monarchy, on the power of Parliament. This is similar to the American system of checks and balances on the power of the House of Representatives by the Senate and the President. The Church of England is a state institution created by Henry VIII when he split from Rome and so Catholicism has no role in state institutions. The reigning monarch is also the head of the Church of England. Of course all this could be overthrown by the people of England if they really wanted to. Parliament fought the monarchy in the English civil war in the 1600's and won, overthrowing the monarchy, but re-established the monarchy as it was preferable to the unbridled power of Oliver Cromwell.

No Roman catholic Bishops in the Lords ? ... that's discrimination old chap !!!