When the Government loses a vote in the House of Commons it is headline news. When the Government loses a vote in the House of lords it is hardly mentioned.

The reason for this may well lie in the fact that most news outlets realise a Lords defeat is usually overturned in the Commons and also because of the make up of the House of Lords not only do the Conservatives not have a majority but even the Coalition parties together do not have a majority.

As at 19th Novermber there were 761 Peers entitled to attend the House of Lords 28% of these are Conservatives and 12% Liberal Democrats. Despite what many people may think namely that the House of Lords is full of Conservatives Labour is the largest Party with 29% of Peers.

It is also not true that the Coalition have stuffed the Lords full of Conservatives since the last General Election. Since the 2010 election there have been 46 more Conservative Peers appointed, 39 Labour, 24 Liberal Democrats and 10 Crossbench (Independent) Peers.