Jerzy Zdrada Jerzy Zdrada Jerzy Zdrada (1936–present) is a Polish historian and politician. He is a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and a professor at the Jagiellonian University since 1993. As a historian, he specializes in the history of Poland in the 19th century. He was an activist of the Solidarity movement in communist Poland. After the fall of communism, he was a member of the Democratic Union (UD) and Freedom Union (UW) parties. He was a deputy to the Polish parliament (Sejm) from 1989 to 1997. Afterwards, he was a Deputy Minister in the cabinet of Jerzy Buzek (1997–2001).
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sovereign nor the House of Lords had any meaningful influence over who was elected to the Commons in 1997 or in deciding whether or not Blair would become Prime Minister. Their detachment from the electoral process and the selection of the Prime Minister has been a convention of the constitution for almost 200 years. Prior to the 19th century, however, they had significant influence, using to their advantage the fact that most citizens were disenfranchised and seats in the Commons were allocated disproportionately. Through patronage, corruption and bribery, the Crown and Lords "owned" about 30% of the seats (called "pocket"