Woolsack Woolsack The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, the Upper House of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In the 14th century King Edward III (1327–1377) commanded that his Lord Chancellor whilst in council should sit on a wool bale, now known as "The Woolsack", in order to symbolise the central nature and huge importance of the wool trade to the economy of England in the Middle Ages. Indeed, it was largely to protect the vital English wool trade routes with continental Europe that the Battle of Crécy was fought with the French
Members of the House of Lords have died since December 2017: In addition to the hereditary peers excluded under the House of Lords Act 1999 and retired Lords Spiritual, there are a number of peers who have permanently ceased to be members of the House. Under section 1 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014, peers may permanently retire or otherwise resign their membership of the House. The following peers have exercised that right since the Act came into force in August 2014 and are either still living or have died since December 2017: Additionally, the following peers elected to retire from the House of