Woolsack 1938, it was discovered that the Woolsack was, in fact, stuffed with horsehair. When the Woolsack was remade it was re-stuffed with wool from all over the Commonwealth as a symbol of unity. The Lord Speaker may speak from the Woolsack when speaking in his or her capacity as Speaker of the House, but must, if he or she seeks to debate, deliver his or her remarks either from the left side of the Woolsack, or from the normal seats of the Lords. If a Deputy Speaker presides in the absence of the Lord Speaker, then that individual uses the
Reform of the House of Lords Peerage Act 1963 allowed hereditary peers to disclaim their peerage, allowing them to vote and stand for elections to the House of Commons. It also permitted hereditary peers in the Peerage of Scotland and female hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords without the election of representative peers as had been the procedure in Scotland prior to the Act. In 1968, Harold Wilson's Labour Government published a white paper on reform of the House of Lords. Main proposals made in the white paper were: The Parliament (No. 2) Bill, which embodied proposals of the white paper, was introduced