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 Lords in accordance with the Resolution of the House of 27 June 2011, under which peers were granted the option to signal their intention to voluntarily retire and have their service recognised in the House and marked informally outside the House, and are either still living or have died since December 2017. Under section 2 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014, peers who fail to attend any sittings of the House during a whole parliamentary session cease to be members of the House at the start of the next session. The following peers have been subject to this