Hrm, well they went from hereditary peerages to elected representatives but it kind of bit them on the arse as the Lords still block things the government want to push through.

Mind Blair and Co. are now trying to change the amount of power the Lords hold but even though I don't always agree with their decisions I like having that stop-gap - especially when a government has such a large majority as 'new' Labour did the last two tenures.

Wiki has more >> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Lords)