<P> In the United Kingdom , Parliament consists of the House of Commons , the House of Lords , and the Monarch . The House of Commons is composed of 650 ( soon to be 600 ) members who are directly elected by British citizens to represent single - member constituencies . The leader of a Party that wins more than half the seats , or less than half but is able to gain the support of smaller parties to achieve a majority in the house is invited by the Monarch to form a government . The House of Lords is a body of long - serving , unelected members : Lords Temporal - 92 of whom inherit their titles ( and of whom 90 are elected internally by members of the House to lifetime seats ) , 588 of whom have been appointed to lifetime seats , and Lords Spiritual - 26 bishops , who are part of the house while they remain in office . </P>
which house in the english parliament is considered to be the lower house
House of Commons