LONDON: Britain's political leaders appointed 22 new members to the House of Lords on Friday, adding to the overcrowding in the unelected second chamber that one peer says has created "appalling" working conditions.
With 774 existing members, the Lords is already bigger than the 650-seat elected House of Commons and is one of the largest parliamentary chambers in the world, thought to be second only to China's National People's Congress.
Betty Boothroyd, a former Speaker of the Commons who was later appointed to the Lords, complained earlier this week that there was no room for new members.
"It is so overcrowded that there is not enough space for about two thirds of us in the chamber itself. It is appalling," she told the BBC.
"There is no commercial enterprise who would put up with what we put up with here."
The Lords was once filled with aristocrats who passed their seats down from father to son, but reforms in 1999 abolished the right of all but 92 hereditary peers to be members.
Aside from the 26 bishops, all the others are appointed members for life.
Boothroyd accused political leaders of packing the Lords with supporters to help the passage of legislation, which must be approved by both Houses before becoming law.
"All prime ministers are very keen to put a lot of new members in here so that they get their legislation through, and they pile them in here," she said.
Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron appointed 12 new life peers including Stuart Rose, the former head of retail giant Marks and Spencer.
The deputy prime minister, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, appointed six new members, opposition Labour party leader Ed Miliband added three, and the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland named one.
A 2011 report by University College London's Constitution Unit warned the large number of peers meant members had limited access to computers and telephones and little or no space for staff.
Most peers are not paid a salary but can claim a daily attendance allowance of up to £300 (380 euros, $500).
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