We're studying British Government in AP Comparitive Politics right now, and unfortunately, we basically have to teach ourselves. And the textbook we use is very vague at some points, and causes a few questions to come to my mind:

1) *How* exactly does the whole "disproportional representation" thing work? The book talks about the fact that Labour can take only 40% of the vote, but end up with a majority of seats in the House of Commons, or that the Conservatives can take a third of the vote, but get only 20% of Commons seats. What the book does not say is *how* this happens. Can someone explain that to me?

2) Am I correct in saying that seats in the House of Lords are hereditary like property and wealth are?

3) Other than method of appointment/election, what exactly *are* the differences between the House of Commons, and that of Lords? Do they have separate powers? What are they?

I find it frustrating that such simple questions are not really explained in our book. For what it's worth, most of the chapter is about the prime minister, and about policymaking. Very little about how Parliament actually works.

The Other "Many thanks for any help any one gives" Matthew