title: House of Lords

text: The size of the House of Lords has varied greatly throughout its history. The English House of Lords—then comprising 168 members—was joined at Westminster by 16 Scottish peers to represent the peerage of Scotland—a total of 184 nobles—in 1707's first Parliament of Great Britain. A further 28 Irish members to represent the peerage of Ireland were added in 1801 to the first Parliament of the United Kingdom. From about 220 peers in the eighteenth century, the house saw continued expansion. From about 850 peers in 1951/52, the numbers rose further with more life peers after the Life Peerages Act 1958 and the inclusion of all Scottish peers and the first female peers in the Peerage Act 1963. It reached a record size of 1,330 in October 1999, immediately before the major Lords reform (House of Lords Act 1999) reduced it to 669, mostly life peers, by March 2000.


title: House of Lords

text: The chamber's membership again expanded in the following decades, increasing to above eight hundred active members in 2014 and prompting further reforms in the House of Lords Reform Act that year.


title: House of Lords

text: In April 2011, a cross-party group of former leading politicians, including many senior members of the House of Lords, called on the Prime Minister David Cameron to stop creating new peers. He had created 117 new peers between entering office in May 2010 and leaving in July 2016, a faster rate of elevation than any PM in British history; at the same time his government had tried (in vain) to reduce the House of Commons by 50, from 650 to 600 MPs.


title: House of Lords

text: In August 2014, despite there being a seating capacity for only around 230 to 400 on the benches in the Lords chamber, the House had 774 active members (plus 54 who were not entitled to attend or vote, having been suspended or granted leave of absence). This made the House of Lords the largest parliamentary chamber in any democracy. In August 2014, former Speaker of the House of Commons Betty Boothroyd requested that "older peers should retire gracefully" to ease the overcrowding in the House of Lords. She also criticised successive prime ministers for filling the second chamber with "lobby fodder" in an attempt to help their policies become law. She made her remarks days before a new batch of peers were due to be created and several months after the passage of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014, enabling life peers to retire or resign their seats in the House, which had previously only been possible for hereditary peers and bishops.


title: House of Lords

text: In August 2015, when 45 more peers were created in the Dissolution Honours, the total number of eligible members of the Lords increased to 826. In a report entitled "Does size matter?" the BBC said: "Increasingly, yes. Critics argue the House of Lords is the second largest legislature after the Chinese National People's Congress and dwarfs upper houses in other bicameral democracies such as the United States (100 senators), France (348 senators), Australia (76 senators), Canada (105 appointed senators) and India (250 members). The Lords is also larger than the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea (687 members). ... Peers grumble that there is not enough room to accommodate all of their colleagues in the Chamber, where there are only about 400 seats, and say they are constantly jostling for space – particularly during high-profile sittings", but added, "On the other hand, defenders of the Lords say that it does a vital job scrutinising legislation, a lot of which has come its way from the Commons in recent years".


title: House of Lords

text: In late 2016, a Lord Speaker's committee was formed to examine the issue of overcrowding, with fears membership could swell to above 1,000, and in October 2017 the committee presented its findings. In December 2017, the Lords debated and broadly approved its report, which proposed a cap on membership at 600 peers, with a fifteen-year term limit for new peers and a "two-out, one-in" limit on new appointments. By October 2018, the Lord Speaker's committee commended the reduction in peers' numbers, noting that the rate of departures had been greater than expected, with the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee approving the progress achieved without legislation.


title: House of Lords

text: By April 2019, with the retirement of nearly one hundred peers since the passage of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014, the number of active peers had been reduced to a total of 782, of whom 665 were life peers. This total, however, remains greater than the membership of 669 peers in March 2000, after implementation of the House of Lords Act 1999 removed the bulk of the hereditary peers from their seats; it is well above the proposed 600-member cap, and is still larger than the House of Commons's 650 members.


title: House of Lords

text: The House of Lords debates legislation, and has power to amend or reject bills. However, the power of the Lords to reject a bill passed by the House of Commons is severely restricted by the Parliament Acts. Under those Acts, certain types of bills may be presented for Royal Assent without the consent of the House of Lords (i.e. the Commons can override the Lords' veto). The House of Lords cannot delay a money bill (a bill that, in the view of the Speaker of the House of Commons, solely concerns national taxation or public funds) for more than one month.


title: House of Lords

text: Other public bills cannot be delayed by the House of Lords for more than two parliamentary sessions, or one calendar year. These provisions, however, only apply to public bills that originate in the House of Commons, and cannot have the effect of extending a parliamentary term beyond five years. A further restriction is a constitutional convention known as the Salisbury Convention, which means that the House of Lords does not oppose legislation promised in the Government's election manifesto.


title: House of Lords

text: By a custom that prevailed even before the Parliament Acts, the House of Lords is further restrained insofar as financial bills are concerned. The House of Lords may neither originate a bill concerning taxation or Supply (supply of treasury or exchequer funds), nor amend a bill so as to insert a taxation or Supply-related provision. (The House of Commons, however, often waives its privileges and allows the Upper House to make amendments with financial implications.) Moreover, the Upper House may not amend any Supply Bill. The House of Lords formerly maintained the absolute power to reject a bill relating to revenue or Supply, but this power was curtailed by the Parliament Acts.


title: House of Lords

text: The House of Lords does not control the term of the prime minister or of the government. Only the lower house may force the prime minister to resign or call elections by passing a motion of no-confidence or by withdrawing supply. Thus, the House of Lords' oversight of the government is limited.


title: House of Lords

text: Most Cabinet ministers are from the House of Commons rather than the House of Lords. In particular, all prime ministers since 1902 have been members of the lower house. (Alec Douglas-Home, who became prime minister in 1963 whilst still an earl, disclaimed his peerage and was elected to the Commons soon after his term began.) In recent history, it has been very rare for major cabinet positions (except Lord Chancellor and Leader of the House of Lords) to have been filled by peers.


title: House of Lords

text: Exceptions include Peter Carington, 6th Lord Carrington, who was the Secretary of State for Defence from 1970 to 1974, Secretary of State for Energy briefly for two months in early 1974 and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs between 1979 and 1982, Arthur Cockfield, Lord Cockfield, who served as Secretary of State for Trade and President of the Board of Trade, David Young, Lord Young of Graffham (Minister without Portfolio, then Secretary of State for Employment and then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and President of the Board of Trade from 1984 to 1989), Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos, who served as Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Adonis, Lord Adonis, who served as Secretary of State for Transport and Peter Mandelson, who served as First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade. George Robertson, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen was briefly a peer whilst serving as Secretary of State for Defence before resigning to take up the post of Secretary General of NATO. From 1999 to 2010 the Attorney General for England and Wales was a member of the House of Lords; the most recent was Patricia Scotland.


title: House of Lords

text: The House of Lords remains a source for junior ministers and members of government. Like the House of Commons, the Lords also has a Government Chief Whip as well as several Junior Whips. Where a government department is not represented by a minister in the Lords or one is not available, government whips will act as spokesmen for them.


title: House of Lords

text: Historically, the House of Lords held several judicial functions. Most notably, until 2009 the House of Lords served as the court of last resort for most instances of UK law. Since 1 October 2009 this role is now held by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.


title: House of Lords

text: The Lords' judicial functions originated from the ancient role of the Curia Regis as a body that addressed the petitions of the King's subjects. The functions were exercised not by the whole House, but by a committee of "Law Lords". The bulk of the House's judicial business was conducted by the twelve Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, who were specifically appointed for this purpose under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876.


title: House of Lords

text: The judicial functions could also be exercised by Lords of Appeal (other members of the House who happened to have held high judicial office). No Lord of Appeal in Ordinary or Lord of Appeal could sit judicially beyond the age of seventy-five. The judicial business of the Lords was supervised by the Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and their deputy, the Second Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.


title: House of Lords

text: The jurisdiction of the House of Lords extended, in civil and in criminal cases, to appeals from the courts of England and Wales, and of Northern Ireland. From Scotland, appeals were possible only in civil cases; Scotland's High Court of Justiciary is the highest court in criminal matters. The House of Lords was not the United Kingdom's only court of last resort; in some cases, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council performs such a function. The jurisdiction of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom, however, is relatively restricted; it encompasses appeals from ecclesiastical courts, disputes under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, and a few other minor matters. Issues related to devolution were transferred from the Privy Council to the Supreme Court in 2009.


title: House of Lords

text: The twelve Law Lords did not all hear every case; rather, after World War II cases were heard by panels known as Appellate Committees, each of which normally consisted of five members (selected by the Senior Lord). An Appellate Committee hearing an important case could consist of more than five members. Though Appellate Committees met in separate committee rooms, judgement was given in the Lords Chamber itself. No further appeal lay from the House of Lords, although the House of Lords could refer a "preliminary question" to the European Court of Justice in cases involving an element of European Union law, and a case could be brought at the European Court of Human Rights if the House of Lords did not provide a satisfactory remedy in cases where the European Convention on Human Rights was relevant.


title: House of Lords

text: A distinct judicial function—one in which the whole House used to participate—is that of trying impeachments. Impeachments were brought by the House of Commons, and tried in the House of Lords; a conviction required only a majority of the Lords voting. Impeachments, however, are to all intents and purposes obsolete; the last impeachment was that of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, in 1806.


title: House of Lords

text: Similarly, the House of Lords was once the court that tried peers charged with high treason or felony. The House would be presided over not by the Lord Chancellor, but by the Lord High Steward, an official especially appointed for the occasion of the trial. If Parliament was not in session, then peers could be tried in a separate court, known as the Lord High Steward's Court. Only peers, their wives, and their widows (unless remarried) were entitled to such trials; the Lords Spiritual were tried in ecclesiastical courts. In 1948, the right of peers to be tried in such special courts was abolished; now, they are tried in the regular courts. The last such trial in the House was of Edward Russell, 26th Baron de Clifford, in 1935. An illustrative dramatisation circa 1928 of a trial of a peer (the fictional Duke of Denver) on a charge of murder (a felony) is portrayed in the 1972 BBC Television adaption of Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mystery "Clouds of Witness".


title: House of Lords

text: The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 resulted in the creation of a separate Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, to which the judicial function of the House of Lords, and some of the judicial functions of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, were transferred. In addition, the office of Lord Chancellor was reformed by the act, removing his ability to act as both a government minister and a judge. This was motivated in part by concerns about the historical admixture of legislative, judicial, and executive power. The new Supreme Court is located at Middlesex Guildhall.


title: House of Lords

text: Members of the House of Lords who sit by virtue of their ecclesiastical offices are known as Lords Spiritual. Formerly, the Lords Spiritual were the majority in the English House of Lords, comprising the church's archbishops, (diocesan) bishops, abbots, and those priors who were entitled to wear a mitre. After the English Reformation's high point in 1539, only the archbishops and bishops continued to attend, as the Dissolution of the Monasteries had just disposed of and suppressed the positions of abbot and prior. In 1642, during the few gatherings of the Lords convened during English Interregnum which saw periodic war, the Lords Spiritual were excluded altogether, but they returned under the Clergy Act 1661.


title: House of Lords

text: The number of Lords Spiritual was further restricted by the Bishopric of Manchester Act 1847, and by later Acts. The Lords Spiritual can now number no more than 26: these are the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester (who sit by right regardless of seniority), and the 21 longest-serving archbishops and bishops from other dioceses in the Church of England (excluding the dioceses of Sodor and Man and Gibraltar in Europe, as these lie entirely outside the United Kingdom). Following a change to the law in 2014 to allow women to be ordained archbishops and bishops, the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 was passed, which provides that whenever a vacancy arises among the Lords Spiritual during the ten years following the Act coming into force, the vacancy has to be filled by a woman, if one is eligible. This does not apply to the five archbishops and bishops who sit by right.


title: House of Lords

text: The current Lords Spiritual represent only the Church of England. Archbishops and bishops of the Church of Scotland historically sat in the Parliament of Scotland but were finally excluded in 1689 (after a number of previous exclusions) when the Church of Scotland became permanently Presbyterian. There are no longer archbishops and bishops in the Church of Scotland in the traditional sense of the word, and that Church has never sent members to sit in the Westminster House of Lords. The Church of Ireland did obtain representation in the House of Lords after the union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1801. Of the Church of Ireland's ecclesiastics, four (one archbishop and three bishops) were to sit at any one time, with the members rotating at the end of every parliamentary session (which normally lasted about one year). The Church of Ireland, however, was disestablished in 1871, and thereafter ceased to be represented by Lords Spiritual. Archbishops and bishops of Welsh sees in the Church of England originally sat in the House of Lords (after 1847, only if their seniority within the church entitled them to), but the Church in Wales ceased to be a part of the Church of England in 1920 and was simultaneously disestablished in Wales. Accordingly, archbishops and bishops of the Church in Wales were no longer eligible to be appointed to the House as archbishops and bishops of the Church of England, but those already appointed remained.


title: House of Lords

text: Other ecclesiastics have sat in the House of Lords as Lords Temporal in recent times: Chief Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits was appointed to the House of Lords (with the consent of the Queen, who acted on the advice of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher), as was his successor Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Julia Neuberger is the senior rabbi to the West London Synagogue. In recognition of his work at reconciliation and in the peace process in Northern Ireland, the Archbishop of Armagh (the senior Anglican archbishop in Ireland), Robin Eames, was appointed to the Lords by John Major. Other clergy appointed include Donald Soper, Timothy Beaumont, and some Scottish clerics.


title: House of Lords

text: There have been no Roman Catholic clergy appointed, though it was rumoured that Cardinal Basil Hume and his successor Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor were offered peerages by James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair respectively, but declined. Cardinal Hume later accepted the Order of Merit, a personal appointment of the Queen, shortly before his death. Cardinal Murphy O'Connor said he had his maiden speech ready, but Roman Catholics who have received holy orders are prohibited by canon law from holding major offices connected with any government other than the Holy See.


title: House of Lords

text: Former Archbishops of Canterbury, having reverted to the status of a regular bishop but no longer diocesans, are invariably given life peerages and sit as Lords Temporal.


title: House of Lords

text: By custom at least one of the archbishops or bishops reads prayers in each legislative day (a role taken by the chaplain in the Commons). They often speak in debates; in 2004 Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, opened a debate into sentencing legislation. Measures (proposed laws of the Church of England) must be put before the Lords, and the Lords Spiritual have a role in ensuring that this takes place.


title: House of Lords

text: Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Lords Temporal have been the most numerous group in the House of Lords. Unlike the Lords Spiritual, they may be publicly partisan, aligning themselves with one or another of the political parties that dominate the House of Commons. Publicly non-partisan Lords are called crossbenchers. Originally, the Lords Temporal included several hundred hereditary peers (that is, those whose peerages may be inherited), who ranked variously as dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons (as well as Scottish Lords of Parliament). Such hereditary dignities can be created by the Crown; in modern times this is done on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day (except in the case of members of the Royal Family).


title: House of Lords

text: Holders of Scottish and Irish peerages were not always permitted to sit in the Lords. When Scotland united with England to form Great Britain in 1707, it was provided that the Scottish hereditary peers would only be able to elect 16 representative peers to sit in the House of Lords; the term of a representative was to extend until the next general election. A similar provision was enacted when Ireland merged with Great Britain in 1801 to form the United Kingdom; the Irish peers were allowed to elect 28 representatives, who were to retain office for life. Elections for Irish representatives ended in 1922, when most of Ireland became an independent state known as the Irish Free State; elections for Scottish representatives ended with the passage of the Peerage Act 1963, under which all Scottish peers obtained seats in the Upper House.


title: House of Lords

text: In 1999, the Labour government brought forward the House of Lords Act removing the right of several hundred hereditary peers to sit in the House. The Act provided, as a measure intended to be temporary, that 92 people would continue to sit in the Lords by virtue of hereditary peerages, and this is still in effect.


title: House of Lords

text: Of the 92, two remain in the House of Lords because they hold royal offices connected with Parliament: the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain. Of the remaining ninety peers sitting in the Lords by virtue of a hereditary peerage, 15 are elected by the whole House and 75 are chosen by fellow hereditary peers in the House of Lords, grouped by party. (A holder of a hereditary peerage who is given a life peerage becomes a member of the House of Lords without a need for a by-election.) The exclusion of other hereditary peers removed Charles, Prince of Wales (who was also Earl of Chester) and all other royal peers, including Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex; Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester; and Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.


title: House of Lords

text: The number of hereditary peers to be chosen by a political group reflects the proportion of hereditary peers that belonged to that group (see current composition below) in 1999. When an elected hereditary peer dies, a by-election is held, with a variant of the Alternative Vote system being used. If the recently deceased hereditary peer had been elected by the whole House, then so is his or her replacement; a hereditary peer elected by a specific political group (including the non-aligned crossbenchers) is replaced by a vote of the hereditary peers already elected to the Lords belonging to that political group (whether elected by that group or by the whole house).


title: House of Lords

text: Until 2009, the Lords Temporal also included the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, more commonly known as Law Lords, a group of individuals appointed to the House of Lords so that they could exercise its judicial functions. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary were first appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876. They were selected by the Prime Minister of the day, but were formally appointed by the Sovereign. A Lord of Appeal in Ordinary had to retire at the age of 70, or, if his term was extended by the government, at the age of 75; after reaching such an age, the Law Lord could not hear any further cases in the House of Lords.


title: House of Lords

text: The number of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (excluding those who were no longer able to hear cases because of age restrictions) was limited to twelve, but could be changed by statutory instrument. By a convention of the House, Lords of Appeal in Ordinary did not take part in debates on new legislation, so as to maintain judicial independence. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary held their seats in the House of Lords for life, remaining as members even after reaching the judicial retirement age of 70 or 75. Former Lord Chancellors and holders of other high judicial office could also sit as Law Lords under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, although in practice this right was only rarely exercised.


title: House of Lords

text: Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary when the Act came into effect in 2009 became judges of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and were then barred from sitting or voting in the House of Lords until they had retired as judges. One of the main justifications for the new Supreme Court was to establish a separation of powers between the judiciary and the legislature. It is therefore unlikely that future appointees to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will be made Lords of Appeal in Ordinary.


title: House of Lords

text: The largest group of Lords Temporal, and indeed of the whole House, are life peers. there are 682 life peers eligible to vote in the House. Life peers rank only as barons or baronesses, and are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958. Like all other peers, life peers are created by the Sovereign, who acts on the advice of the Prime Minister or the House of Lords Appointments Commission. By convention, however, the Prime Minister allows leaders of other parties to nominate some life peers, so as to maintain a political balance in the House of Lords. Moreover, some non-party life peers (the number being determined by the Prime Minister) are nominated by the independent House of Lords Appointments Commission.


title: House of Lords

text: In 2000 the government announced that it would set up an Independent Appointments Commission, under Dennis Stevenson, Lord Stevenson of Coddenham, to select fifteen so-called "people's peers" for life peerages. However, when the choices were announced in April 2001, from a list of 3,000 applicants, the choices were treated with criticism in the media, as all were distinguished in their field, and none were "ordinary people" as some had originally hoped.


title: House of Lords

text: Several different qualifications apply for membership of the House of Lords. No person may sit in the House of Lords if under the age of 21. Furthermore, only United Kingdom, Irish and Commonwealth citizens may sit in the House of Lords. The nationality restrictions were previously more stringent: under the Act of Settlement 1701, and prior to the British Nationality Act 1948, only natural-born subjects qualified.


title: House of Lords

text: Additionally, some bankruptcy-related restrictions apply to members of the Upper House. Subjects of a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order (applicable in England and Wales only), adjudged bankrupt (in Northern Ireland), or a sequestered estate (in Scotland) are not eligible to sit in the House of Lords. Individuals convicted of high treason are prohibited from sitting in the House of Lords until completion of their full term of imprisonment. An exception applies, however, if the individual convicted of high treason receives a full pardon. Note that an individual serving a prison sentence for an offence other than high treason is "not" automatically disqualified.


title: House of Lords

text: Women were excluded from the House of Lords until the Life Peerages Act 1958, passed to address the declining number of active members, made possible the creation of peerages for life. Women were immediately eligible and four were among the first life peers appointed. However, female hereditary peers continued to be excluded until the passage of the Peerage Act 1963. Since the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, female hereditary peers remain eligible for election to the Upper House; until her resignation on 1 May 2020, there was one (Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar) among the 90 hereditary peers who continue to sit. After Barbara Wootton became one of the first four life peers appointed under the Life Peerages Act 1958, she requested that she not be referred to as "peeress", believing that the term failed to distinguish female peers from the mere wives of peers.


title: House of Lords

text: The Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 made it illegal for a peerage, or other honour, to be bought or sold. Nonetheless, there have been repeated allegations that life peerages (and thus membership of the House of Lords) have been made available to major political donors in exchange for donations. The most prominent example, the Cash for Honours scandal in 2006, saw a police investigation, with no charges being brought. A 2015 study found that of 303 people nominated for peerages in the period 2005–2014, a total of 211 were former senior figures within politics (including former MPs), or were non-political appointments. Of the remaining 92 political appointments from outside public life, 27 had made significant donations to political parties. The authors concluded firstly that nominees from outside public life were much more likely to have made large gifts than peers nominated after prior political or public service. They also found that significant donors to parties were far more likely to be nominated for peerages than other party members.


title: House of Lords

text: Traditionally there was no mechanism by which members could resign or be removed from the House of Lords (compare the situation as regards resignation from the House of Commons). The Peerage Act 1963 permitted a person to disclaim their newly inherited peerage (within certain time limits); this meant that such a person could effectively renounce their membership of the Lords. This might be done in order to remain or become qualified to sit in the House of Commons, as in the case of Tony Benn (formerly the second Viscount Stansgate), who had campaigned for such a change.


title: House of Lords

text: The House of Lords Reform Act 2014 made provision for members' resignation from the House, removal for non-attendance, and automatic expulsion upon conviction for a serious criminal offence (if resulting in a jail sentence of at least one year). In June 2015, under the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015, the House's Standing Orders may provide for the expulsion or suspension of a member upon a resolution of the House.


title: House of Lords

text: In November 2020, Nazir Ahmed, Lord Ahmed retired from the House of Lords, having seen a Lords Conduct Committee report recommending he be expelled. In December the same year, Ken Maginnis was suspended from the House for 18 months.


title: House of Lords

text: Traditionally the House of Lords did not elect its own speaker, unlike the House of Commons; rather, the "ex officio" presiding officer was the Lord Chancellor. With the passage of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the post of Lord Speaker was created, a position to which a peer is elected by the House and subsequently appointed by the Crown. The first Lord Speaker, elected on 4 May 2006, was Helene Hayman, Baroness Hayman, a former Labour peer. As the Speaker is expected to be an impartial presiding officer, Hayman resigned from the Labour Party. In 2011, Frances D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza was elected as the second Lord Speaker, replacing Hayman in September 2011. D'Souza was in turn succeeded by Norman Fowler, Lord Fowler in September 2016, who served as Lord Speaker till his resignation in April 2021. He was succeeded as Lord Speaker by John McFall, Lord McFall of Alcluith, who is the incumbent Lord Speaker.


title: House of Lords

text: This reform of the post of Lord Chancellor was made due to the perceived constitutional anomalies inherent in the role. The Lord Chancellor was not only the Speaker of the House of Lords, but also a member of the Cabinet; his or her department, formerly the Lord Chancellor's Department, is now called the Ministry of Justice. The Lord Chancellor is no longer the head of the judiciary of England and Wales. Hitherto, the Lord Chancellor was part of all three branches of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.


title: House of Lords

text: The overlap of the legislative and executive roles is a characteristic of the Westminster system, as the entire cabinet consists of members of the House of Commons or the House of Lords; however, in June 2003, the Blair Government announced its intention to abolish the post of Lord Chancellor because of the office's mixed executive and judicial responsibilities. The abolition of the office was rejected by the House of Lords, and the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 was thus amended to preserve the office of Lord Chancellor. The Act no longer guarantees that the office holder of Lord Chancellor is the presiding officer of the House of Lords, and therefore allows the House of Lords to elect a speaker of their own.


title: House of Lords

text: The lord speaker may be replaced as presiding officer by one of his or her deputies. The chairman of committees, the principal deputy chairman of committees, and several chairmen are all deputies to the lord speaker, and are all appointed by the House of Lords itself at the beginning of each session. By custom, the Crown appoints each chairman, principal deputy chairman and deputy chairman to the additional office of Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords. There was previously no legal requirement that the lord chancellor or a deputy speaker be a member of the House of Lords (though the same has long been customary).


title: House of Lords

text: Whilst presiding over the House of Lords, the lord chancellor traditionally wore ceremonial black and gold robes. Robes of black and gold are now worn by the lord chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in the House of Commons, on ceremonial occasions. This is no longer a requirement for the lord speaker except for state occasions outside of the chamber. The speaker or deputy speaker sits on the Woolsack, a large red seat stuffed with wool, at the front of the Lords Chamber.


title: House of Lords

text: When the House of Lords resolves itself into committee (see below), the Chairman of Committees or a Deputy Chairman of Committees presides, not from the Woolsack, but from a chair at the Table of the House. The presiding officer has little power compared to the Speaker of the House of Commons. The presiding officer only acts as the mouthpiece of the House, performing duties such as announcing the results of votes. This is because, unlike in the House of Commons where all statements are directed to "Mr/Madam Speaker", in the House of Lords they are directed to "My Lords"; i.e., the entire body of the House.


title: House of Lords

text: The Lord Speaker or Deputy Speaker cannot determine which members may speak, or discipline members for violating the rules of the House; these measures may be taken only by the House itself. Unlike the politically neutral Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lord Chancellor and Deputy Speakers originally remained members of their respective parties, and were permitted to participate in debate; however, this is no longer true of the new role of Lord Speaker.


title: House of Lords

text: Another officer of the body is the Leader of the House of Lords, a peer selected by the Prime Minister. The Leader of the House is responsible for steering Government bills through the House of Lords, and is a member of the Cabinet. The Leader also advises the House on proper procedure when necessary, but such advice is merely informal, rather than official and binding. A Deputy Leader is also appointed by the Prime Minister, and takes the place of an absent or unavailable leader.


title: House of Lords

text: The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk and officer of the House of Lords (but is not a member of the House itself). The Clerk, who is appointed by the Crown, advises the presiding officer on the rules of the House, signs orders and official communications, endorses bills, and is the keeper of the official records of both Houses of Parliament. Moreover, the Clerk of the Parliaments is responsible for arranging by-elections of hereditary peers when necessary. The deputies of the Clerk of the Parliaments (the Clerk Assistant and the Reading Clerk) are appointed by the Lord Speaker, subject to the House's approval.


title: House of Lords

text: The Gentleman or Lady Usher of the Black Rod is also an officer of the House; they take their title from the symbol of their office, a black rod. Black Rod (as the Gentleman/Lady Usher is normally known) is responsible for ceremonial arrangements, is in charge of the House's doorkeepers, and may (upon the order of the House) take action to end disorder or disturbance in the Chamber. Black Rod also holds the office of Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Lords, and in this capacity attends upon the Lord Speaker. The Gentleman or Lady Usher of the Black Rod's duties may be delegated to the Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod or to the Assistant Serjeant-at-Arms.


title: House of Lords

text: The House of Lords and the House of Commons assemble in the Palace of Westminster. The Lords Chamber is lavishly decorated, in contrast with the more modestly furnished Commons Chamber. Benches in the Lords Chamber are coloured red. The Woolsack is at the front of the Chamber; the Government sit on benches on the right of the Woolsack, while members of the Opposition sit on the left. Crossbenchers sit on the benches immediately opposite the Woolsack.


title: House of Lords

text: The Lords Chamber is the site of many formal ceremonies, the most famous of which is the State Opening of Parliament, held at the beginning of each new parliamentary session. During the State Opening, the Sovereign, seated on the Throne in the Lords Chamber and in the presence of both Houses of Parliament, delivers a speech outlining the Government's agenda for the upcoming parliamentary session.


title: House of Lords

text: In the House of Lords, members need not seek the recognition of the presiding officer before speaking, as is done in the House of Commons. If two or more Lords simultaneously rise to speak, the House decides which one is to be heard by acclamation, or, if necessary, by voting on a motion. Often, however, the Leader of the House will suggest an order, which is thereafter generally followed. Speeches in the House of Lords are addressed to the House as a whole ("My Lords") rather than to the presiding officer alone (as is the custom in the Lower House). Members may not refer to each other in the second person (as "you"), but rather use third person forms such as "the noble Duke", "the noble Earl", "the noble Lord", "my noble friend", "The most Reverend Primate", etc.


title: House of Lords

text: Each member may make no more than one speech on a motion, except that the mover of the motion may make one speech at the beginning of the debate and another at the end. Speeches are not subject to any time limits in the House; however, the House may put an end to a speech by approving a motion "that the noble Lord be no longer heard". It is also possible for the House to end the debate entirely, by approving a motion "that the Question be now put". This procedure is known as Closure, and is extremely rare. Six closure motions were passed on 4 April 2019 to significant media attention as part of consideration of a private member's bill concerning the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.


title: House of Lords

text: Once all speeches on a motion have concluded, or Closure invoked, the motion may be put to a vote. The House first votes by voice vote; the Lord Speaker or Deputy Speaker puts the question, and the Lords respond either "content" (in favour of the motion) or "not content" (against the motion). The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote, but if his assessment is challenged by any Lord, a recorded vote known as a division follows.


title: House of Lords

text: Members of the House enter one of two lobbies (the "content" lobby or the "not-content" lobby) on either side of the Chamber, where their names are recorded by clerks. At each lobby are two Tellers (themselves members of the House) who count the votes of the Lords. The Lord Speaker may not take part in the vote. Once the division concludes, the Tellers provide the results thereof to the presiding officer, who then announces them to the House.


title: House of Lords

text: If there is an equality of votes, the motion is decided according to the following principles: legislation may proceed in its present form, unless there is a majority in favour of amending or rejecting it; any other motions are rejected, unless there is a majority in favour of approving it. The quorum of the House of Lords is just three members for a general or procedural vote, and 30 members for a vote on legislation. If fewer than three or 30 members (as appropriate) are present, the division is invalid.


title: House of Lords

text: Special arrangements were made during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to allow some duties to be carried out online.


title: House of Lords

text: By contrast with the House of Commons, the House of Lords has not until recently had an established procedure for imposing sanctions on its members. When a cash for influence scandal was referred to the Committee of Privileges in January 2009, the Leader of the House of Lords also asked the Privileges Committee to report on what sanctions the House had against its members. After seeking advice from the Attorney General for England and Wales and the former Lord Chancellor James Mackay, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, the committee decided that the House "possessed an inherent power" to suspend errant members, although not to withhold a writ of summons nor to expel a member permanently. When the House subsequently suspended Peter Truscott, Lord Truscott and Tom Taylor, Lord Taylor of Blackburn for their role in the scandal, they were the first to meet this fate since 1642.


title: House of Lords

text: Recent changes have expanded the disciplinary powers of the House. Section 3 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 now provides that any member of the House of Lords convicted of a crime and sentenced to imprisonment for more than one year loses their seat. The House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015 allows the House to set up procedures to suspend, and to expel, its members.


title: House of Lords

text: There are two motions which have grown up through custom and practice and which govern questionable conduct within the House. They are brought into play by a member standing up, possibly intervening on another member, and moving the motion without notice. When the debate is getting excessively heated, it is open to a member to move "that the Standing Order on Asperity of Speech be read by the Clerk". The motion can be debated, but if agreed by the House, the Clerk of the Parliaments will read Standing Order 32 which provides "That all personal, sharp, or taxing speeches be forborn". The Journals of the House of Lords record only four instances on which the House has ordered the Standing Order to be read since the procedure was invented in 1871.


title: House of Lords

text: For more serious problems with an individual Lord, the option is available to move "That the noble Lord be no longer heard". This motion also is debatable, and the debate which ensues has sometimes offered a chance for the member whose conduct has brought it about to come to order so that the motion can be withdrawn. If the motion is passed, its effect is to prevent the member from continuing their speech on the motion then under debate. The Journals identify eleven occasions on which this motion has been moved since 1884; four were eventually withdrawn, one was voted down, and six were passed.


title: House of Lords

text: In 1958, to counter criticism that some peers only appeared at major decisions in the House and thereby particular votes were swayed, the Standing Orders of the House of Lords were enhanced. Peers who did not wish to attend meetings regularly or were prevented by ill health, age or further reasons, were now able to request leave of absence. During the granted time a peer is expected not to visit the House's meetings until either its expiration or termination, announced at least a month prior to their return.


title: House of Lords

text: Via a new financial support system introduced in 2010, members of the House of Lords can opt to receive an attendance allowance per sitting day of currently £313 (as of 2019; initially it was £300 in 2010), plus limited travel expenses. Peers can choose to receive a reduced attendance allowance of £157 per day instead, or none at all.


title: House of Lords

text: Unlike in the House of Commons, when the term committee is used to describe a stage of a bill, this committee does not take the form of a public bill committee, but what is described as Committee of the Whole House. It is made up of all members of the House of Lords, where any member is allowed to contribute to debates and provides for flexible rules of procedure. It is presided over by the Chairman of Committees.


title: House of Lords

text: The term committee is also used to describe Grand Committee, where the same rules of procedure apply as in the main chamber, except that no divisions may take place. For this reason, business that is discussed in Grand Committee is usually uncontroversial and likely to be agreed unanimously.


title: House of Lords

text: Public bills may also be committed to pre-legislative committees. A pre-legislative Committee is specifically constituted for a particular bill. These committees are established in advance of the bill being laid before either the House of Lords or the House of Commons and can take evidence from the public. Such committees are rare and do not replace any of the usual stages of a bill, including committee stage.


title: House of Lords

text: The House of Lords also has 15 Select committees. Typically, these are "sessional committees", meaning that their members are appointed by the House at the beginning of each session, and continue to serve until the next parliamentary session begins. In practice, these are often permanent committees, which are re-established during every session. These committees are typically empowered to make reports to the House "from time to time", that is, whenever they wish. Other committees are "ad-hoc committees", which are set up to investigate a specific issue. When they are set up by a motion in the House, the motion will set a deadline by which the Committee must report. After this date, the Committee will cease to exist unless it is granted an extension. One example of this is the Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change. The House of Lords may appoint a chairman for a committee; if it does not do so, the Chairman of Committees or a Deputy Chairman of Committees may preside instead. Most of the Select Committees are also granted the power to co-opt members, such as the European Union Committee. The primary function of Select Committees is to scrutinise and investigate Government activities; to fulfil these aims, they are permitted to hold hearings and collect evidence. Bills may be referred to Select Committees, but are more often sent to the Committee of the Whole House and Grand Committees.


title: House of Lords

text: The committee system of the House of Lords also includes several Domestic Committees, which supervise or consider the House's procedures and administration. One of the Domestic Committees is the Committee of Selection, which is responsible for assigning members to many of the House's other committees.


title: House of Lords

text: There are currently sitting members of the House of Lords, of which 682 are life peers (as of 8 December 2020). An additional Lords are ineligible from participation, including eight peers who are constitutionally disqualified as members of the Judiciary.


title: House of Lords

text: The House of Lords Act 1999 allocated 75 of the 92 hereditary peers to the parties based on the proportion of hereditary peers that belonged to that party in 1999:


title: House of Lords

text: Of the initial 42 hereditary peers elected as Conservatives, one, David Verney, 21st Lord Willoughby de Broke, defected to UKIP, though he left the party in 2018.


title: House of Lords

text: Fifteen hereditary peers are elected by the whole House, and the remaining hereditary peers are the two royal office-holders, the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain.


title: House of Lords

text: A report in 2007 stated that many members of the Lords (particularly the life peers) do not attend regularly; the average daily attendance was around 408.


title: House of Lords

text: While the number of hereditary peers is limited to 92, and that of Lords spiritual to 26, there is no maximum limit to the number of life peers who may be members of the House of Lords at any time.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: A 131-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Toei Animation aired in Japan from July 2015 to March 2018. A sequel film, "", was released in December 2018 and became the highest-grossing anime film of the franchise. A second film, "", was released on June 11, 2022.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Four years after the defeat of Majin Buu, Goku is seen working as a farmer, and his family and friends live peacefully. However, the God of Destruction Beerus awakens after decades of slumber. Beerus, along with his Angel assistant and teacher, Whis, seeks a warrior known as the Super Saiyan God, threatening to destroy the Earth if he loses to him. Goku transforms into the Super Saiyan God with the help of his friends, battles Beerus and loses, but his efforts appease Beerus, who spares the planet.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Afterwards, while Goku and Vegeta train, with Whis as their teacher, the remnants of Frieza's army collect the Dragon Balls and revive Frieza. After training, Frieza returns to Earth, seeking revenge. Despite achieving the Golden Frieza transformation, he is defeated by Goku and Vegeta, who have mastered the Super Saiyan Blue transformation. In spite, Frieza destroys the Earth, but Whis reverses time, allowing Goku to slay Frieza.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Champa, Beerus' brother and the God of Destruction of Universe Six, convinces Beerus to hold a tournament between the best fighters from their universes. The reward for the winner is the Super Dragon Balls, planet-sized Dragon Balls with nearly unlimited wish-granting abilities. Champa intends to swap Universe Six's barren Earth with Universe Seven's for their cuisine. Goku and his friends join the tournament. The tournament reaches its climax in a match between Goku and Hit. Unable to fight Hit at full power, Goku forfeits the match. Hit forfeits the final match, and Universe Seven wins. Beerus secretly wishes for the Super Dragon Balls to restore Universe Six's Earth.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Goku meets and befriends Lord Zenō, the Omni-King of all universes, and promises to bring him a friend. Later, Future Trunks reappears, with news of an enemy who resembles Goku, known as Goku Black. They discover that Goku Black is Zamasu, a Supreme Kai apprentice from Universe Ten, who used the Super Dragon Balls to steal Goku's body from a different timeline, as part of his plan to wipe out every mortal. Ultimately, Zamasu and the future timeline are erased from existence by Future Zenō, who accompanies Goku back to the present, where he becomes Present Zenō's friend. Future Trunks leaves for an alternate timeline.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Later, both Zenōs hold the Tournament of Power, where teams of fighters from eight of the twelve universes battle, with defeated universes being erased. Goku, his friends, Android 17, and a temporarily revived Frieza join the tournament. They battle formidable warriors, such as Universe Eleven's Jiren. Goku attains a new form known as Ultra Instinct, allowing him to fight unconsciously. The tournament ends with Goku and Frieza eliminating Jiren along with themselves, leaving Android 17 as the winner for Universe 7. He is awarded one wish from the Super Dragon Balls, and restores the erased universes. Frieza is permanently revived.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Frieza and his rebuilt army seek the Dragon Balls. During his search, Frieza meets two exiled Saiyan survivors, Broly and his father Paragus, the latter of whom wants revenge on Vegeta for his father exiling Broly before the Saiyan homeworld's destruction. Broly overpowers both Goku and Vegeta, until they fuse into "Gogeta". However, before Gogeta can kill Broly, he is saved by Frieza's henchmen Cheelai and Lemo. Frieza flees Earth, vowing revenge.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Goku and Vegeta are asked by the Galactic Patrol to recapture the fugitive Moro. In New Namek, Moro defeats them and uses the Namekians' Dragon Balls to restore his abilities and release all criminals in the Patrol's custody. Moro and the convicts rampage while Goku and Vegeta prepare for a rematch. Goku learns to use Ultra Instinct at will, while Vegeta heads to Planet Yardrat. Moro leads his army to Earth, and Goku's allies make a stand until Goku and Vegeta arrive and overpower him. In desperation, Moro fuses with the Earth, threatening to self-destruct. After absorbing energy fused by Vegeta's new powers, Goku slays Moro, saving the Earth.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Goku and Vegeta return to training with Whis and Beerus. Meanwhile, a Cerelian mercenary named Granolah learns from his employers, the Heeters, that Frieza is alive, and vows to destroy him and avenge his home planet of Cereal. Granolah uses his planet's Dragon Balls to become the strongest warrior in the universe, at the cost of his lifespan. The Heeters manipulate Goku and Vegeta into fighting Granolah. While Goku and Vegeta grow stronger fighting Granolah, and Vegeta gains a new Ultra Ego transformation, the two are defeated by Granolah. Before he can finish them, Granolah's foster father, the Namekian Monaito, reveals that Bardock, Goku's father, had saved them during Frieza's attack on Cereal forty years prior. During the attack, the Heeters, who were behind Cereal's destruction, killed Granolah's mother Muezli. Bardock saved Monaito and Granolah, defeating the youngest Heeter Gas.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: In the present, the Heeters Oil, Maki and Gas arrive to finish off Granolah, Monaito, Goku and Vegeta. Gas has become the strongest warrior in the universe, through a wish made to the Cerealian Dragon. Gas easily defeats Granolah and Goku as Vegeta retrieves a Senzu bean. Vegeta feeds the bean to Granolah, who confronts Gas, and overwhelms him. Elec arrives and removes Gas' pendant that was suppressing his powers. Gas goes berserk, but regains control of himself, with Elec's help. With Granolah and Vegeta incapacitated, Goku uses Instant Transmission to lure Gas away from Cereal. Goku, Granolah, Vegeta and Monaito retreat to Monaito's house to recuperate. Monaito gives Goku Bardock's scouter, which contains an audio recording of him defeating Gas through sheer will and determination.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: As Monaito heals Granolah, Goku and Vegeta face off against a returning Gas. Despite their best efforts, they are defeated, though Gas' lifespan is also consumed in the fight, aging him greatly. Granolah eventually returns, and seemingly defeats him. As Monaito heals Goku, Vegeta, and Granolah, Gas, in a more powerful though decrepit state, returns and fatally injures Monaito. Granolah tends to Monaito, while Goku and Vegeta fight Gas, but are defeated. Frieza arrives on Planet Cereal, having been lured by Elec so Gas could kill him. Having spent 10 years training in a Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Frieza easily kills Gas and Elec, and reveals his new transformation, Black Frieza, easily defeating Goku and Vegeta. He hires Oil and Maki for his crew and leaves. Whis arrives and heals Monaito, retrieving Goku and Vegeta.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: When "Dragon Ball Super" was first announced, Akira Toriyama was reported to be credited for the "original story and character design concepts" of the anime, in addition to his regular role as series creator. Toyotarou, illustrator of the "Dragon Ball Super" manga, which began serialization before the anime began airing, explained that he receives the major plot points from Toriyama, before drawing the storyboard and filling in the details in between himself. He sends the manga storyboard to Toriyama for review, who edits the initial draft, making dialogue and art changes, before sending it back to Toyotarou, who illustrates the final draft and sends it to Shueisha for publication. Toriyama explained his involvement with the "Future Trunks arc" by saying that he created the story based on suggestions from the editorial department, "As with last time, I wrote the overall plot outline, and the scriptwriters have been compiling and expanded the story content into individual episodes, making various changes and additions, and generally doing their best to make the story more interesting." In addition to new characters designed by Toriyama, other characters for the "Universe Survival arc" were designed by Toyotarou, and a few by both. After covering the last story arc seen in the anime series in November 2018, the "Dragon Ball Super" manga continues with original story arcs.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: For the "Galactic Patrol Prisoner arc", Toyotarou wanted the enemy Moro to be truly evil, like Piccolo Daimaō was in the original "Dragon Ball". He utilized elements of goats, a common Western demon motif, for the character and made his clothes "shinigami"-esque. Because Jaco and the Galactic King have "classic alien"-like designs, Toyotarou wanted Merus to have a retro look as well and so gave him a silver bob cut. But he also gave the character "bishōnen" elements because he wanted him to be popular. For the Yardratian race, who are mentioned but never appear in Toriyama's original "Dragon Ball" manga, Toyotarou and his editor Victory Uchida decided to use both the design seen in "Dragon Ball Z" and a design created by Toriyama.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: The "Granolah the Survivor arc" came about when Toyotarou created Granolah after having proposed various ideas for characters and being unsure if he should use existing characters or create new ones. After settling on a new one connected to the Saiyans, he sent Granolah to his editor Victory Uchida. After the two brainstormed story ideas, he was then given the go-ahead to bring it to Toriyama, who came up with the plot proposal and added the group known as The Heeters. It was Toriyama's decision to have the newly-revealed backstory on the Namekian race. Toyotarou called it the "sort of huge decision" that he (Toyotarou) can not make. Because Granolah's race went extinct in the story 50 years prior, Toyotarou made his clothing old-fashioned in addition to adding steampunk elements. After Toriyama reminded him that the Cerealians were not a warrior race but did enjoy fighting, Toyotarou imagined them as sharpshooters and gave Granolah his unique goggles. The goggles double as a communicator because he is a "lone warrior" and Toriyama had previously told him that having two characters converse better conveys characters' inner thoughts than having them talk to themselves. This led to the creation of the character Oatmeel. Toyotarou's designs for The Heeters were rejected three or four times before he came up with the final version, while Toriyama designed the Sugarians after Toyotarou's first two designs were rejected. Toriyama also designed the Namekian Monaito, whom he originally named "Slug" before it was changed to differentiate him from the character of the same name in "".


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Toei Animation producer Atsushi Kido previously worked on "Dragon Ball Z" for a brief time during the Freeza arc, while Fuji TV producer Osamu Nozaki said he has been a fan of the series since childhood. The "Dragon Ball Super" anime was originally directed by Kimitoshi Chioka. Morio Hatano, series director of "Saint Seiya Omega" (episodes #1–51), began sharing the series director credit with Chioka beginning with episode #28, before taking it over completely with #47. From episode #47 to #76, Morio Hatano shared the role of series director with Kōhei Hatano (no relation), another storyboard artist and episode director for the series.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Masako Nozawa reprises her roles as Son Goku, Son Gohan, and Son Goten. Most of the original cast reprise their roles as well. However, Jōji Yanami's roles as Kaiō-sama and the narrator were indefinitely taken over by Naoki Tatsuta as of episode 12, so that Yanami could take medical leave. Kōichi Yamadera and Masakazu Morita also return as Beerus and Whis, respectively.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: The first preview of the series aired on June 14, 2015, following episode 164 of "Dragon Ball Z Kai". The next day, the main promotional image for "Dragon Ball Super" was added to its official website and unveiled two new characters, who were later revealed to be named Champa and Vados, respectively. A thirty-second trailer including the new characters was uploaded to the series' official website on June 26, 2015.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: The anime began airing on July 5, 2015, and was broadcast on Sundays at 9:00 a.m. on Fuji TV. On January 19, 2018, it was revealed that "Super"'s timeslot would be replaced with "GeGeGe no Kitarō" starting on April 1, 2018. According to Amazon Japan, the final Blu-ray set indicated the series' end at episode 131. The series ended on March 25, 2018, with the conclusion of the "Universe Survival Saga". Fuji TV stated that no definite plans were made to either continue the series at a later date or discontinue it entirely.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Norihito Sumitomo, the composer for "Battle of Gods" and "Resurrection 'F"', is scoring "Dragon Ball Super". An original soundtrack for the anime was released on CD by Nippon Columbia on February 24, 2016.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: The first opening theme song for episodes 1 to 76 is by Kazuya Yoshii of The Yellow Monkey in both Japanese and English. The lyrics were penned by Yukinojo Mori who has written numerous songs for the "Dragon Ball" series. The second opening theme song for episodes 77 to 131 is by enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa in Japanese and Nathan Sharp in English. Mori wrote the lyrics for the rock song, while Takafumi Iwasaki composed the music.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: The first ending theme song for episodes 1 to 12 is by Japanese rock band Good Morning America in Japanese and Jonathan Young in English. The second ending theme song for episodes 13 to 25 is by the group Key Talk in Japanese and ProfessorShyguy in English. The third ending song for episodes 26 to 36 is by the band Lacco Tower in Japanese and Jeff Smith in English. The fourth ending theme song for episodes 37 to 49 is "Forever Dreaming" by Czecho No Republic in Japanese and Mystery Skulls in English. The fifth ending theme song for episodes 50 to 59 is by idol group Batten Showjo Tai in Japanese and Dani Artaud in English. The sixth ending theme song for episodes 60 to 72 is by Arukara in Japanese and Elliot Coleman in English. The seventh ending theme song for episodes 73 to 83 is by The Collectors in Japanese and William Kubley in English. The eighth ending theme song for episodes 84 to 96 is "Boogie Back" by Miyu Inoue in Japanese and Lizzy Land in English. The ninth ending theme song for episodes 97 to 108 is by Lacco Tower in Japanese and Zachary J. Willis in English. The tenth ending theme song for episodes 109 to 121 is by RottenGraffty in Japanese and Lawrence B. Park in English. The eleventh ending theme song for episodes 122 to 131 is "Lagrima" by OnePixcel in Japanese and Amanda Lee in English.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: "Dragon Ball Super" is illustrated by artist Toyotarou, who was previously responsible for the official "Resurrection 'F"' manga adaptation, began serialization in the August 2015 issue of "V Jump", which was released on June 20, 2015. Shueisha periodically collects the chapters into "tankōbon" volumes, with the first released on April 4, 2016. Viz Media began posting free English translations of the manga chapters to their website on June 24, 2016. A print release of the first volume followed in spring 2017.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: The anime television series was produced by Toei Animation, with individual episodes written by different screenwriters, and aired on Fuji TV from July 2015 to March 2018. The first 27 episodes readapt the events of the "" and "" films. The series ran for 131 episodes, broadcast from July 5, 2015, to March 25, 2018, on FNS (Fuji TV).


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: An English-subtitled simulcast of "Dragon Ball Super" was made available in North America and Europe through Crunchyroll and Daisuki. Following the closure of Daisuki, the hosted "Dragon Ball Super" episodes were transferred to the "Dragon Ball Super Card Game" website in February 2018 and was available until March 29, 2019.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: On November 4, 2016, Funimation announced the company acquired the rights to "Dragon Ball Super" and would be producing an English dub, with many cast members of their previous English-language releases of "Dragon Ball" media reprising their respective roles. As well as officially announcing the dub, it was also announced they would be simulcasting the series on their streaming platform, "FunimationNow". The Funimation English dub of "Dragon Ball Super" began airing on Adult Swim on Saturdays at 8 p.m., with an encore showing in their Toonami block later that night at 11:30 p.m. starting on January 7, 2017, alongside "Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters".


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: "Dragon Ball Super" received a separate English-language dub produced by Los Angeles-based Bang Zoom! Entertainment for the Asian market. It premiered on the Toonami channel in Southeast Asia and India on January 21, 2017. A sneak preview of the English dub's first episode aired on December 17, 2016. Production on the Bang Zoom! dub ended after episode 27 as Toonami Asia and India ceased transmission.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: In Australia, ABC Me started airing "Dragon Ball Super" on November 3, 2018, with a new episode every Saturday at 2:45 pm. In the United Kingdom, the series aired on Pop from July 1, 2019, with episodes first airing at 7pm on weekdays. As of 2022, the series now airs on CBBC and can also be found on BBC iPlayer


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: An animated film, "", was the first film in the "Dragon Ball" franchise to be produced under the "Super" chronology. Released on December 14, 2018, with a new art style, most of the film is set after the "Universe Survival" story arc (the beginning of the movie takes place in the past). A second "Dragon Ball Super" film was confirmed to be in pre-production on June 4, 2019, by Toei executive Akio Iyoku. Iyoku feels that the film's original story "will probably be totally different [from "Broly"]." On July 23, 2021, the sequel's official title was revealed as "".


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: In Japan, the anime series was released on Blu-ray and DVD by Happinet between December 2015 and July 2018, with each "Box" also containing textless opening and closing credits sequences and packaged with a booklet. In North America, Funimation began releasing the series from July 2017, again on both DVD and Blu-ray, containing both English-dubbed and English-subtitled Japanese versions; the Blu-ray releases generally also contain interviews with the English cast and textless opening/closing credits sequences. Funimation's localized releases are distributed in the United Kingdom and Australasia by Manga Entertainment and Madman Entertainment respectively.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Bandai announced that a line of "Dragon Ball Super" toys would be available in the United States in summer 2017. Bandai has also announced the updated "Dragon Ball Super Card Game" that starts with one starter deck, one special pack containing 4 booster packs and a promotional Vegeta card and a booster box with 24 packs. It was released on July 28, 2017. A line of six "Dragon Ball Super" Happy Meal toys were made available at Japanese McDonald's restaurants in May 2017.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: All four volumes of "Dragon Ball Super"s manga adaptation have charted on Oricon's weekly list of the best-selling manga; volumes one and two sold 29,995 and 56,947 copies in their debut weeks respectively. Volume three was the fourth best-selling for its week with 92,114 copies sold, and volume four was fourth its week with 150,889. According to Nielsen BookScan, the English version of volume one was the second best-selling graphic novel of May 2017, the ninth of June, the fourteenth of July, and the eighteenth of August. "Dragon Ball Super" volume 4 topped NPD BookScan's graphic novels list for January 2019.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: In Japan, the manga's tankōbon volumes 1 and 2 sold 594,342 copies , volume 3 sold 236,720 copies , volume 4 sold 267,417 copies , volume 5 sold 400,000 copies , volume 6 sold 216,871 copies , volume 7 sold 208,796 copies , volume 8 sold 314,269 copies , volume 9 sold 188,027 copies , volume 10 sold 196,204 copies , volume 11 sold 119,283 copies , volume 12 sold 146,305 copies , volume 13 sold 155,095 copies , volumen 14 sold 95,101 copies , volumen 15 sold 150,971 copies , volume 16 sold 107,812 copies , volume 17 sold 156,744 copies and volumen 18 sold 193,333 copies . According to Oricon's Yearly Sales Ranking 2020 - Top 50, Dragon Ball Super ranked at #38 with Yearly Sales - 1,019,655 Copies Sales. This adds up to at least 3,747,280 tankōbon copies sold in Japan .


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Tom Speelman of ComicsAlliance noted that Toyotarou's condensed and altered versions of the "Battle of Gods" and "Resurrection 'F"' arcs made it a lot easier to speed through and added suspense. He also said that for the first time he could not decide whether the anime or manga was superior.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: The anime adaption received generally positive reviews from critics and fans. The first episode was highly praised from initial reactions for its improved quality. Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku praised the series' title sequence and said "My middle-school self is so happy right now, you guys." Jamieson Cox of "The Verge" also praised the title sequence and said that ""Dragon Ball Super"'s intro will have you begging for its North American release". Cox was also surprised that, considering how popular the franchise is, the series did not launch internationally at the same time. He called it "a move that wouldn't be unprecedented" giving "Sailor Moon Crystal" as an example.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: However, the fifth episode received harshly negative responses from Japanese and Western audiences due to its poor animation style compared to the previous four episodes. These problems continued at episode twenty-four, and several more episodes onward. "Dragon Ball Kai" and "Resurrection 'F"' producer Norihiro Hayashida felt that the criticism was overblown. He said that people were criticizing the entire series based on a few bad sequences that were done by new animators. He went on to explain a quality decline in the anime industry that he believes is the result of studios cutting time given for post-production and not allowing for reviews of the final product.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Despite this, the "Champa Arc" was praised for improving its animation. Episode 39 was noted improved animation and praised fighting sequences. Attack of the Fanboy reported that "Dragon Ball Super" episode 39 may be the best installment of the series to date. Goku and Hit's fight "starts off explosively from the get-go." The "Future Trunks Arc" also garnered positive response from fans and critics alike. IGN's Shawn Saris acclaiming Episode 66, stating that, "Episode 66 of "Dragon Ball Super" has a few missteps but ultimately leads to a great final battle with Zamasu." "Anime News Network" criticized the poor animation and narrative quoted as "shameless soap opera" based on the handling of the cast.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: The final arc, "Universe Survival Arc," received universal acclaim from critics and fans and was considered to be the best arc of the series. Several episodes such as 109/110 and 116 have been cited as some of the Super series' best episodes; Despite this praise, Jay Gibbs of ComicsVerse criticized the series for its inconsistent narrative, having heard "an explanation within an episode, then see that very explanation invalidated seconds later."


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: The United States premiere of "Dragon Ball Super" obtained 1,063,000 viewers for its 8 p.m. showing on Adult Swim. Episodes 130 and 131 were live streamed in various cities across Latin American countries including Mexico, El Salvador, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua for free in public venues. The public screenings drew large record audiences, which included filling stadiums in Mexico and other Latin American countries, with each screening drawing audiences numbering in the thousands to the tens of thousands.


title: Dragon Ball Super

text: Even though the fan reaction has been positive, "Dragon Ball Super" has been criticized by fans for lacking the blood and gore that was present in its predecessor "Dragon Ball Z". This is, however, due to the fact that the series is targeted towards a younger demographic than the previous installments, and as such, censorship would not allow such content to be shown on a television program targeted towards children. A "Dragon Ball Super" episode received a major complaint by Japan's Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization as the part of the story involved Master Roshi making multiple sexual attacks on the female character Yurin.


title: Wyatt Russell

text: Wyatt Hawn Russell (born July 10, 1986) is an American actor and former ice hockey player. Russell portrayed Corporal Lewis Ford in Julius Avery's 2018 horror film "Overlord", Dud in AMC's "Lodge 49" and John Walker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (2021).


title: Wyatt Russell

text: Russell was born on July 10, 1986, in Los Angeles, California, to actors Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. He is a grandson of actor Bing Russell, and a half-brother of actors Oliver Hudson and Kate Hudson. He is of German, English, Scottish, Irish, and, from his maternal grandmother, Hungarian Jewish, descent.


title: Wyatt Russell

text: Russell played ice hockey for numerous amateur and pro hockey teams as a goaltender including the Richmond Sockeyes, Langley Hornets, Coquitlam Express, Chicago Steel, Brampton Capitals, and Groningen Grizzlies. He also played college ice hockey for the Chargers at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He retired from professional hockey in 2010, his career cut short due to injuries.


title: Wyatt Russell

text: Russell appeared in films, such as "Soldier", "Cowboys & Aliens", "This Is 40", "Love and Honor", "The Last Goon Show of All", "We Are What We Are", and "". He also appeared in the 2014 film "22 Jump Street". In 2016, he co-starred in a film that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival called "Folk Hero & Funny Guy". In 2016, he starred in "Playtest", an episode of the anthology series "Black Mirror".


title: Wyatt Russell

text: In 2018, he and Jovan Adepo played the leads in the World War II-set horror film "Overlord". In 2021, he starred as John Walker in the Disney+ series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier". He will reprise the role in the 2024 film "Thunderbolts".


title: Wyatt Russell

text: In 2022, Russell took on the role of real-life murderer Dan Lafferty in the FX Original mini series "Under the Banner of Heaven".


title: Wyatt Russell

text: In July 2022, he joined his father in Apple TV+ and Legendary Television's "Godzilla" series, "Godzilla and the Titans" which is set in the world of Legendary’s "MonsterVerse" franchise.


title: Wyatt Russell

text: In 2012, after two years of dating, Russell married stylist Sanne Hamers, whom he met in the Netherlands while playing hockey. The couple separated in 2015 and divorced amicably in 2017. Russell began a relationship with actress Meredith Hagner in 2015, after meeting her on the set of the film "Folk Hero & Funny Guy". They became engaged in 2018 and married in 2019. Their first child, a son, was born in 2021.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) is a British missing person who disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007, at the age of 3. "The Daily Telegraph" described the disappearance as "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history". Madeleine's whereabouts remain unknown, although German prosecutors believe she is dead.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Madeleine was on holiday from the United Kingdom with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann; her two-year-old twin siblings; and a group of family friends and their children. The McCann children had been left asleep at 20:30 in the ground-floor apartment, while their parents dined with friends in a restaurant 55 metres (180 ft) away. The parents checked on the children throughout the evening, until Kate discovered Madeleine was missing at 22:00. Over the following weeks, particularly after misinterpreting a British DNA analysis, the Portuguese police came to believe that Madeleine had died in an accident in the apartment and that her parents had covered it up. The McCanns were given "arguido" (suspect) status in September 2007, which was lifted when Portugal's attorney general archived the case in July 2008 for lack of evidence.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Madeleine's parents continued the investigation using private detectives until Scotland Yard opened its own inquiry, Operation Grange, in 2011. The senior investigating officer announced that he was treating the disappearance as "a criminal act by a stranger", most likely a planned abduction or burglary gone wrong. In 2013, Scotland Yard released e-fit images of men they wanted to trace, including one of a man seen carrying a child toward the beach on the night Madeleine vanished. Shortly after this, Portuguese police reopened their inquiry. Operation Grange was scaled back in 2015, but the remaining detectives continued to pursue a small number of inquiries described in April 2017 as significant.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: In 2020, police in the German city of Braunschweig stated there was a new suspect in Madeleine's disappearance, whom public prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters was convinced had abducted and murdered the child. German prosecutors hope to be able to bring charges in 2022.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Madeleine's disappearance attracted sustained international interest and saturation coverage in the UK, reminiscent of the death of Princess Diana in 1997. Her parents were subjected to intense scrutiny and baseless allegations of involvement in their daughter's death, particularly in the tabloid press and on Twitter. In 2008 they and their travelling companions received damages and apologies from Express Newspapers, and in 2011 the McCanns testified before the Leveson Inquiry into British press misconduct, lending support to those arguing for tighter press regulation.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Madeleine McCann was born in Leicester and lived with her family in Rothley, Leicestershire. At her parents' request, she was made a ward of court in England shortly after the disappearance, which gave the court statutory powers to act on her behalf. Police described Madeleine as blonde-haired, with blue-green eyes, a small brown spot on her left calf, and a distinctive dark strip on the iris of her right eye. In 2009 the McCanns released age-progressed images of how she may have looked at age six, and in 2012 Scotland Yard commissioned one of her at age nine.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Madeleine's parents are both physicians and practising Roman Catholics. Kate Marie McCann, "née" Healy (born 1968, Huyton, near Liverpool) attended All Saints School in Anfield, then Notre Dame High School in Everton Valley, graduating in 1992 with a degree in medicine from the University of Dundee. She moved briefly into obstetrics and gynaecology, then anaesthetics, and finally general practice.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Gerald Patrick McCann (born 1968 in Glasgow) attended Holyrood R.C. Secondary School before graduating from the University of Glasgow with a BSc in physiology/sports science in 1989. In 1992, he qualified in medicine and in 2002 obtained his MD, also from Glasgow. Since 2005, he has been a consultant cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester. The McCanns met in 1993 in Glasgow and were married in 1998. Madeleine was born in 2003 and the twins, a boy and girl, in 2005.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The McCanns were on holiday with seven friends and eight children in all, including the McCanns' three. The nine adults dined together most evenings at 20:30 in the resort's tapas restaurant, as a result of which the media dubbed the friends the "Tapas Seven". The Tapas Seven included Fiona and David Payne, both physicians; their two children; and Fiona's mother, Dianne Webster. The McCanns had known the Paynes for years; Kate had met Fiona in 2000 when they both worked in Leicester General Hospital's intensive care unit.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Accompanying them were two couples the Paynes had originally introduced to the McCanns: Jane Tanner, a marketing manager, and her partner, Russell O'Brien, a physician, who were on holiday with their two children; and Matthew Oldfield, another physician, who was with his wife, Rachael Oldfield, a lawyer, and their daughter. Gerry, Russell and Matthew had worked together over the years. The —Jane Tanner's report that she saw a man carry a child away from the resort 45 minutes before Madeleine was reported missing—became one of the most-discussed aspects of the case.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The McCanns arrived on 28 April 2007 for their seven-night spring break in Praia da Luz, a village in Portugal's Algarve region with a population of 1,000, known as "Little Britain" because of the concentration of British homeowners and holidaymakers. They had booked through the British holiday company Mark Warner Ltd, and were placed in 5A Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva, an apartment owned by a retired teacher from Liverpool, one of several privately owned properties rented by the company.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: 5A was a two-bedroom, ground-floor apartment in the fifth block of a group of apartments known as Waterside Village, which lay on the perimeter of part of Mark Warner's Ocean Club resort. Matthew and Rachel Oldfield were next door in 5B, Jane Tanner and Russell O'Brien in 5D, and the Paynes and Dianne Webster on the first floor. Located on the corner of Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva and Rua Dr Francisco Gentil Martins, 5A was accessible to the public from two sides. Sliding glass patio doors in the living room at the back overlooked the Ocean Club's pool, tennis courts, tapas restaurant and bar. The patio doors could be accessed via a public street, Rua Dr Francisco Gentil Martins, where a small gate and set of steps led to 5A's balcony and living room. 5A's front door was on the opposite side of the block from the Ocean Club, on Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The McCanns' children slept in a bedroom next to the front door, which the McCanns kept locked. The bedroom had one, waist-high window with curtains and a metal exterior shutter, the latter controlled by a cord inside the window; the McCanns kept the curtains and shutter closed throughout the holiday. The window overlooked a narrow walkway and residents' car park, which was separated from the street by a low wall. Madeleine slept in a single bed next to the bedroom door, on the opposite side of the room from the window, while the twins were in travel cots in the middle of the room. There was another single bed underneath the window.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Thursday, 3 May, was the penultimate day of the family's holiday. Over breakfast Madeleine asked: "Why didn't you come when [my brother] and I cried last night?" After the disappearance, her parents wondered whether this meant someone had entered the children's bedroom. Her mother also noticed a large brown stain on Madeleine's pyjama top.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The children spent the morning in the resort's Kids' Club, then the family lunched at their apartment before heading to the pool. Kate took the last known photograph of Madeleine at 2:29 that afternoon, sitting by the pool next to her father and two-year-old sister. The children returned to the Kids' Club, then at 18:00 their mother took them back to 5A, while their father went for a tennis lesson. The McCanns put the children to bed at around 19:00. Madeleine was left asleep in short-sleeved, pink-and-white Marks and Spencer's Eeyore pyjamas, next to her comfort blanket and a soft toy, Cuddle Cat.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: At 20:30 the parents left 5A to dine with their friends in the Ocean Club's open-air tapas restaurant, located on the other side of the pool. 5A lay about 55 metres (180 ft) from the restaurant as the crow flies, but getting to the restaurant involved walking along a public street to reach the doors of the Ocean Club resort, then walking through the resort to the other side of the pool, a distance of about 82 metres (295 ft). The top of the apartment was visible from the tapas restaurant, but not the doors. The patio doors could be locked only from the inside, so the McCanns left them closed but unlocked, with the curtains drawn, so they could let themselves in that way when checking on the children. There was a child-safety gate at the top of the steps from the patio and a low gate at the bottom, which led to the street.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The resort's staff had left a note in a message book at the swimming-pool reception area, asking that the same table, which overlooked the apartments, be block-booked for 20:30 for the McCanns and friends every evening for the last four evenings of the holiday. The message said the group's children were asleep in the apartments. Kate believes the abductor may have seen the note. The McCanns and their friends left the restaurant roughly every half-hour to check on their children. Gerry carried out the first check on 5A at around 21:05. The children were asleep and all was well, except that he recalled having left the children's bedroom door slightly ajar, and now it stood almost wide open. He pulled it nearly closed again before returning to the restaurant.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The sighting by Jane Tanner, one of the Tapas Seven, of a man carrying a child that night became an important part of the early investigation. Tanner had left the restaurant just after 21:00 to check on her own daughter, passing Gerry on Rua Dr Francisco Gentil Martins on his way back to the restaurant from his 21:05 check. He had stopped to chat to a British holidaymaker, but neither man recalled having seen Tanner. This puzzled the Portuguese police, given how narrow the street was, and led them to accuse Tanner of having invented the sighting.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Tanner told the police that at around 21:15 she had noticed a man carrying a young child walk across the junction of Rua Dr Francisco Gentil Martins and Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva just ahead of her. He was not far from Madeleine's bedroom, heading east, away from the front of apartment 5A. In the early days of the investigation, the direction in which he was walking was thought to be important because he was moving toward the home of Robert Murat, the 33-year-old British-Portuguese man who lived near 5A, and who became the case's first suspect.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The child in the man's arms was wearing light-coloured pink pyjamas with a floral pattern and cuffs on the legs, similar to Madeleine's. Tanner described the man as white, dark-haired, 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) tall, of southern European or Mediterranean appearance, 35–40 years old, wearing gold or beige trousers and a dark jacket, and said he did not look like a tourist. According to Kate, Tanner passed the information to Portuguese police as soon as Madeleine was reported missing, but they did not pass the description to the media until 25 May. Madeleine's Fund hired a forensic artist to create an image of the man, which was released in October 2007.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The sighting became important because it offered investigators a time frame for the abduction, but Scotland Yard came to view it as a red herring. In October 2013, they said that a British holidaymaker had been identified as the man Tanner had seen; he had been returning to his apartment after collecting his daughter from the Ocean Club night creche. Scotland Yard took photographs of the man wearing the same or similar clothes to the ones he was wearing on the night, and standing in a pose similar to the one Tanner reported. The pyjamas his daughter had been wearing also matched Tanner's report. Operation Grange's lead detective, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, said they were "almost certain" the Tanner sighting was not related to the abduction.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The rejection of the Tanner sighting as crucial to the timeline allowed investigators to focus on another sighting of a man carrying a child on the night of Madeleine's disappearance, this one reported to Portuguese police on 26 May 2007 by Martin and Mary Smith, who had been in Praia da Luz on holiday from Ireland. Scotland Yard concluded in 2013 that the Smith sighting offered the approximate time of Madeleine's kidnap.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The Smiths saw the man at around 22:00 on Rua da Escola Primária, from the McCanns' apartment, walking away from the Ocean Club and toward Rua 25 de Abril and the beach. He was carrying a girl aged 3–4 years. She had blonde hair and pale skin, was wearing light-coloured pyjamas, and had bare feet. The man was mid-30s, 5 ft 7 in–5 ft 9 in (1.75–1.80 m), slim-to-normal build, with short brown hair, wearing cream or beige trousers. He did not look like a tourist, according to the Smiths, and had seemed uncomfortable carrying the child. E-fits based on the Smiths' testimony were first created in 2008 by Oakley International, private investigators hired by the McCanns, and were publicized in 2013 by Scotland Yard on the BBC programme "Crimewatch".


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Kate had intended to check on the children at 21:30, but Matthew Oldfield, one of the Tapas Seven, offered to do it when he checked on his own children in the apartment next door to 5A. He noticed that the McCanns' children's bedroom door was wide open, but after hearing no noise, he left 5A without looking far enough into the bedroom to see whether Madeleine was there. He could not recall whether the bedroom window and its exterior shutter were open at this point. Early on in the investigation, Portuguese police accused Oldfield of involvement because he had volunteered to do the check, suggesting to them that he had handed Madeleine to someone through the bedroom window.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Kate made her own check of 5A at around 22:00. Scotland Yard stated in 2013 that Madeleine was probably taken moments before this. Kate recalled entering the apartment through the unlocked patio doors at the back and noticing that the children's bedroom door was wide open. When she tried to close the door, it slammed shut as though there was a draught, which is when she saw that the bedroom window and its shutter were open. Madeleine's Cuddle Cat and blanket were still on the bed, but Madeleine was gone. After briefly searching the apartment, Kate ran back towards the restaurant, screaming, "Madeleine's gone! Someone's taken her!"


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: At around 22:10, Gerry sent Matthew Oldfield to ask the resort's reception desk to call the police, and at 22:30 the resort activated its missing-child search protocol. Sixty staff and guests searched until 04:30, at first assuming that Madeleine had wandered off. One of them told Channel 4's "Dispatches" that, from one end of Praia da Luz to the other, searchers calling Madeleine's name could be heard.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: Two officers from the gendarmerie, the "Guarda Nacional Republicana" (GNR), arrived at the resort at 23:10 from Lagos, 5 miles (8 km) away. At midnight, after briefly searching, they alerted the criminal police, the "Polícia Judiciária" (PJ), in nearby Portimão. Kate recounted that the PJ arrived just after 01:00. According to the PJ, they arrived within 10 minutes of being alerted. At 02:00 two patrol dogs were brought to the resort, and at 08:00 four search and rescue dogs. Police officers had their leave cancelled and started searching waterways, wells, caves, sewers and ruins around Praia da Luz. Inspector Gonçalo Amaral, head of the PJ in Portimão, became the inquiry's coordinator.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: It was widely acknowledged that mistakes were made during the so-called "golden hours" soon after the disappearance. Neither border nor marine police were given descriptions of Madeleine for many hours, and officers did not make house-to-house searches. According to Kate, roadblocks were first put in place at 10:00 the next morning. Police did not request motorway surveillance pictures of vehicles leaving Praia da Luz the night of the disappearance, or of the road between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António on the Spanish border. Euroscut, the company that monitors the road, said they were not approached for information. It took Interpol five days to issue a global missing-person alert. Not everyone in the resort at the time was interviewed; holidaymakers later contacted the British police to say no one had spoken to them.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The crime scene was not secured. Portuguese police took samples from Madeleine's bedroom, which were sent to three forensic labs. It was reported on 1 June 2007 that DNA from one "stranger" had been found, but around twenty people had entered apartment 5A before it was closed off, according to Chief Inspector Olegário de Sousa of the PJ. According to Kate, an officer placed tape across the doorway of the children's bedroom, but left at 03:00 without securing the apartment. The PJ case file, released in 2008, showed that 5A lay empty for a month after the disappearance, then was let out to tourists before being sealed off in August 2007 for more forensic tests. A similar situation arose outside the apartment when a crowd gathered by the front door of 5A, including next to the children's bedroom window—through which an abductor may have entered or left—trampling on evidence. An officer dusted the bedroom window's exterior shutter for fingerprints without wearing gloves or other protective clothing.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: In the United Kingdom it was agreed that Madeleine's home force, Leicestershire Police—led by Chief Constable Matt Baggott—would coordinate the British response, although it remained a Portuguese inquiry. A strategic coordinating group, or "gold" group, was put together, representing Leicestershire Police, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), and the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA). The PJ gave a British team a room in which to work, but apparently resented their presence. British police were used to feeding their data into HOLMES 2 (the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System); in Portugal, the information was collected in boxes. In addition the PJ had less autonomy than police in the UK, often having to wait for magistrates' decisions, which slowed things down. In an interview for Anthony Summers's and Robbyn Swan's book "Looking for Madeleine" (2014), Jim Gamble, head of CEOP at the time, said Portuguese police felt they were being condescended to, and that the British were acting as a "colonial power".


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: A PJ officer acknowledged in 2010 that Portuguese police had been suspicious of the McCanns from the start because of the "media circus". Gerry told "Vanity Fair" in 2008 that he had decided to "market" Madeleine to keep her in the public eye. To that end, a string of public relations consultants arrived in Praia da Luz, deeply resented by the local police, who saw the media attention as counterproductive. Alex Woolfall of the British PR firm Bell Pottinger, representing Mark Warner Ltd, dealt with the media for the first ten days, then the British government sent in press officers. This was apparently unprecedented.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The first government press officer was Sheree Dodd, a former "Daily Mirror" journalist, who was followed by Clarence Mitchell, director of media monitoring for the Central Office of Information. When the government withdrew Mitchell, the McCanns hired Justine McGuinness, who was reportedly headhunted for the job. When she left, Hanover Communications took over briefly, headed by Charles Lewington, formerly John Major's private secretary. In September 2007, Brian Kennedy of Everest Windows stepped forward as a benefactor and offered to cover Mitchell's salary so that he could return. Mitchell resigned from his government position and started working for the McCanns full-time; he was later paid by Madeleine's Fund.


title: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

text: The McCanns set up Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd on 15 May 2007 to raise money and awareness; its website attracted 58 million hits in the first two days. Throughout May and June the couple's PR team arranged events to sustain media interest in the case, including a visit to the Portuguese city of Fátima as well as trips to Holland, Germany, Spain, and Morocco. On 30 May 2007, accompanied by reporters, the couple flew to Rome—in Sir Philip Green's Learjet—to meet Pope Benedict XVI, a visit arranged by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster. The following month balloons were let off in 300 cities around the world.