A cross-bencher is a member of the BritishHouse of Lords who is not aligned to any particular party. These include the Law Lords and former Speakers of the House of Commons, such as Lady Boothroyd and Lord Weatherill, who by convention are not aligned with either party. They are termed cross-benchers because they sit on neither the government benches nor the opposition benches but on benches that are perpendicular to the other sets and face the throne.
In November, 2003 there were 179 cross-benchers. They do not take a collective position on issues, although they do elect from among themselves a Convenor for administrative purposes. The current Convenor is Lord Williamson of Horton. The Convenor keeps them up-to-date with the business of the House. Although the Lords Spiritual (Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England) also have no party affiliation, they do not sit on the cross-benches.
The cross-benchers are often viewed as bringing specialist knowledge to the House, since they have usually been created peers for reasons other than party-political affiliation. Most of them (146) are Life Peers.
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From BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/82022.stm)
At the heart of the issue is Black's right to sit as a crossbencher in the House of Lords.
Essentially, the role of the Lords is complementary to that of the Commons: It acts as a revising chamber, a check on the powers of both the executive and the Commons.
The crossbenchpeers, who do not take orders from party bosses, are the mainstay of the Lords and their contribution often carries the greatest weight precisely because they are unaligned.
Crossbencher Earl of Carnarvon publishes booklet, The Second Chamber.
Britain's first constitutional affairs secretary, and likely last lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, announces government plans to expel the remaining 92 hereditary peers from the upper house "when parliamentary time allows" and strip anyone who has ever committed a criminal offence, including convicted perjurer Lord Archer, of their peerages.
A statutory commission, made up of representatives of all three major parties and crossbenchpeers, is also to be established to select and oversee appointments to the Lords.
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