 There had been an overwhelming Conservative @-@ Unionist majority in the Lords since the Liberal split in 1886 . With the Liberal Party attempting to push through significant welfare reforms with considerable popular support , this seemed certain to cause problems in the relationship between the Houses . Between 1906 and 1909 , several important measures were being considerably watered down or rejected outright : for example , <unk> introduced the Education Bill 1906 , which was intended to address <unk> grievances arising from the Education Act 1902 , but which was amended by the Lords to such an extent that it was effectively a different bill , upon which the Commons dropped the bill . This led to the 26 June 1907 resolution in the House of Commons declaring that the Lords ' power should be curtailed , put forward by Liberal Prime Minister Henry Campbell @-@ <unk> . In 1909 , hoping to force an election , the Lords rejected the financial bill based on the government budget ( the " People 's <unk> " ) put forward by David Lloyd George , by 350 votes to 75 . This , according to the Commons , was " a breach of the Constitution , and a <unk> of the rights of the Commons " . The Lords suggested that the Commons justify its position as representing the will of the people : it did this through the January 1910 general election . The Liberal government lost heavily , but remained in majority with the help of a significant number of Irish Nationalist and Labour MPs . The Irish Nationalists saw the continued power of the Lords as detrimental to securing Irish Home Rule . Following the election , the Lords relented on the budget ( since reintroduced by the government ) , it passing the Lords on 28 April , a day after the Commons . 
