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The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker
Lord Speaker

The Lord Speaker is the speaker of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the British House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is "appointed" by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial....
 in the House of Lords
House of Lords

The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". The Parliament comprises the British monarchy, the British House of Commons , and the Lords....
, the Upper House
Upper house

An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house....
 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislature in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories....
. From the Middle Ages until 2006, the presiding officer in the House of Lords was the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor

The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom....
 and the Woolsack was usually mentioned in association with the office of Lord Chancellor.






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Woolsack (irish House of Lords) Kaihsu Tai
The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker
Lord Speaker

The Lord Speaker is the speaker of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the British House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is "appointed" by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial....
 in the House of Lords
House of Lords

The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". The Parliament comprises the British monarchy, the British House of Commons , and the Lords....
, the Upper House
Upper house

An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house....
 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislature in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories....
. From the Middle Ages until 2006, the presiding officer in the House of Lords was the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor

The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom....
 and the Woolsack was usually mentioned in association with the office of Lord Chancellor. In July 2006, the function of Lord Speaker was split from that of Lord Chancellor.

The Woolsack is a large, wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
-stuffed cushion or seat covered with red cloth; it has neither a back nor arms. The Lords' Mace
Ceremonial mace

The ceremonial mace is a highly ornamented staff of metal and wood, carried before a Head of state or other high official in civic ceremonies by a mace-bearer, intended to represent the official's authority....
 is placed on the rear part of the Woolsack.

Introduced in the fourteenth century, the seat was originally stuffed with English wool, which, due to the importance of the wool trade, was a symbol of the nation's prosperity. When the Woolsack was remade after damage in the Second World War
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, wool from the various nations of the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three independent member states....
 was used, in order to symbolise the Commonwealth's unity.

The Lord Speaker may speak from the Woolsack when speaking in his or her capacity as Speaker of the House, but must, if he or she seeks to debate, deliver his or her remarks either from the left side of the Woolsack, or from the normal seats of the Lords.

If a Deputy Speaker presides in the absence of the Lord Speaker, then that individual uses the Woolsack. However, when the House meets in the "Committee of the Whole
Committee of the Whole

A Committee of the Whole is a device in which a legislative body or other deliberative assembly is considered one large committee. All members of the legislative body are members of such a committee....
", the Woolsack remains unoccupied, and the presiding officer, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman, occupies a Chair at the front of the table of the House.

In front of the Woolsack is an even larger cushion known as the Judges' Woolsack. During the State Opening of Parliament
State Opening of Parliament

In the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an annual event held usually in late October or November that marks the commencement of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
, the Judges' Woolsack is occupied by the Law Lords. The seat, however, is by no means restricted to judges only; during normal sittings, any Lord may occupy it.