and allows the Lords to make amendments with financial implications. Under a separate convention, known as the Salisbury Convention , the House of Lords does not seek to oppose legislation promised in the Government's election manifesto . Hence, as the power of the House of Lords has been severely curtailed by statute and by practice, the House of Commons is clearly the more powerful branch of Parliament. Layout and design The current Commons' layout is influenced by the use of the original St. Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of Westminster . [2] The rectangular shape is derived from the shape of the chapel. Benches were arranged using the configuration of the chapel's choir stalls whereby they were facing across from one another. This arrangement facilitated an adversarial atmosphere that is representative of the British parliamentary approach. 19th century The House of Commons experienced an important period of reform during the nineteenth century. Over the years, several anomalies had developed in borough representation. The constituency boundaries had not been changed since 1660, so many towns that were once important but had declined by the nineteenth century still retained their ancient right of electing two members. The most notorious of these " rotten boroughs " were Old Sarum , which had only six voters for two MPs, and Dunwich which had fallen into the sea. At the same time, large cities such as Manchester received no separate representation (although their eligible residents were able to vote in the corresponding county seat). Also