Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ranking Great Officer of State in Scotland and England. The role involves leading the Ministry of Justice, serving as custodian of the Great Seal of the Realm, advising on judicial appointments, and representing the judiciary within the Cabinet.
The office of Lord Chancellor dates at least to the Norman Conquest of 1066 and possibly as far back as 605, when some sources name Angmendus as the first chancellor of England. It traces its roots to the Carolingian monarchy, where a chancellor served as keeper of the royal seal.
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which received royal assent on the 24th of March 2005, transferred the lord chancellor's role as presiding officer of the House of Lords to the Lord Speaker, the judicial leadership of England and Wales to the Lord Chief Justice, and the presidency of the Chancery Division to the Chancellor of the High Court. The lord chancellor remained in Cabinet with most of the office's original statutory functions intact.
Liz Truss became the first woman to serve as lord chancellor of the United Kingdom in 2016. Queen Eleanor of Provence served as keeper of the great seal in 1253-54 and is sometimes considered an earlier holder of an equivalent role in England.
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was dismissed as Lord Chancellor in 1529 after failing to procure the annulment of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. His dismissal marked the end of clerical dominance in the office, and laymen have held it almost exclusively ever since.
The lord chancellor is entitled to an annual salary of £227,736, which is higher than that of any other public official including the prime minister. Recent holders have sometimes chosen to receive the reduced salary of a secretary of state instead.