2.1 the structure and role of the house of commons and house of lords Flashcards

1
Q

How are members of the HoC chosen?

A

through election to represent single-member constituencies, using FPTP

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2
Q

What was the number of candidates seeking election in 2015?

A

3971

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3
Q

How did Theresa May call an early election in 2017?

A

she had the support of the necessary proportion of MPs

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4
Q

How many MPs currently in parliament (April 2024) are independent?

A

18

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5
Q

How much of the total membership of the Commons consists of backbenchers?

A

three-quarters

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6
Q

What is a backbencher?

A

MPs who do not have a ministerial or shadow-ministerial position

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7
Q

How many people are in the HoL(April 2024)?

A

788

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8
Q

What are the three main categories of peer?

A
  • hereditary peers
  • life peers
    26 ‘Lords Spiritual’ (Anglican archbishops and bishops)
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9
Q

What are the three main functions both the commons and lords perform?

A
  • passing legislation
  • scrutiny of the executive
  • providing ministers
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10
Q

What is the Lords not allowed to intervene with?

A

‘money’ bills, they don’t have power to give consent to taxation

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11
Q

Who is most legislation initiated by?

A

the government

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12
Q

What is an example of opposition parties and rebels on the government side working together to defeat legislation?

A

March 2016 - Camerons defeat on plans to extend Sunday trading, when Labour and the SNP joined with Conservative dissidents

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13
Q

What are the party whips responsible for?

A

ensuring that MPs attend parliamentary votes and for granting leave of absence if their vote is not essential

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14
Q

What is a ‘three-line whip’

A

the most important votes that indicates MPs should be there

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15
Q

What may whips offer to encourage and reward loyalty?

A

prospect of ministerial posts

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16
Q

What may happen to MPs that persistently rebel?

A
  • the whip may be withdrawn, meaning they are effectively suspended from the party and have to sit as an independent
17
Q

What is an example of an MP who has had the whip removed and when?

A

Diane Abbott - April 2023

18
Q

What is an example of legislation that was pushed through parliament quickly and how quickly?

A

2005 Prevention of Terrorism Act, which introduced control orders for individuals suspected of terrorist offences
- 18 days to complete all the stages

19
Q

What is an example of legislation that is poorly drafted so virtually unworkable?

A

1991 Dangerous Dogs Act - passed in response to a series of tabloid stories about dog attacks
- a review by the RSPCA 25 years later saw that of the 30 deaths caused in that period 21 involved breeds not specified in the act

20
Q

What are the three ways the function of scrutiny id performed?

A
  • questions to ministers
  • select committees
  • debates
21
Q

What are questions to ministers?

A
  • may call for oral or written answers
  • a weekly question-and-answer session in the chamber of the Commons
22
Q

How has PMQs been criticised?

A
  • being unduly theatrical
  • largely a point-scoring exercise dominated by the PM and the leader of the opposition
23
Q

What do select committees do?

A

shadow individual government departments in the Commons

24
Q

What do select committees in the Commons investigate?

A
  • on activities of government departments
25
Q

What do select committees in the Lords do?

A
  • carry out topic-based inquiries
26
Q

An example of a select committee in the Lords

A

Science and Technology Committee

27
Q

Who is in select committees?

A

backbench MPs

28
Q

What does the Backbench Business Committee (2010) do?

A

gives MPs more power to shape the agenda by allowing them to choose the topic for debate on one day per week

29
Q

What was the August 2013 House of Commons debate?

A

the Cameron government was defeated on its proposal to undertake military action in Syria

30
Q

Why are debates in the Lords given credit for their high quality?

A
  • participants commonly include recently retired individuals with expertise in a particular field
31
Q

How does parliament act as a recruiting ground for future ministers?

A
  • whips make recommendations to the PM on suitable candidates for promotion
32
Q

How can the services of a particular individual as a minister be secured if that person is not an MP?

A

the award of a peerage

33
Q

Who did Gordon Brown give a peerage to following the 2008 financial crisis?

A
  • Brown recalled Peter Mandelson from the European Commission, appointing him to the Lords so that he could serve as business secretary
34
Q

How many members of the Lords are over 70?

A

over half of its members

35
Q

How many members of the Lords are male?

A

three quarters

36
Q

How many members of the Lords are from ethnic minorites?

A

around 5%

37
Q

How is the MPs who voted against HS2 an example of the link between constituents and MP?

A

a number of the 44 MPs who voted against the HS2 in March 2016 represented constituencies that would be affected by the planned route

38
Q

What is a concern on how effectively parliament performs its representative function?

A
  • MPs loyalty to their party = reinforced by the desire to win a promotion to the government, may come into conflict with the need to represent a constituency
39
Q

What is a concern on how effectively parliament performs its representative function of society as a whole?

A
  • 35% of MPs are female (Feb 2024) compared to 51% of the UK population
  • 10% of MPs are from ethnic minorities (Oct 2023) compared to 18% of the UK popualtion