2.2 - The Comparative Powers of the House of Commons and the House of Lords

Question 1

Exclusive powers of the House of Commons (5)

Answer 1

• Examination and approval of the financial affairs of the gov
• Complete veto of legislation in certain scenarios
• Dismissal of a gov through a vote of no confidence (EG Callaghan in 1979 by one vote)
• Select committee examination of the work of gov departments
• Final approval for amendments to legislation

Question 2

Exclusive powers of the House of Lords (2)

Answer 2

• Examining secondary legislation and making recommendations for further consideration
• Delaying primary legislation for up to one year

Question 3

Shared powers of both chambers (5)

Answer 3

• Debating legislation and voting on legislative proposals
• Proposing amendments to legislation
• Holding gov and individual ministers to account
• Debating key issues of the day
• Private members may introduce their own legislation

Question 4

Debates around the relative power of the Commons and the Lords - The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 - What did the Parliament Act 1911 do?

Answer 4

• Powers of the Lords severely limited by the 1911 and 1949 Parliament Acts
• 1911 Act saw the Lords power to veto legislation removed and the Lords only able to delay primary legislation for two years

Question 5

Debates around the relative power of the Commons and the Lords - The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 - What did the Parliament Act 1949 do?

Answer 5

• 1949 Act saw this delaying period reduced to one year
• Now if the Lords delays legislation for more than one year, the Commons can simply bypass it EG Hunting Act 2004

Question 6

Debates around the relative power of the Commons and the Lords - Financial privilege

Answer 6

• As a result of the P Acts, the Lords lost its power to delay or amend money bills
• Linked to the idea of democracy in that the Lords are not accountable to the taxpayer and should therefore not be able to affect money bills

Question 7

Debates around the relative power of the Commons and the Lords - Confidence and supply - What is confidence and supply?

Answer 7

• The right to remove the gov and to grant or withhold funding
• Supply side = willingness of the Commons to authorise the govs financial plans
• Confidence side = the Commons faith in gov to get things done

Question 8

Debates around the relative power of the Commons and the Lords - Confidence and supply - What does confidence and supply lead to and EG?

Answer 8

• Usually this leads to a majority of MPs supporting gov through the party system, but can lead to smaller parties being needed in confidence and supply agreements
• EG Theresa May in 2017 and the DUP where, in exchange for the 10 DUP MPs supporting key gov bills, the gov would provide £1 billion of spending to the NI Assembly and support key DUP issues such as guaranteeing fixed pension rates

Question 9

Debates around the relative power of the Commons and the Lords - Confidence and supply - What happens if a gov doesn’t pass a budget or loses a vote of no confidence?

Answer 9

• If a gov doesn’t pass a budget or is voted out through a vote of no confidence, all members must resign from gov
• Pre 2011 this would automatically lead to a general election

Question 10

Debates around the relative power of the Commons and the Lords - Confidence and supply - Examples of govs losing or nearly losing votes of no confidence

Answer 10

• Callaghan losing a VoNC in 1979 to force the 1979 general
• Under the FTP Act 2011, the Commons were given 14 days to form a new gov before an election was triggered – closest we came under these rules was May surviving a vote of no confidence in 2019 – FTP Act has since been repealed
• However, in 2022 Boris Johnson suffered a vote of no confidence which led to him being forced to resign from gov – instead of this triggering a general election this instead triggered a Con leadership race which ultimately saw Liz Truss ascend to PM with no mandate and a chaotic rule for just 45 days – she then resigned which led to another Tory leadership election which Sunak won unopposed

Question 11

Debates around the relative powers of the Commons and the Lords - The reasonable time convention - What is the reasonable time convention and why did it come about?

Answer 11

• Concern that the Lords would abuse their powers of delay led to the emergence of the reasonable time convention
• This is where the Lords should consider gov legislation and vote on proposals by the end of the Parliamentary session – vague but limits Lords scrutinising abilities

Question 12

Debates around the relative powers of the Commons and the Lords - The reasonable time convention - What has happened since 1999?

Answer 12

Since 1999 the Lords has acquired more legitimacy and has therefore been more willing to challenge the Commons – esp since the issue of clear Party mandates was not very clear post 2010 – the Lords is overall free from the party control that the Commons is subject to and can therefore be effective in scrutinising the lower chamber