2.2 the comparative powers of the house of commons and house of lords Flashcards
What area does the commons have exclusive authority?
to give consent to taxation and public expenditure
Where is the chancellor of the exchequer obliged to sit and why?
- in the commons
- the annual budget is always presented
What is confidence and supply?
- type of informal coalition agreement sometimes used in the event of a hung parliament where the minority partners agrees to vote with the government on key issues
What is an example of a confidence and supply situation?
The conservative party’s arrangement with the democratic unionist party following the June 2017 election (conservative were 8 seats short of a majority)
What are the two most important legal restraints on the power of the Lords?
Parliament Act of 1911 and 1949
What did the Parliament Act of 1911 set out?
- the lords had no right to delay money bills
- its power to veto non-financial bills was to be replaced by a power of delay lasting two parliamentary sessions (two years)
Why was the Parliament Act of 1911 created?
The Lords rejected the ‘peoples budget’ in 1909, which brought out a long constitutional crisis
What did the Parliament Act of 1949 do?
halved the length of time that the upper house could use its delaying power
What was the 1945 Salisbury convention?
the House of Lords does not delay or block legislation that was included in a governments manifesto
What are the current distinctive powers of the Lords?
- acts mainly as a revising chamber (proposes amendments to government legislation, which government can accept or reject)
- can delay non-financial legislation for one year
- if a government were to attempt to prolong the life of parliament beyond it legal maximum term, the Lords is legally empowered to force it to hold a general election
What has increased the Lords’ sense of legitimacy?
- removal of most hereditary peers, meaning the Lords was now dominated by life peers
How was the reformed House of Lords more inclined to challenge the government?
Life peers were more likely to play a regular part in the work of the House
How many government defeats were there in the House of Lords by the conservative government between 1979-97?
241
How many government defeats were there in the House of Lords by the labour government between 1997-2010?
528
How many government defeats were there in the House of Lords by the conservative-liberal democrat coalition government between 2010-15?
99
How many government defeats were there in the House of Lords by the conservative government between 2015-16?
60
What party’s dominance in the House of Lords was removed after the departure of hereditary peers?
Conservative
How did the Lib Dem peers demonstrate growing independence during the period of the New Labour government?
- after the 2005 election, they opposed Tony Blair’s proposals for identity cards
- even though this policy had been announced by the Labour Party in advance
What did the the Lib Dem peers do in order to demonstrate growing independence during the period of the New Labour government?
- argued that the salisbury convention no longer applied because the government had been re-elected on a very low share of the popular vote
How did cross-bench peers begin to play a more important role in holding the government to account?
- as neutral figures, they are more likely to assess a bill on its merits and to decide accordingly whether to support or oppose the government
What is parliamentary ping pong?
a bill going back and forth between the two houses
How long was the 2005 Prevention of Terrorism Bill debate?
30 hours
What can the government use to force a bill through?
Parliament Act
How many times did the Blair government use the Parliament Act?
three times
What three bills were passed using the Parliament Act during the Blair government?
- changing the voting system for European parliament elections (1999)
- equalising the age of consent for gay and heterosexual people (2000)
- banning hunting with dogs (2004)
