Chapter 2 Parliament

Question 1

2.1 What is the House of Commons?

Answer 1

The HOC is the democratically elected house of the UK parliament responsible for making laws and checking the work of the government

Question 2

How are the members of the House of commons selected?

Answer 2

• Chosen through election to represent single member constituencies
• Uses first past the post electoral system
• Most MPs are elected members of a political party
• 650 members
• ¾ of total membership in the HOC are backbenchers ( do not have a ministerial position)

Question 3

What is the House of Lords?

Answer 3

The HOL is the second chamber in parliament that plays a crucial role in examining bills, questioning government action

Question 4

How are the members of the House of Lords selected?

Answer 4

• members of the House of Lords are made up of life peers, hereditary peers and lord spirituals
• HOL does not have an upper limit on its membership

Question 5

What are the main functions of parliament?

Answer 5

• the three main functions of the commons and the lords are:
  > passing legislation
  > scrutiny
  > providing ministers/representation

Question 6

What is the function of Passing Legislation

Answer 6

• Parliament is the supreme legislative body in the UK
• Authority to pass or amend laws on any subject
• Commons has exclusive power to give consent on taxation
• Lords are not allowed to interfere with the passing of ‘money bills’
• Lords have the right to amend non-financial legislation
• Limited opportunity for backbenchers and opposing MPs to put forward measures of their own
• Rarely able to defeat or significantly amend legislation
• To defeat a bill there has to be solid opposition
• Opposition constantly confronts and challenges legislation
• Governments can use the argument of overriding necessity to push through legislation
  E.g The 2005 Prevention of Terrorism Act, which introduced control orders for individuals suspected of terrorist offences, completed all its stages in just 18 days

Question 7

What is the function of Parliamentary Scrutiny and the three main types of scrutinising?

Answer 7

• Has a responsibility to exercise oversight of the executive’s actions
• Opposition seeks to hold government to account and expose their errors
• Ministers have a duty to explain and defend their policies in parliament
• Most senior ministers sit in the commons
  Question time is a weekly question-and-answer session in the chamber of the Commons (seen however as a largely point occurring exercise dominated by PM)
• Select committees shadow the individual government departments in the commons
• Debates give MPs more power to shape the agenda by allowing them to choose the topic for the debate on one day per week

Question 8

What is the function of providing ministers?

Answer 8

• C=Parliament acts as a recruiting ground for future ministers
• whips make recommendations to the prime minister on suitable candidates
• L= The award of peerage can be used to secure an individual’s service

Question 9

For the commons only, what is the function of representing the electorate?

Answer 9

• Commons has a representative function since they are elected
• FPTP develops a strong link between the MP and their constituency
• Expected to respond to issues raised by constituents
• MPs stand up for local interests in westminster