Comparative Powers

Question 1

House of Commons exclusive powers: FINANCIAL LEGISLATION

Answer 1

The House of Commons has exclusive authority in financial legislation such as giving consent to taxation and public expenditure because they are democratically elected and represent the taxpayer

The annual budget is always presented in the House of Commons

The House of Lords can debate money bills but not interfere with them

The Chancellor of the Exchequer must also be an MP in the House of Commons due to this

Question 2

House of Commons exclusive powers: CONFIDENCE AND SUPPLY

Answer 2

Confidence and supply is a type of informal coalition agreement sometimes used in the event of a hung parliament

the partner in the agreement agrees to vote in line with the government on key issues (such as the government’s budget) usually in exchange for policy concessions

Confidence and supply agreements can be made by a minority government with another party to keep itself in office

More flexible but less stable than a full coalition

For example in 2017 the Conservatives were eight seats short of a majority so formed a confidence and supply agreement with the DUP

A similar occurrence was in 1977 to 78 when James Callaghan’s minority Labour government made the ‘Lib-Lab Pact’ with the Liberal Party

Question 3

main powers of the House of Lords: in what ways is the House of Lords less powerful than the House of Commons?

Answer 3

The House of Lords is less powerful than the House of Commons, it is the second chamber

The House of Lords is limited by both law and convention as it is unelected and lacks the democratic legitimacy that the Commons has

Question 4

main powers of the House of Lords: PARLIAMENTS ACTS 1911 + 1949

Answer 4

The Parliaments Acts 1911 and 1949 put important legal restrictions on the House of Lords’ power

The 1911 act came about when the House of Lords broke the convention that they should not interfere with matters of taxation — They rejected the Liberal government’s People’s Budget of 1909, thus bringing about a constitutional crisis which was resolved when the act was passed two years later

The act sets out in law that the House of Lords cannot delay money bills and their power to veto non-financial bills was replaced with the power to delay for up to 2 years

Clement Attlee’s Labour government used the 1911 act to push through a modification which halved this delaying period to only up to a year (this was embodied in the 1949 parliament act)

Question 5

main powers of the House of Lords: SALISBURY CONVENTION

Answer 5

The powers of the House of Lords are also constrained by the 1945 Salisbury convention which states that the Lords should not oppose, delay or block legislation that was included in a government’s manifesto

Question 6

main powers of the House of Lords: what are the main powers of the House of Lords?

Answer 6

Acts mainly as a revising chamber, proposing amendments to government legislation, the government can either accept or reject these amendments

can delay non-financial legislation for up to a year

The House of Lords retains its veto if the government was attempting to prolong the life of a parliament beyond the legal maximum of five years — the Lords can force it to hold a general election if such a situation was to arise