opposition in parliament

Question 1

what are the three groups of opposition in parliament?

Answer 1

-the official opposition (only been tories or labour since 1920s)
-other opposition parties e.g. lib dems
-intra-party opposition e.g. opponents within the governing party or members of the other party when in a coalition government

Question 2

what’s the role of the opposition?

Answer 2

-to scrutinise and check the power of the government
-they must offer viable and practical alternative solutions

Question 3

how do the official opposition challenge government?

Answer 3

-they have special privileges in debates and commons business
-at PMQs they always ask the first question and up to 5 more, and are the only MPs allowed to respond to the PM

Question 4

what are opposition days?

Answer 4

-opposition parties have 20 days set aside each year where they choose a topic to debate
-17 of the days are for the official opposition, and the remaining 3 are for the second biggest opposition party
-e.g. in 2018 labour raised a debate on grenfell tower

Question 5

how can the shadow cabinet provide checks on the government?

Answer 5

-they can ask questions of ministers and provide alternative solutions
-e.g. in debates over the standard of rail services, the shadow transport minister (labour) argued for the re-nationalisation of railways

Question 6

how can intra-party scrutiny provide checks on the government?

Answer 6

-during coalition government of 2010-2015, opposition from within the lib dems led to the tories scrapping their proposal for lower inheritance tax
-during debates over brexit 2018-19, opposition MPs and tory rebels prevented many versions of theresa may’s brexit deal from going through

Question 7

what’s the significance of the opposition?

Answer 7

-it depends on the size of the majority the government has - e.g. may’s gov. in 2017 was a minority one, so the opposition was more significant
-the stronger the government, the more power they will have to push through laws and so the opposition will be less effective

Question 8

strengths of the opposition:

Answer 8

-opposition party gets privileges and extra finding to help them scrutinise more effectively
-opposition can position itself as an alternative government/ a government ‘in waiting’
-it can check/change government policy
-backbench rebels from within the governing party can be a problem for the government e.g. when they blocked proposals to reform the house of lords

Question 9

weaknesses of the opposition:

Answer 9

-the government has greater resources, and decides on topics for debate
-opposition successes are rare
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