PARL: The structure and role of the House of Commons and House of Lords. Flashcards
what is parliament often described as and why
- ‘the mother of parliaments’
because it has been traces of history since the 10 century and other parliaments have based their model off of ours
why is the government the highest source of political authority
- Parliamentary sovereignty
- parliament is ‘omnicompetent’ which means they are capable of any act legally
- this makes the constitution un-entrenched because the constitution can be altered easily. Legally parl are soverign but maybe not in reality and politically.
- the government have the power if their majority is large which is also called ‘sovereignty of the majority party’
what are the rules with parl sov
- you cant bind your successors with any legislation you make
- no higher power can overturn legislation even the supreme court
- they can make laws on anything
what are the seperation of powers in the uk
powers between parliament and government are fused
this is because the power itself can shift depending on the circumstances
- gov can dominate legislation if big majority and high poll ratings
- parl can dominate if gov has small majority eg theresa may had very little backing during brexit
However… gov still has to justify their policies because they are accountable to parliament
what can parliament do if it feels the gov is not fulfilling their manifesto
vote of no confidence: opposition party trying to overthrow the government where the house votes and then there is ultimately a general election and new government if the gov losses.
Theresa May - 2019, Jeremy Corbyn issued VoNC because she wasn’t getting much backing for her Brexit plan but she survived the vote by 19 votes and promised not to do a no deal brexit.
why do the majority party ultimately have sovereignty
They are elected democratically which means they have been voted for their mandate which they must carry out and parl shouldn’t stop them from meeting those democratic fulfillments. Parl should only block legislation if they think the mandate is being carried out.
when do the people get political sovereignty
during elections when it returns to the people
House of Commons
650 members
front bench mps - more senior than backbench, they are ministers in the gov party, vote in favour of party
backbench mps - more independent to vote
2022 December members
- Con: 356
-Lab - 195
- SNP - 44
However compare this to the opinion polls!!
2022 December
- Lab 46%
-Con 26%
This isn’t representative of the seats. Events: conservative ratings fell considerably when Truss came into power but was already gradually falling since the russian invasion which has sent the country into a recession
House of Lords
- not fixed but 786 sitting members
- 91 hereditary peers (HoL act 1999)
- there doesnt have to be a balance of parties
Functions of the house of commons
- Holding the government accountable - the people cant do this all the time so the commons must do it by criticising; forcing justification for policies; remove a gov by passing s vote of no confidence EG James Callaghan 1979 lost a VoNC by 1 vote
- Legitimising legislation - the gov need the consent of the people and obviously can’t hold a referendum every time so parliament does it for them because they’ve all been elected. This adds legitimacy to the government by strengthening it and reassuring the people. EG the HoC must approve of any taxation and expenditure by the gov every-time a change is proposed (Kwasi Kwarteng mini budget was that approved??? he proposed to remove the 45p income tax on the highest earners to encourage trickle down economics, something which he later u-turned on because of such backlash)
- Representing their constituency - lobbying whose department interests/disinterest his constituents, speaking in th HoC to gain publicity of the issue or by joining a local campaign
Functions of the House of Lords
- Delaying legislation - since 1949 the lords can only delay legislation for 1 year. This is so that the HoC go back and make amendments that the HoL think are crucial. however parliament can use the Parliament Act to bypass the lords. EG The sexual offences amendment act 2000 which lowered the age of consent for gay men to 16.
- Scrutiny of legislation - they scrutinise and amend legislation. The lords are experts in a field which represent society. This all happens in the committee stage of a bill where they can add or remove sections.
- Scrutinising secondary legislation - (leg that doesnt need to pass through normal procedures) the details behind other legislation are scrutinised
Is parliamentary sovereignty eroding? YES
1 - Executive power has grown a lot in recent decades. This is political, not legal sovereignty. It doesn’t change that they are not above the law.
Eg Gina Miller Supreme court case for Article 50 shows that the exec thinks that they have more power than they think
2 - it is more normal to hold referendums when important constitutional changes are occurring
EG devolution, EU membership or electoral system. Despite the result not being completely binding on parl, they just wouldn’t ignore the popular vote. Sovereignty returns to the people
3 - Devolution to Scottland; it is hard to imagine parl restoring all the powers it gave out. Parl sov has been transfered in reality but NOT constitutional law… legally they can remove the powers back to parl but it would cause uproar if they did
What are reserve powers
very significant and only expected to be used in unusual or extreme circumstances so they are held in reserve. These powers are:
veto legislation proposed by gov
dismiss a gov by a Vote of no confidence
an example of the gov using reserve powers
Eg Parliament blocking the Gender Recognition Reform Bill by the Scottish parliament which would introduce a self-identification system for people who want to change gender. Despite this, Nicola Sturgeon says that they had “no grounds” to block it.
