Parliament Flashcards
1
Q
Who is the most important person in parliament?
A
Prime Minister
2
Q
What does the PM usually command over?
A
An overall majority in the the commons - 2010-2015 and 2017-2019 were exceptions.
3
Q
What dominated the legislature?
A
Executive
4
Q
What is parliament meant to do?
A
Scrutinise and check the government?
5
Q
What is the reality when the PM has a large majority?
A
Elective dictatorship - can rely on getting their way in a vote.
6
Q
Who is the Speaker?
A
The speaker acts as the chair of parliament, aiming to keep order and ensure as many MP s as possible from a range of parties are able to speak
7
Q
What can the Speaker do?
A
Suspend MPs who break parliamentary rules
8
Q
Example of a parliamentary rule?
A
Not allowed to call a fellow MP a liar.
9
Q
Example of a suspension?
A
John Bercow suspended Dennis Skinner for calling Cameron Dodgy Dave.
10
Q
How is a Speaker selected?
A
Elected position
11
Q
How was Lindsay Hoyle elected?
A
4th Ballot in November 2019 - unanimously re-elected after the general election.
12
Q
What does tradition suggest about their party affiliation?
A
Renounce it to ensure impartiality.
13
Q
What happens at election time concerning the Speaker?
A
Major political parties do not oppose them.
14
Q
Who was forced to resign due to an expenses scandal?
A
Michael Martin 2000-2009
15
Q
Who was seen as bias?
A
John Bercow - alleged favouritism of opposition MPs and his lack of cooperation on the Brexit Bill
16
Q
Who is the Leader of the House of Commons?
A
Penny Mordaunt - previously Rees-Mogg
17
Q
What is the role of the Leader of the House?
A
Government’s business manager - need to ensure that the Commons runs smoothly and that bills are timetabled.
18
Q
When does the Leader of the house tell the business schedule for the following week?
A
Thursdays
19
Q
What is a party whip?
A
Whips are in charge of discipline and ensuring as far as they can that MPs stay loyal and vote the way their leaders dictat
20
Q
How to do they ensure MPs vote the right way?
A
Explain the reasons for the PMs stance.
21
Q
What is a three line whip?
A
When a party believes all their members will vote unanimously
22
Q
What does having the whip withdrawn mean?
A
The MP is suspended from the party - usually temporary.
23
Q
Why would a whip be withdrawn?
A
MP does something to bring the party into disrepute.
24
Q
Who went on I’m a Celeb without informing party leadership?
A
Nadine Dorries
25
How many MPs did Boris remove the whip from
21 MPs - defied instructions not to support a motion to take control of parliamentary business from the govt. during Brexit.
26
How many of the 21 had the whip restored?
10
27
How many of the 21 decided to run as independents?
5
28
What did Julian Lewis do in 2020?
Elected chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, defeating the government's favourite, Chris Grayling.
29
What did the government accuse Lewis of doing?
Working with Labour for his advantage.
30
Who are the Front Benchers?
Ministers in government.
31
What are backbenchers?
Ordinary MPs
32
How are backbenchers an issue for parties?
Can rebel and criticise their own party.
33
Example of a rebel Backbencher
Jeremy Corbyn for the Blair/Brown leadership.
34
How many government bills were debated between 2015-2017?
55
35
How many government bills were passed between 2015-2017?
48
36
How many Private Members Bills were introduced in 2015-2017?
324
37
How many PMB were passed in 2015-2017
14
38
What is a public bill?
Bills that apply to everyone once it becomes law
39
What is a private bill?
Only applies to a certain group of people.
40
Example of a Private Bill?
Middle Level Act 2018 - regulated navigation in part of the East Anglia Fens.
41
How many bills are passed each year?
30-40
42
How many bills were passed in 2019?
31
43
How many bills received royal assent in the 2021-2022 session?
50
44
What is a green paper?
Government document setting out issues and options for legislation - discussion document. Usually comes from civil servants.
45
Example of a Green Paper?
Adult Social Care September 2019
46
What is a white paper?
Government document setting out detailed plans and proposals for legislation.
47
What has increased?
Pre-legislative scrutiny - draft bills are sometimes published are scrutinised by a select committee or joint committee before they are formally introduced to parliament
48
Example of Pre-legislative scrutiny
Inquiry into the draft Tenant Fees Bill in November 2017 by the Communities and Local Government select committee in advance of its being debated in parliament.
49
What happens at the Monarch's Speech?
Outline of the government's legislative programme
50
What is the first stage of the legislative process?
First Reading
51
What is the First reading?
The formal introduction of the bills by the relevant government minister
52
What is the second reading?
Main debate on the principles of the bill.
53
When was the last government defeat at the second reading?
1986 - Sunday Trading Bill defeated 296-282
54
What is the committee stage?
Bill is considered line by line by a public bill committee - amendments suggested.
55
Who can Public Bill Committees call?
Expert witnesses.
56
Why are major changes unlikely at committee stage?
Government has majority on the committee
57
How long does a public bill committee last?
The lifetime of a bill.
58
How many MPs appointed to committees brought relevant experience?
63% - between 2000 and 2010
59
How many amendments accepted came from specialised MPs?
87%
60
What is the report stage?
Any amendments agreed in a committee are considered by the commons, can be accepted, rejected or changed. Also an opportunity for further amendments.
61
What is the third reading?
Final Debate - no more changes can be made - leads to a divide.
62
What is it called when a bill goes back and forth between the two houses?
Parliamentary Ping-Pong
63
Example of Parliamentary Ping Pong
Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005
64
How many times was PTA 2005 considered?
5 in the Lords and 4 in the Commons for 30 hours.
65
What can the commons invoke to stop the ping pong?
Parliament Act - bill becomes law within the year.
66
When was the last time the Parliament act used?
2004 for the Hunting Act.
67
What did Gina Miller's case do?
Forced the government to get parliamentary approval for its Brexit deal.
68
How badly did May lose in the first vote on her Brexit Bill?
432-202
69
How bad was the second vote?
391-242
70
When was article 50 extended to?
22nd May 2019 - if there was an agreement passed by 29th March
71
How badly was the third vote defeated?
344 to 286
72
What act was passed in April 2019
The Copper Letwin Act
73
What was the Copper Letwin Act?
Request an extension to 31st October 2019
74
When was the EU Withdrawal Act No.2 Passed?
September 2019
75
What did the EU withdrawal Act No. 2 do?
Extension to the 31st January.
76
What happened on the 19th October?
Revised withdrawal agreement
77
How much was the new agreement passed by?
322 to 306
78
When was the European Union Act passed?
23rd January 2020
79
What was the majority on the EU Act?
99 - no tory opposition.
80
How many days scrutiny did the EU Act have?
11 days
81
What is secondary legislation?
Laws that are derived from provisions within primary legislation for the relevant minister to introduce new clauses or changes
82
Example of Secondary Legsislation
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 - allows the government to more easily add drugs to the list of banned substances
83
What acts were derived from PMBs?
Abortion Act 1967 and Abolition of Capital Punishment in 1969
84
How many names are drawn out of a ballot for a ballot bill?
20 names
85
What is the benefit of a ballot bill?
Have a higher than average chance of being passed
86
What is the disadvantage of a ballot bill?
Only stand a chance if they are uncontroversial.
87
What bill had government withdraw its support?
Turing Bill 2016 - would have pardoned all men living with UK convictions for same sex-offences. Speaking for 25 minutes, meaning the bill failed to progress.
88
What bill was stopped in 2018?
Up-skirting bill - single objection from Christopher Chope.
89
How many ballot bills were passed in 2017-2019?
Just 4 - example: Assaults on Emergency Workers Act 2018
90
Why are 10 minute bills important?
Backbenchers can raise issues of concern relating to their constituencies.
91
Example of 10 minute rule bill?
Guardianship Act 2017: new legal status of guardian of the affairs of a missing person.
92
When is a presentation bill presented?
Presented only during a Friday sitting.
93
What are presentation bills used to address?
Discrete, non-controversial policy issues and to resolve anomalies in the law
94
What is unique about a presentation bill?
No debate and no speech.
95
How do Backbenchers influence government legislation?
Apply pressure before the bill reaches the floor
96
What is the government keen to do?
Buy off rebels in advance by making changes to the bill before it is debated.
97
What was abandoned in 2011?
Privatise some of English forests.
98
What did labour backbenchers persuade Blair to do?
Bring in the Corporate Manslaughter Bill in 2006
99
Who do MPs represent?
Constituents, party, special interests groups.
100
How many MPs continue to undertake jobs outside of parliament?
18%
101
Which MP is a nurse?
Maria Caufield
102
What do MPs do to represent a particular interest?
Join all-party groups comprising other MPs who share similar views.
103
What do MPs host to listen to concerns of constituents?
Weekly surgeries.
104
What is redress of grievances?
An MP does not have the power to fix all issues but can raise issues with local councils.
105
How many pieces of communication did one MP receive in their first 10 months?
38400
106
What are inner city MPs receive more requests for?
Help for housing and social benefits.
107
What is the Burkean Theory?
Idea of trusteeship - take into account constituents views but use their personal judgement
108
Why should MPs be allowed to use their own judgement?
They have expertise.
109
How has the Burkean theory been weakened?
Strong party ties and the parliamentary whipping system
110
How did Nick Boles defy his constituents?
Represented a Leave constituency but supported remain - voted against own party in Brexit votes.
111
What is a vote of conscience?
MPs follow their own conscience or belief in the common good. Long been custom that such votes are "unwhipped".
112
Example of a conscience vote?
2013 vote on Gay Marriage - Cameron back the vote - half the party rebelled or abstained.
113
How many tories voted for gay marriage?
127 - 136 tory votes overall.
114
How many Labour MPs voted against gay marriage?
22
115
Why could MPs rebel from party leadership?
Gay marriage wasn't a part of the manifesto
116
What is the delegate theory?
Elected officials are simply mouthpieces for constituencies
117
Why is the delegate theory so hard to put into practice?
Impossible for an MP to know what views their constituents hold.
118
What are the benefits of the delegate theory?
Direct representation, removes the subjectivity of the MP
119
What happened in 2015?
Zac Goldsmith promised he would resign if the government backed a third runway at Heathrow
120
What did Stephen Lloyd do?
Promised to support Brexit - honouring the referendum and his constituency. Lost in 2019
121
What is the Mandate Theory?
Elected officials are primarily there to represent the manifesto of their party.
122
What happened to Frank Field?
Left Labour in 2019 and stoop as an independent and was defeated in Birkenhead.
123
Where was Anne Milton defeated after leaving the Tories?
Guildford
124
What happened to Douglas Carswell in 2014?
Left the Tories, Joined UKIP and retained his seat in the by-election and the 2015 general election
125
What is the biggest flaw of Mandate theory?
FPTP - most MPs don't get the majority of the vote.
126
What happened in 2003?
139 Labour MPS rebelled against Blair over the invasion of Iraq
127
What percentage of parliament are women?
35% in the House of commons, 28% in the Lords
128
What percentage of Lib dems are women?
69%
129
What percentage of MPs are non-white?
10%
130
How many openly LGBTQ+ MPs are there?
45
131
How many MPs went to independent schools?
173
132
How many MPs went to Oxbridge?
21%
133
How many MPs went to a Russel Group?
1/3
134
How many members of the House of Lords are non-white?
6%
135
What is the average age of the HoL?
69
136
How many Lords attended private school?
57%
137
What is the diversity of hereditary peers?
All men, all white
138
Example of a select committee?
Digital, Cultural, Media and Sport Committee
139
What is the dominant form of questions as scrutiny?
Written questions
140
When are PMQs?
Wednesdays.
141
What is the nature of opposition questions?
Punch and Judy politics
142
What questions do the majority party tend to ask?
Patsy questions
143
What was the impact of PMQs on the Owen Paterson Case?
Negative media coverage and outspoken backbenchers - lead to a U turn
144
What is the most direct form of scrutiny?
Questions
145
What else do PMQs allow?
Offer opportunities for the leader of the opposition to stake a claim by delivering a "better" debating performance. E.G. David Cameron 2005 "was the future once"
146
What is the main criticism of PMQs?
Too played up for the media - lose faith in parliament due to the nature of the point scoring.
147
What did Bill Cash do as a backbencher?
Raise the profile of the EU issue
148
What is the role of the opposition?
Scrutiny, shadow cabinet, promoting alternative policies and approaches
149
What does the Leader of the Opposition have?
Special privileges in debates - opening question at PMQs and are the only MP to be able to respond with further questions.
150
How many opposition days are there?
20 days - 17 to the Official opposition, and the rest to the second largest opposition party.
151
What issues did Labour raise in 2018?
Grenfell, school funding and NHS privatisation.
152
What happened in 2009?
Motion to allow Gurkhas to settle in the UK passed - 27 Labour rebelled and supported the opposition - first defeat on an opposition day since 1997.
153
What can members of the shadow cabinet do?
Debate their counterpart and propose alternative policies.
154
What was the influence of opposition from the Lib Dems during the coalition?
Tories dropped proposals to lower inheritance tax.
155
What can select committees do?
Publish critical reports on the government
156
What is the power of the opposition dependent on?
Parliamentary arithmetic - small majority = more powerful opposition.
157
What depletes the opposition's power?
National emergency - generally expected that there will be consensus and a lack of political point scoring.
158
What was partly influenced by the opposition?
Furlough and the job security plan during COVID
159
How was Diane Abbott criticised?
Lack of grasp on numbers and details in 2017 after appearing on LBC to discuss the police.
160
What does a healthy opposition do?
Sustain the democratic process through scrutiny but not being a roadblock.
161
What is a select committee?
A committee who's role is to scrutinise a government department
162
Who make up a select committee?
Backbenchers with an equal party weighting as the majority in parliament.
163
What do select committees want to know?
How well public policies are working in the real world.
164
How are the chairs of committees selected?
Secret Ballot
165
Example of a chair of a committee?
Jeremy Hunt - ex health secretary - chair of the health committee
166
What does the government have to do following a select committee report?
Respond publicly but don't have to take the changes forward.
167
What is the party cohesion in a select committee?
More bipartisan
168
Who can select committees call?
Witnesses like civil servants and ministers.
169
How much did press mentions of the Home Affair rise between 2008 and 2012?
295 to 2033
170
What else do select committees do?
Scrutinise executive appointments.
171
How many departments had select committee reports between 2010 and 2019?
125/1325
172
What do backbenchers enjoy?
Parliamentary privilege
173
What is parliamentary privilege?
Free from all laws of slander and contempt of court.
174
What do debates do?
Offer MPs the opportunity to raise concerns and opinions and can force the government to change its mind.
175
Example of an effective debate?
August 2013: evidence Bashar al Assad was using chemical weapons against civilians in the civil war - Cameron proposed air strikes against al-Assad's forces
176
How much did Cameron lose by?
285-272
177
What happened in 2018?
Lord Peter Hain broke an interim injunction to name Philip Green as the man behind a court injunction banning a newspaper from naming him
178
What is an emergency debate?
MP has three minutes to put their request to the house.
179
How are emergency debates called?
Granted by the speaker - must be on a "specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration."
180
How many emergency debates took place in the 2017-2019 session?
22
181
Example of a non-partisan debate?
Contaminated blood scandal - concerned patients being given contaminated blood samples during transfusions and contracting conditions : Hep C and HIV. July 2017: Diana Johnson (Labour).
182
What does the Backbench Business Committee allow?
Gives MPs more opportunities to shape Commons business - decides the topic of debate for one day a week - Commons and Westminster Hall .
183
How often do Westminster hall debates occur?
4 days a week
184
How are debates allocated in Westminster Hall?
Ballot
185
What happened 12 Feb 2020?
Cumbria MP and Lib Dem leader (former) Tim Farron topic of support for hill farmers.
186
What debate did Ben Bradley lead?
Education and white working-class boys' attainment.
187
Why is the impact of Westminster Hall debates questionable?
Cannot compel the government to act - can only force them to reply.
188
How many signature does a petition need to get to be discussed?
100,000
189
How many signatures did the sick pay petition receive?
700,000
190
How many signatures did the NHS parking fee petition get?
415,000
191
What was the impact of the NHS petition?
Government found additional money for the NHS trust to cover staff costs.
192
How many signatures did the trump ban petition collect?
1 million
193
How has the number of payroll MPs increased?
101 in 1960 to 141 in 2018 - 134 in 2020
194
How many Lords amendments to Johnson's Brexit Bill were agreed by the Commons?
5 suggested, not one agreed
195
What did Tanmanjeet Singh do?
Challenged Johnson's islamophobia
196
What did Alexander Scrimgeour do?
Argues for fewer MPs in the HoC
197
What is Lord Freyberg against?
University fees
198
How many times has Caroline Lucas spoken in parliament?
Over 1600 times
199
What are the three roles of MPs?
Represent, Legislate and Scrutinise
200
Who are Life Peers?
Appointees for their lifetime only
201
What created life peers?
Life Peerages Act 1958
202
How many life peers are there?
687
203
How many life peers are tory?
218
204
How many life peers are Labour?
176
205
How many life peers are lib dem?
83
206
How many life peers are crossbenchers?
153
207
Who are life peers nominated by?
PM
208
Example of Life Peer?
Lord Sugar
209
How many hereditary peers are there?
92
210
How many of the hereditary peers were elected by their peers?
75 out of the 92
211
What act removed the entitlement of most of the hereditary peers?
House of Lords Act 1999
212
How many of the hereditary peers are tory?
47
213
Who are the Lord spirituals
Archbishops of Canterbury, York - Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester.
214
How many Lord spirituals are there?
26
215
How many peers are there?
784
216
How many reports did the Lord produce on policy areas in 2016-2017?
41 reports
217
How much of their time do the Lords spent on legislating?
60%
218
Can Lords propose bills?
Yes
219
How many bills were introduced in the House of Lords in 2017-2019?
149 - 67 received royal assent.
220
What means that ministers will modify measure before they are introduced?
Anticipated reaction
221
Who is Lord Krebs
Zoologist and expert in the field of science
222
Who is Lord Mandelson?
Has past political expertise - role in Blair and Brown's government.
223
How do the Lords represent?
Represent people in the general public - Baroness Grey Thompson - disabled people
224
How many lords aren't politically affiliated?
185
225
How much time do Lords spend scrutinising?
40%
226
How do lords scrutinise?
Questions, debates, select committees
227
What do Lords Select Committees do?
Focus on general issues or specialist subjects.
228
Who is the chair of the EU Committee?
Earl of Kinnoull - investigated EU documents.
229
Who is the chair of the Science and Technology Committees?
Lord Patel - consider science and techonology
230
Who is the chair of the International Relations Committee?
Baroness Anelay of St Johns - consider the UK's international relations and defence policy.
231
Example of an Ad Hoc committee?
Artificial Intelligence (2017-2018)
232
What did the Lords do in 2015?
Voted to delay cuts to tax credits - caused the modification of these cuts in the Autumn statement
232
What did the Lords do in 2015?
Voted to delay cuts to tax credits - caused the modification of these cuts in the Autumn statement
233
How many times was the EU withdrawal bill rejected in the Lords
17
234
How many peers claimed expenses after only speaking 5 times or less?
277
235
How many questions were submitted between 2016-2017 from the Lords?
7,000
236
Why did assisted dying come to the political agenda?
PMB by Lord Joffe in 2003
