Parliament Flashcards
What are the three key features of parliamentary government?
- Parliament is THE highest source of political authority.
- Government is drawn from Parliament.
- Government is accountable to Parliament.
What are the key functions of the Commons?
- Representation
- Legitimation
- Legislation
- Scrutiny
- Debate
What are the key functions of the Lords?
- Legislation
- Scrutiny
- Debate
What powers/functions are shared by the two houses?
- Debate key issues
- Introduce, debate, amend, vote on bills
- Hold ministers accountable
- Dismiss senior judges with a joint vote
How does the convention of financial privilege limit the amendments that can be made by the Lords?
- House of Commons asserts pre-eminence in financial matters.
- Established in statute and convention.
- Finance Bills and Consolidated Fund Bills must originate in Commons.
- Lords cannot amend these bills.
- If Lords amend with spending implications, Commons can overturn citing financial privilege.
- Lords expected to respect Commons’ financial privilege if amendment overturned.
What are ‘money bills’?
They deal exclusively with taxation or public spending
How did the Parliament Act 1911 affect the Lords’ influence over ‘money bills’?
- Act mandates ‘money bills’ for Royal Assent within a month, regardless of Lords’ action.
- Money bills exclusively cover tax and spending.
- Bills covering other subjects not subject to this limitation.
What impact did the Parliament Act 1911 have on Lords’ veto power?
- Lords unable to veto bills since the act.
- Prior to 1911, both houses had to approve bills for them to become law.
- Lords had veto power.
- Act limits Lords to delaying non-money bills for up to two years.
What did the Parliament Act 1949 do?
- Labour government feared Conservative-dominated Lords would stall nationalisation program.
- Introduced bill to reduce Lords’ power to delay non-money bills to a year.
- Bill passed without Lords’ approval under Parliament Act 1911 due to peer opposition.
What do the Parliament Acts not apply to?
They don’t apply to bills extending the maximum duration of a Parliament beyond five years, or bills originating in the House of Lords or delegated/secondary legislation.
In addition to financial privilege, what other conventions limit the Lords?
Financial privilege, Salisbury convention and secondary legislation.
How, and why, have the conventions that limit the Lords come under strain in recent years?
Peers have become more assertive since the 1999 reforms - they have challenged the convention that peers should not block secondary/delegated legislation.
What exclusive power does the Commons have in relation to the executive?
The power to dismiss the executive - only MPs can cause a government to resign with a motion of no confidence.
How and why is political representation impacted by the use of FPTP for general elections?
- UK divided into 650 constituencies, each with one MP.
- FPTP system leads to disproportionate results, potentially undermining representation.
- Lords still unelected.
What representation issues are raised by the House of Lords? What attempts have been made to address this issue?
- Lords unelected, not a microcosm.
- House of Lords Reform Bill 2012 proposed 360 elected members with 15-year terms, 90 appointed members, bishops, and ministerial members.
- Withdrawn in September 2012 due to Conservative rebellion and opposition refusal to support programmed motion.
What is the delegate theory of representation?
The Delegate Model suggest that MPs should act as a mouthpiece for their constituents.
What is the trustee theory of representation?
The Trustee Model suggests that MPs should make their own decisions, based on the national interest.
What is the party/mandate model of representation?
That Party/Mandate Model suggests that MPs should stick to the manifesto that got them elected
Why has the use of referendums further complicated the question of how MPs should represent their constituents?
In the case of the BREXIT referendum, and the following EU Act (2017), some MPs said that they felt limited by the result of the EU referendum - Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn insisted “the Labour Party accepts and respects the decision of the British people”.
What are free/conscience votes?
A vote where MPs and Peers are not put under any pressure by party leaders to vote a certain way - they are often allowed for votes on difficult ethical issues.
Why was the free vote on the Assisted Dying Bill so controversial?
- Bill allowed terminally ill to end lives with medical supervision.
- Pressure groups angry, citing polls showing 82% public support.
- Accused MPs of failing duty to represent.
- Some saw MPs as protecting vulnerable minority.
How does an MP’s interests influence their representation?
MPs often choose to support causes or groups of certain sections of society, often because of their background before they were an MP. They can form all-party groups on topics such as climate change, human rights, poverty, ADHD etc.
How can constituency and party representation clash? Give an example.
- MPs may face conflict between constituency interests and government policy.
- Dilemma for governing party MPs.
- Often prioritize constituents over party loyalty.
- Party whips reluctantly permit this.
- Example: Conservative MPs conflicted over fracking policy.
How can constituency and burkean representation clash?
- MPs not delegates bound by voters.
- Complex issues unlikely to have consensus in constituency.
- Zac Goldsmith promised resignation if government backed 3rd Heathrow runway.
- Resigned, ran as independent, lost.
How was female representation in the commons changed since 1983?
1983: 23 MPs (3%)
1997: 120 MPs (9%)
2010: 143 MPs (22%)
2015: 29%
2020: all time high at 34%
The majority of Labour and Lib Dem MPs are now female, for the first time in history
When compared to these examples, you could argue that women are underrepresented in the commons…
1) Welsh Senedd was the first body to get over 50% women
2) Finnish parliament
What are two methods used to increase the number of women candidates?
All women shortlists and priority lists
What are all women shortlists?
A gender quota that requires some constituency parties to select their parliamentary candidate from a list consisting of only women
What are priority lists?
Where constituency associations were required to draw up short lists on which at least half the aspirant candidates were women.
How has BME representation in the commons changed since 1987?
1987: 4 (0.4%)
1997: 9 (1.4%)
2019: 10%
One in five Labour MPs are now black or minority ethnic, compared with 6% conservatives. But there are no black, Asian or minority ethnic MPs in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
What age groups are least represented?
Young and old people are least represented. Most MPs are in the 35-55 age group.
How many representatives attended fee paying schools?
- 29% of Commons and 62% of Lords were privately educated compared to the 7% national average
- Four in five Conservative MPs attended fee paying schools according to the Sutton Trust
How many representatives went to university?
88% attended university compared to 20% of the population
How is the social class of MPs changing?
- The number of MPs who had manual backgrounds is falling, even amongst Labour.
- Labour MPs from working backgrounds in 1951 was 37%, but in 1997 it was 13%
How many MPs identified as LGTQIA+ in 2019?
6%
How is electoral representation relevant?
FPTP distorts parliamentary representation as the “winners bonus” has a cost: the underrepresentation of smaller parties.
What is the convention of individual ministerial responsibility?
- Ministers accountable to Parliament for own and department’s conduct.
- Expected to inform, explain, and take responsibility or resign for wrongdoing or serious errors.
What is Question Time?
On Monday-Thursday each week, time is reserved in the Commons for Question Time, where MPs can question Ministers from a particular government department. Each department takes its turn, appearing roughly every five weeks, according to a timetable set by the government.
Which MPs get to ask questions at Question Time?
MPs have to submit their questions at least three days in advance of Question Time. After the window for submitting questions closes, a computer randomly shuffles the submitted questions and the top 25 are printed.
Why is it arguable that oral questions are more about partisan point scoring than effective scrutiny?
Oral questions can be very political. They can be more about embarrassing or supporting the government than real fact finding.
What are topical questions at Question Time? How have they improved QT?
Since the 2001-2008 session, 25% of time in each Question Time session has been reserved for topical questions, which ministers do not see in advance. If they are lucky in the ballot for topical questions, they can ask a question on any relevant issue, allowing them to bring up breaking news and the most current developments.
What is Prime Minister’s Questions?
MPs are able to question the Prime Minister every Wednesday from 12 until 12.30. Questions are randomly selected by a computer shuffle, and the PM must also answer supplementary questions they do not see in advance. The Speaker usually allows the Leader of the Opposition to ask up to six supplementary questions.
What are the the strengths and weaknesses of PMQs?
Critics argue that PMQs is more about partisan point scoring than scrutiny and accountability. Most people only see the highlights of PMQs on the evening news, encouraging a focus on short, witty soundbites. Others consider PMQs a unique opportunity for the legislature to directly challenge the executive.
What are urgent questions? How has their use changed in recent years?
If the Speaker is satisfied that a question is urgent, and cannot wait for the relevant department’s next session of Question Time, then the MP can ask it at the end of that day’s QT. Ministers sometimes have to get to the House at quite short notice to answer these questions and have far less time to prepare their response than they usually do. Their use has greatly increased in recent years.
How are oral questions different in the House of Lords?
The House of Lords reserved 30 minutes for four oral questions each day but the key difference is that questions are put to the government as a whole, rather than to specific departments. Questions are tabled in advance, and relevant ministers with a seat in the Lords are required to attend and answer them. There is also a ballot to ask a topical question as the fourth question in the day’s session.
How do written questions work? What are their advantages over oral questions?
Written questions often prompt more detailed responses from the government. Departments can publish more information than can be delivered orally in the chamber.
What is parliamentary privilege?
This refers to the special protection that MPs and Peers have when they are engaged in parliamentary business. It means that MPs and Peers cannot be prosecuted or sued for libel or slander for any actions taken within the Palace of Westminster.
Why is parliamentary privilege important?
It is a vital principle as it means that members can more effectively call government and ministers to account; they do not feel at all constrained.
Why does parliamentary privilege still have restriction?
Members can’t still just act as they please - those who have abused parliamentary privilege may be disciplined for using provocative language, though this is a fairly weak check.
