Parliament Flashcards
Structure of PMent
Parliament is theoretically the most powerful institution
in the state.
It is composed of 3 bodies:
* House of Commons (650 MPs);
* House of Lords (approx 800);
* Monarch
The House of Commons is the most important and influential of these.
Functions
Parliament’s main role is a legislative one: to make Acts of Parliament.
It also has an important political role:
* Scrutinising the government and holding it to account.
* Debating the issues of the day.
* Approving the government’s budget.
HoC: Elected House
MPs are elected by the ‘First Past the Post’ system.
Electoral reform was rejected in a 2011 referendum.
Almost universal suffrage (aged 21+) since 1928.
Voting age reduced to 18 by the Representation of
the People Act 1969.
English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) – 2015-202
Speaker
A key role in the House of Commons.
Elected by MPs.
Effectively a chairperson – ensuring that order is maintained and making rulings on matters of practice and procedure.
Once in office, the Speaker must behave impartially
Life
A 7 year maximum was set by the Septennial Act 1715; then
reduced to 5 by the Parliament Act 1911.
‘Fixed’ at 5 years by the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011.
Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019.
Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 – restores the prerogative power of dissolution and repeals the 2011 Act ‘as
if [it] had never been enacted’
Membership disqualification
The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 provides that the holders of certain officers are excluded from
membership of the HC, including:
* Judges
* Civil Servants
* Members of the police and armed forces
Those entitled to sit in the House of Lords are also disqualified from sitting in the House of Commons.
In 1960, Tony Benn MP lost his eligibility to remain in the Commons when his father, Viscount Stansgate, died.
Peers can now disclaim their hereditary titles using provisions in the Peerage Act 1963.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home made use of the Act in 1963: he was
then elected to the HC and became Prime Minister
Lords: scrutinising and revising chamber
Current composition:
* Hereditary peers (89);
* Life peers (670);
* Church of England
archbishops and bishops (25)
Parliament Act 1911 – ended the power to veto Bills.
Life Peerages Act 1958 – enabled appointed individuals (other than the bishops) to sit in the House of Lords for the first time.
House of Lords Act 1999 – ended the dominance of hereditary peers.
Constitutional Reform Act 2005 – replaced the Law Lords with
an independent Supreme Court.
Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 – for ten years will give preference to female bishops for new appointments.
Relationship between houses
The House of Commons is the dominant chamber.
Since the Parliament Acts, the House of Lords cannot stand in the way of the elected chamber.
The Salisbury convention.
A revising and scrutinising chamber.
A more independent chamber.
