Parliament Flashcards
1
Q
What is the structure of Parliament?
A
Consists of the Commons, Lords and Monarch
2
Q
What is the Monarch’s role in Parliament?
A
Signing Bills to become Acts
Makes speeches once a year to announce session’s legislation (written by gov’t)
3
Q
Is Parliament bicameral or unicameral?
A
Bicameral
Commons and Lords
4
Q
What is the structure of the Commons?
A
650 MPs are elected, 1 for each constituency
Independant MPs exist but are rare
MPs are divided into members of the governing party (right of the speaker) and opposition parties
MPs are also divided into frontbench and backbench
Party whips for each party keep order
5
Q
How do MPs elect a Speaker?
A
After elections, MPs elect a speaker
- continues to represent constituency but stops acting in a ‘party political’ way
- Currently Sir Lindsay Hoyle (formerly Labour)
6
Q
2024 Election: what are the number of MPs per party in the Commons?
A
412 Lab
121 Con
72 Lib Dem
9 SNP
29 Other
7
Q
How does someone become an MP?
A
They join a party, get selected as prospective parliamentary candidate for constituency by party local activists, beat rival PPC’s in election (ensure not to annoy local party activists with campaign so much they deselect you)
8
Q
What is the structure of the Lords?
A
2024: 805 members
9
Q
What is the history of the Lords?
A
1911- lowered delaying period to 2 years
1949- lowered delaying period to 1 years
1958- Life Peerages Act, introduced appointment of life peers
1999- Blair removed all but 91 hereditary peers
2024- Starmer removed all remaining hereditary peers
10
Q
Who are the Lords Spiritual?
A
26 top CofE Bishops including the Archbishop of Canterbury
11
Q
What is the status of other religious leaders (not Anglican) in the Lords?
A
Leaders of other faiths (ie Muslim, Hindu, Jewish) can become life peers but have no official status
12
Q
What are the 2 ways life peers can be appointed?
A
- PM has certain allocations for members of the party if they no longer have their seat
ie Boris Johnson recommended former loyalist Minister Nadine Dorries, overruled by appointment commission 2023 as she didn’t resign her Commons seat in time - Lords Appointment Commission appoints non party political peers ie Scientists to maintain number of crossbenchers
13
Q
What is an example of any PM can fill the Lords with people with little merit, also often party donors.
A
PM has certain allocations to recommend peerages for members of the party if they no longer have their seat
14
Q
How is party balance in the Lords
A
There is no firm rules on party balance
- example of uncodified constitution
But convention since 1999 that parties nominate to reflect the Commons’ strength (ie Labour elected 2024, so they nominated more Lab peers)
Large number of crossbenchers ensure governing party won’t have overall majority
15
Q
How often are Lords Speakers elected?
A
Every 5 years
Currently Lord John McFall
16
Q
What happened in 1265?
A
Monarch calls first parliament because needs consent for tax
- Aristocrats sit in Lords chamber
- Richest commoners in each county sit in the Commons
17
Q
What happened between 1642-9?
A
Civil War
- Parliamentarians unhappy that Charles I sent soldiers to arrest some commoners
18
Q
What happened in 1689?
A
Bill of Rights
- establishes parliamentary sovereignty from Monarchs
- Commons and Lords roughly equal power to legislate
- Ministers and PMs often from Lords
19
Q
What happened during the 19th Century Industrial Revolution?
A
Increased demands for the vote to be extended (for Commons), gradually making Commons more powerful/legitimate compared to Lords
- Last PM from Lords is Salisbury in 1901
20
Q
What happened in 1911?
A
Parliamentary Act
- Liberal gov’t reduces Lords power over money bills
- Reduces veto to delaying power of 2 years
21
Q
What happened in 1949 Parliamentary Act?
A
Labour gov’t reduces delaying power to 1 year
22
Q
What happens in 2005 Constitutional Reform Act?
A
Top judges known as ‘law lords’ moved out of Lords into independent Supreme Court
23
Q
What are the 3 functions of Parliament?
A
Represent
Legislate
Scrutinise
24
Q
Why is Representation important?
A
Essential parliament represents voters effectively
25
What are the 3 forms of representation?
Constituency Representation (Commons)
Group Representation
Social Representation
26
What is Constituency Representation?
Job of MP to represent interests of all constituents regardless of whether they voted for them
- Lords cannot represent this way because it is unelected
27
What is Group Representation in the Commons?
MPs will often represent interests relating to a previous job (ie trade unionist)
- Pressure groups conduct letter writing campaigns to persuade MPs
- MPs form 'all party' parliamentary groups ie on Islamaphobia
28
How does FPTP negatively effect group representation in the Commons?
Parties form as a group, but FPTP means MPs don't rep as accurately as they should
- Ie 2019 election Cons won 43.6% of vote by 56.1% seats
29
What is Group Representation in the Lords?
Lords have more time to represent groups because they don't have constituency work
- rep groups more effectively because so many are independent-> Party line/whipping is weaker
30
How is group representation ineffective in the Lords?
Party representation is patchy
- takes time for governing party to reflect numbers of the Commons in the Lords
- ie 5 UKIP MPs in Lords before 2019 (only 1 UKIP MP), but not enough SNP peers
31
What is Social Representation and what are the issues of trying to match the social make up of the country?
Some argue Parl should represent social make up of country. (Problem in measuring social class Parl only collects stats of whether privately educated.)
32
What are the Commons representation stats in 2019?
Women 34% (3% 1979!)
Av age 50
Ethnic minority 10% (15% in pop)
LGBTQ+ 7%
Privately educated Cons 44% Lab 19% (7% pop)
33
What are the Lords representation stats from 2019?
Women 28%
Av age 71 (big fuss about appointee Boris Johnson, called Charlotte Owen aged 30)
Ethnic minority 6%
Privately educated 60%
34
What is the main function of Parliament?
Legislative function
35
Why is the Legislative function the main function of parliament?
Democracies must be based on popular consent. Because there is no direct democracy voters indicate support for manifesto which parliament must then put into law. One of the most important laws is the annual budget authorising the gov’t to tax and spend (Monarch not doing this caused civil war).
36
What are the 3 types of legislative processes?
1.Private: by external orgs eg a church (not important)
2.Private Members’ Bills by individual MPs; important but rare unless gov’t provides time to support, which they may do if it’s a controversial conscience issue they do not want to get involved with, eg 1967 David Steel’s Abortion Act. 2017-19 15 PMBs passed: egs Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019 and one on process EU Withdrawal to prevent No Deal Brexit (Yvette Cooper)
3.Public Bills intro by gov’t (vast majority of bills).
37
What are the stages to pass a bill?
White Paper and/or draft Bill
Formal process usually starts in Commons with First reading (title), Second reading (big debate) Committee stage (line by line scrutiny and amendment), Report stage (back on floor of Commons), Third reading final debate.
Repeat process in Lords.
If Lords amends Commons has to consider, could lead to ‘ping pong’.
When both houses agree Monarch signs (‘royal assent’ – not refused since 1708), Bill becomes Act.
38
Who decides if a bill becomes law?
House of Commons must agree to enact a bill if its going to become law, if it decides not to vote for legislation it will fail to pass.
39
What are issues with the process of passing a Bill?
- Public Bill Committee vote on party lines + always have government majority, impact objectivity when offering amendments to the bill
- MPs are expected to vote the way the whips tell them to on many bills, limiting genuine engagement with the potential strengths and weaknesses of the bill
Many changes to law are now made secondary/delegated legislation using statutory instruments (/Henry VIII clauses) rather than by enacting primary legislation-> then the executive can sidestep House of Commons scrutiny
40
What is the Legislative function of Westminster?
process of how parliamentary bills become law
41
What happens in the first reading stage?
- Bill's title is introduced + date is given for the second reading
No debate or vote at this stage
42
What happens in the second reading stage?
Bill is debated and a vote is taken
Bill could be defeated at this stage
43
What happens in the Public Bill Committee?
- Examine bill in detail
Amendments can be added to the bi
44
What happens in the Report stage?
- Changes made by the Public Bill Committee are either accepted or rejected
Further amendments can be added by MPs who weren't part of the Public Bill Committee
45
How many amendments do the opposition pass?
Opposition usually only get 2% of their amendments passed
46
What happens in the Third Reading stage?
- Further debated
- Vote is taken
Bill is unlikely to be defeated
47
What happens after the Third Reading Stage?
Sent to House of Lords (or House of Commons if the bill started in the Lords):
- goes through similar process
- Primary revising chamber- may make significant amendments
Bill may pass back and forth between House of Commons and Lords-> parliamentary 'ping-pong'
House of Commons decides whether to accept or reject the Lords' amendments
48
What happens in Royal Assent?
Becomes parliamentary statute
49
How has the balance between Executive and Legislative powers changed in recent years?
More control from Executive over Parliament decisions after Covid began in 2020 but overall after 2021 with laws relaxing, Parliament has become more efficient and strong check on executive
June 2022: vote of no confidence weakened BJ, 211/359 Cons MPs voted for Johnson
50
What is 'intraparty mode' ?
relationship between a government and its backbenchers
51
How did Backbenchers hold Johnson to account?
Johnson 2022 downfall, government resignations-> led to termination as PM, shows power given to exec over covid wasn't permanent
52
What were examples of recent Backbencher unrest and rebellions during COVID?
March 2021, 35 backbench Tories voted against government extension of COVID restrictions of a 3rd lockdown
- Holding the government to account
Dec 2021, further rebellions against mandatory NHS workers vaccinations, mandatory COVID passes for large venues etc
129 government defeats between 2021-22, highest in any parliamentary sessions since Wilson 1975-76
53
What are examples of times when there has been Backbench resistance?
- Proposals for voter ID laws for elections
- Rwanda plan 2024
Personal and corporation tax rise
54
What did the Wright Reforms 2010 do?
Wright reforms 2010 of Select Committees
- Provide powerful check on government + executive
Helpful to question controversial legislative agendas
55
What does the Liaison Committee do?
- Questions PM on government activity, 2-3 times a year
Made up of all the chairs of the select committees
56
What is an example of the Liaison Committee holding the PM to account?
2022, Johnson questioned on Cost of Living crisis, Ukraine-Russia war, Partygate
Humiliated him
57
What is an example of the Lords and Commons relationship causing gridlock/friction in passing laws
2022- Lords voted against 14 amendments in government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
- Defeated further 5 amendments on same bill days before
- Government wanted to pass tough laws in response to disruptive protests by groups like Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion- unsuccessful due to the resistance of the Lords
58
How must the Commons and Lords work together to pass bills?
Both houses have to agree on a Bill's final wording before it can receive royal assent
- Requires more debating, more voting, more parliamentary time
- Commons need cooperation of unelected Lords
59
What is the purpose of the Lords?
- Make laws
- Investigate public policy
Hold government to account
60
How does the Lords spend their time?
Spend 60% time on legislation, 40% on scrutinising the government
2022- Lords considered 5244 amendments to 100 bills
Most work is done outside chamber in committees
2022-23-> 27 committees, suggesting refinements to legislation + scrutinised policies and performance of government
61
How can the Lords come to be at odds with the Commons?
Raise questions, debate key issues, produce reports, put pressure on government
62
What do people question about the House of Lords?
Its 'Democratic Deficit', as it is unelected
63
How is the Lords wary of its 'Democratic Deficit'?
Wary not to overstep and outright challenge Commons, but they are still critical
64
What considerable influence does the Lords have over the Commons legislating?
- Can defeat amendments to Bills through majority vote
- Can result in amendments being dropped or returned Commons= 'Parliamentary Ping-Pong'
65
How can the Commons bypass the Lords defeating their amendments/creating Parliamentary Ping-pong?
- Commons can resort to Parliamentary Acts 1911 and 1949-> ensuring House of Lords cannot veto Commons' Bill, only allowed to delay vote for a year, allowing them to push through legislation without their consent
Blair used it to push through the Hunting Act 2004 (banned hunting wild mammals with dogs)
66
What is the Nationality and Borders Bill 2022 an example of?
12 government defeats in Nationality and Borders Bill during 'ping pong' phase
- Government wanted to be tougher on illegal immigrants, number of voices in Lords watered it down
Received royal assent in 2022- SHOWS THE LORDS' ABILITY TO REFINE A BILL
67
What is the Retained EU Law Bill 2023 an example of?
Lords introduced amendments to government Retained EU Law Bill to increase parliamentary oversight
- Rejected by the Commons
- Government experienced defeat on some amendments, were dropped and Bill achieved royal assent in 2023
- Act was designed to revoke or reform EU legislation that still existed un UK post Brexit
EXAMPLE OF LORDS AMENDING LEGISLATION
68
What is a recent example of high government defeats against the Lords?
Government defeated Lords 128 times between 2021--22
- Even higher than 126 defeats in 1975-6 parliament under Harold Wilson
69
What was the relationship between the Commons and Lords like under a Conservative Majority in 2019?
Increasingly polarised politics of post Brexit UK, including migrant, environmental, and civil rights crises, meant even Conservative Majority doesn't get its own way in the Commons due to the Lords
70
What is the Sunday Trading Bill 2016 example on the limitations of devolved body MPs voting on England centred issues?
Cameron government planned to allowed England and Wales to extend their opening hours beyond 10am-6pm on Sundays. Plan was defeated by 317 votes to 286 votes,
Opposed proposals to allow councils to extend opening hours- 27 Tories rebelled
Said it would pressure workers further+ 'chip away' at Sunday's special status
Wanted to devolve the limit on hours on Sunday to local councils- blocked by unlikely alliance of Labour, SNP, Conservative backbenchers
Lost due to 56 SNP MPs objecting the plans- even though Scotland's shops have opened on Sundays for longer for many years
- Legislative process can be seen to fail citizens through things that would've passed under EVEL
- Defeat came before 2016 budget, was a huge blow to credibility of Chancellor George Osborne
71
What are the Pros of the current legislative process?
Utilitarian
Mix of efficiency and what's best for people
Whips make it quicker to pass bills, efficient
MPs have ability to speak out against bills + come up with bills
Lots of stages, lots of scrutiny
Lots of chances to amend and make bills effective, make utilitarian bills + inclusive through compromise, best interest for the most amount of people and the best format.
Government pick the bills, pass the bills on their manifesto (ensure people vote for things that get done)
72
What are the cons of the current legislative process?
Using whips takes away legitimacy
Speakers may favour certain parties
Contradictory legislation
Lots of stages are time consuming and give way for more scrutiny that means the initial idea of the bill could be compromised
Government pick the bills, pass the bills on their manifesto (if elective dictatorship, means there may be lack of check and opposition, so bills that may not be utilitarian are easier to pass)
73
What are examples of controversial PM recommendations of peerages ?
- David Cameron appointed 13 Conservative peers at his resignation, 2 crossbenchers, 1 Labour peer to the House of Lords. Among newly appointed peers were his chief of staff, Ed Llewellyn, head of his Policy Unit, Camilla Cavendish and Head of Downing Street, Liz Sugg
Boris Johnson: HOLAC refused to endorse peerages for both Peter Cruddas (leading donor to Conservative Party) and expressed security concern over life peerage for Evgeny Lebedev (Owner of Evening Standard + friend of Johnson), Johnson ignored HOLAC's advice both times
74
What is the legislative function of the Lords?
- Cannot stop bills that have passed the House of Commons from becoming law
- Can propose amendments, refining the content of the bill with their expertise
- Commons doesn't have to accept the advice + can only delay passing legislation for a year
Advice is often valuable and accepted by members of the Commons to refine the bill
75
What is the tendency for political alliance in the Lords and how does this affect how they vote on bills?
Members are usually life peers, so many are crossbenchers, less influenced by the dictates of whips, address merits and demerits with an open mind
76
How does the Lords effectively debate with the Commons?
- Debate between the 2 houses/Parliamentary Ping-Pong-> can be highly productive political engagement
77
What is an example of the Commons bypassing the Lords?
- Parliament Act 1911 + 1949: government can pass legislation over House of Lords objection
○ 2000: Sexual Offences (Amendment) bill- reduced legal age for gay sex from 18 to 16
Passed House of Commons, rejected by House of Lords
Government invoked 1949 Parliament Act to give bill royal assent, effectively bypassing the Lords
78
How can heavy defeats in the Lords affect the government?
- Heavy defeats in House of Lords may persuade the government to reconsider to modify or even continue with legislations, especially the case if it only passed the House of Commons with small majority + is controversial
79
What are examples of governments reforming their bills after defeats in the Lords?
○ 2008: clauses from Counter Terrorism Bill to enable terror suspects to be held for 42 days without charge, decisively defeated in the Lords by 191 votes. Proposal only passed Commons by 9 votes, Gordon Brown decided to drop them from the bill
○ 2015: George Osbourne's plan to cut tax credits defeated in Lords. Significant show of bipartisanship, Lords accused the government of introducing significant financial measure through statutory instrument to reduce parliamentary scrutiny-> resulting outcry was so great Osbourne dropped proposal
○ House of Lords criticism that the Internal Market Bill (2020) didn't sufficiently recognise the authority of the devolved governments to determine goods and services policy led to the government conceding that some regulatory differences could be accepted within a common framework
80
When would a government be less inclined to accept a Lords amendment proposal?
if government is fully committed to policy and possess a sizable House of Commons majority
81
What is an example of a government that refused to accept a Lords amendment to a bill?
- 2019, Boris Johnson 80 seat victory-> January 2020, House of Commons rejected all 5 House of Lords amendments to EU (Withdrawal Agreement Bill). One was the Dubs Amendment- which would've ensured the unaccompanied child refugees would be able to join relatives in the UK after Brexit
82
What are the 2 main functions of the Lords?
Legislation
Scrutiny
83
What is the Scrutiny function of the Lords?
House of Lords sessional committees and special enquiry (ad hoc) committees
- House of Lords scrutinises the work of government in oral questions to ministers and through committees
- Highly regarded work as the level of expertise of the members is high
- Instead of monitoring specific departments, committees concentrate on major social and political issues making recommendations to the government
84
What is the difference between a sessional committee and a special enquiry (ad hoc) committee?
○ Sessional committees deal with a particular issue and last from one parliamentary session to the next
○ Special enquiry (ad hoc) committees also investigate a special issue but are set up for a specific time period
85
What are features a Government Bill?
- Most bills debated by Government are introduced by the Government
○ Strong chance of being enacted as government will give sufficient time for the bill to be debated
○ Can also rely on the whips to encourage support for the bill in House of Commons
○ If the bill was in the government's election manifesto, House of Lords (according to the Salisbury Convention) will not seek to obstruct it with 'wrecking amendments'
86
How are Bills subject to scrutiny through Parliament?
Principles of Bills will be thoroughly debated at second reading + strength of Public Bill Committees is that they take advice from relevant experts and interested parties
87
How can government be seen to have too much power over the Commons legislative process?
- If government has large parliamentary majority, usually be able to rely on loyalty of MPs to vote for the bill, thus making debates and voting essentially a formality
- Membership of the Public Bill Committees is proportionate to public strength in the House of Commons, always giving the government a majority
- Whips also influence the selection of Public Bill committee members, who are instructed to vote according to the whip on proposed amendments to the bill
- MPs who are too critical of their government's bill are unlikely to advance their career- a good reason for them to just accept the legislation
88
What determines how the MPs vote on Bills and what impact does this have ?
The dictation of the Whips in both parliamentary and committee votes therefore can lead to lack in both scrutiny and badly thought through legislation
89
What is an example of MPs having lack of independent judgement?
Labour backbenchers elected during Blair's landslide victories in 1997 and 2001 were often criticised for lack of independant judgement and for too readily supporting government policy without adequately scrutinising it
90
What is an example of MPs being independently minded from their party?
Shoes independence and MPs being more unruly than their whips-> Johnson government succeeded in its legislative plans to introduce Covid passports in England in 2021. 99 Conservative backbenchers voted against, forcing the government to rely on the support of the Labour Party for success
Lots of backbench rebellion during Johnson government due to pro EU Conservative MPs (June 2022, 41% of Conservative MPs refused to back Johnson in a vote of confidence, fatally damaging his authority)
91
