Parliament Flashcards
What is parliament
is at the centre of the UK political system. It dates back to the 13th century, when the king permitted the election of an assembly to assist him in governing the country.
The UK has a ‘bicameral’ parliamentary system - a parliament with two chambers, an elected House of Commons and an unelected House of Lords.
How are members of commons chosen and how many are there
-through election to represent single-member constituencies, using the first-past-the-post electoral system. At the 2015 general election there was a total of 650 constituencies.
-Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act (2011) general elections are held at regular intervals, at the end of a fixed five-year parliamentary term. An early general election can be held in one of two possible situations: if a government loses a vote of no confidence and the prime minister cannot form another administration within 14 days; or if two-thirds of MPs support a motion calling for an early election.
-If an MP dies or retires during a parliamentary term, the vacancy is filled by holding a by-election in that constituency.
Who are the members of the House of Lords and how many are there
hereditary peers, life peers and 26 ‘Lords Spiritual’ (Anglican archbishops and bishops) who sit in the Lords for historic reasons, as the Church of England is the official church of the British state.
787 lords
What are the 3 functions of parliament
-passing legislation
-scrutiny of executive
-providing ministers
Commons- representing electorate
What is the role of passing legislation in the lords and commons
-The House of Commons has exclusive power to give consent to taxation - as the elected chamber it represents the public, and the Lords is not allowed to interfere with the passage of what are known as ‘money’ bills. The Lords has the right to amend non-financial legislation.
-Most legislation is initiated by the government and there is limited opportunity for backbench and opposition MPs to propose measures of their own. Parliament mostly reacts to measures put before it by the executive, rather than developing its own legislative proposals, and it is rarely able to defeat or significantly amend legislation.
-The adversarial nature of the party system, in which the opposition constantly confronts and challenges the government, is reinforced by the work of the party whips. They are responsible for ensuring that MPs attend parliamentary votes (known as divisions’) and for granting leave of absence if their vote is not essential. They issue MPs with a written instruction to attend - also known as a ‘whip’ - which indicates how important it is for an MP to be present. The most important votes are underlined three times and these occasions are therefore known as a
‘three-line whip’. Less important requests for attendance may be underlined just once or twice.
Government whips may offer the prospect of ministerial posts in order to encourage and reward loyalty. Whips can also impose sanctions on those who do not accept the party line.
-Governments can use the argument of overriding necessity to push through legislation. The
2005 Prevention of Terrorism Act, which introduced control orders for individuals suspected of terrorist offences, completed all its stages in just 18 days. On the other hand, only a small number of bills are so poorly drafted that they are virtually unworkable. The usual example given is the
1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, which was passed in response to a series of tabloid stories about dog attacks. Critics argued that, instead of prohibiting certain breeds of dog, it should have targeted irresponsible owners. A review by the RSPCA, 25 years later, showed that of 30 deaths caused in that period by dogs, 21 involved breeds that were not specified in the act.
Role of parliamentary scrutiny and 3 ways
Parliament has a responsibility to exercise oversight of the executive’s actions. The opposition seeks to hold the government to account and to expose its errors. Ministers have a duty to explain and defend their policies in Parliament.
• Questions to ministers, which may call for oral or written answers. Prime Minister’s Questions, a weekly question-and-answer session in the chamber of the Commons, has been criticised for being unduly theatrical and largely a point-scoring exercise dominated by the PM and the leader of the opposition.
• Select committees, which shadow individual government departments in the Commons.
• Debates, which can be impressive set-piece events, such as the August 2013 House of Commons debate in which the Cameron government was defeated on its proposal to undertake military action in Syria. Since 2010 the creation of the Backbench Business Committee has given MPs more power to shape the agenda by allowing them to choose the topic for debate on one day per week. Debates in the Lords are often given credit for their high quality, with participants commonly including recently retired individuals with expertise in a particular field, but they rarely influence the course of events.
Providing ministers
-the convention is that ministers must sit in one of the two houses. Parliament acts as a recruiting ground for future ministers, with the whips making recommendations to the prime minister on suitable candidates for promotion. The prime minister possesses wide powers of patronage.
-The award of a peerage can on occasion be used to secure the services of a particular individual as a minister, if that person is not an MP. For example, following the 2008 financial crisis, Gordon Brown recalled Peter Mandelson from the European Commission, appointing him to the Lords so that he could serve as Business Secretary.
Representing the electorate (the
Representing the electorate - commons only
By long-standing tradition, MPs are not delegates of their constituencies - they use their judgement on how to vote, rather than taking instructions from those who elect them. The first-past-the-post system means that there is a strong link between an MP and his or her constituency. MPs are expected to respond to issues raised by individual constituents and to stand up for local interests at Westminster. For example a number of the 44 MPs who voted against plans for the London to Birmingham High Speed Rail link (HS2) in March 2016 represented constituencies that would be affected by the planned route.
2 concerns about how effectively parliament performs its representative function
• One concern is that an MP’s loyalty to his or her party, reinforced by the desire to win promotion to the government, may come into conflict with the need to represent a constituency. However, skilful MPs are good at reconciling the two roles. The ministerial code, which regulates the conduct of ministers, advises them to take care to avoid conflicts of interest. But they are allowed to make representations to colleagues in government, as long as they make it clear that they are acting as their constituents’ representative and not as a minister.
FOR EXAMPLE: in 2006 Hazel Blears, a member of Tony Blair’s Cabinet, supported protests against a planned closure of part of a hospital in her Salford constituency.
• Another issue is that, although there has been considerable improvement since the 1980s, the Commons is still not truly representative of society as a whole. 29 per cent of MPs elected in May 2015 were female - an increase on the 2010 figure, which was 23 per cent - compared to 51 per cent of the UK population. Similarly ethnic minority MPs make up 6 per cent of the Commons, compared to 13 per cent of the population. A pattern has also been developing in recent decades in terms of the class and occupational background of MPs, as Table 1.1 below demonstrates.
What are the exclusive powers of the House of Commons
-to give consent to taxation and public expenditure. Since the Commons represents the taxpayer, there is a tradition that although the Lords debates money bills, it cannot interfere with them. For this reason the Chancellor of the Exchequer is obliged to sit in the Commons, where the annual budget is always presented.
-Another area where the Commons can exercise power is the situation known as confidence and supply. This can occur in the event of a minority government, where the governing party does not join a formal coalition, but relies on a limited agreement with another party (or parties) to keep itself in office. This means that the supporting party will provide backing on a vote of no confidence, and will vote through the government’s budget (the ‘supply’ part of the arrangement).
In return the smaller party will receive certain concessions. It is an agreement that is more flexible (and thus less stable) than a full coalition.
How was the House of Lords constrained by the Salisbury convention 1945
convention agreed shortly after the election of the Attlee government. Named after the Conservative opposition leader in the upper house, Lord Salisbury, the convention stated that the Lords would not oppose a bill that gave effect to a commitment contained in the manifesto of the winning party at a general election. The convention was a response to the election of Britain’s first majority Labour government, which was committed to a radical reforming programme.
How does the House of Lords have distinctive powers
• It acts mainly as a revising chamber, proposing amendments to government legislation, which it is up to the government to decide whether to accept or reject.
• It can delay non-financial legislation for 1 year.
• The only scenario in which the Lords retains its veto is an extremely unlikely one: if a government were to attempt to prolong the life of Parliament beyond its legal maximum term of 5 years, the Lords is legally empowered to force it to hold a general election.
In what ways is the lords becoming important
-The removal of most hereditary peers from the Lords in 1999 meant that the upper house was now dominated by life peers, who had mostly been appointed for service in different walks of life. This increased the Lords’ sense of legitimacy. Life peers were also more likely to play a regular part in the work of the House, whereas many hereditary peers rarely appeared at Westminster. As a result the reformed House was more inclined to challenge the government.
-Another consequence of the departure of most hereditary peers was that the traditional dominance of the House by the Conservative Party came to an end. No party now has overall control of the Lords and so careful management of the House has become more important for governments.
-Cross-bench peers also began to play a more important role in holding the government to account.
As neutral figures, they are more likely to assess a bill on its merits and to decide accordingly whether to support or oppose the government.
How does the commons maintain its supremacy
-when clashes occur, the government can usually make use of its majority in the Commons to overturn critical Lords amendments if it chooses to do so. In February 2012, for example, the coalition government rejected seven amendments to its Welfare Reform and Work Bill, arguing that only the Commons was entitled to take decisions with large financial implications.
-A bill can go back and forth between the two houses in a process known as ‘parliamentary ping pong. An extreme example of this was the debate between the two houses on the 2005 Prevention of Terrorism Bill, which introduced control orders. This entailed a marathon sitting of 30 hours. The Lords wanted the bill to include a ‘sunset clause’ - in other words it would automatically expire after a year unless further legislation was passed to renew it. In the end it is up to the government to decide whether to accept or reject any changes proposed by the Lords.
-If the upper house maintains its opposition to the Commons, as a last resort the government can use the Parliament Act to force a bill through. This is rare, but it was used three times by the Blair government:
• changing the voting system for European Parliament elections (1999)
• equalising the age of consent for gay and heterosexual people (2000)
• banning hunting with dogs (2004).
What is the difference between a legislative bill and act of parliament
• A legislative bill is a proposal for a new law, or a change to an existing law, which is brought before Parliament. A bill can be introduced in either the Commons or the Lords.
• An Act of Parliament is a bill that has completed all its stages in Parliament and has become law.
