Parliament Flashcards
what is Parliament?
Parliament is the centre of the UK political system, it is where sovereignty lies
it is the legislative body
Dates back to the 13th century when the king permitted the election of an assembly to assist him in governing the country
Made up of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the monarch
what is the role of Parliament?
Parliament is the legislative body
It makes and passes law, debates issues, represents the electorate and scrutinises the government (E.g. through select committees)
what is Parliament made up of?
the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the monarch
The UK has a bicameral Parliamentary system; it is made up of two chambers known as the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, who together form the Houses of Parliament
Parliament technically also includes the monarch
what are the three branches of government?
The three branches of government; judicial, legislative and executive
the monarch
Technically, the Monarch has the final say as to whether a bill can pass into law by giving it royal assent which results in the bill becoming an act of parliament
No Monarch has refused to give Royal assent to a bill since Queen Anne in 1707 over the Scottish Militia Bill
House of Commons: what is the House of Commons? what is it made up of?
The House of Commons is the primary chamber of the UK legislature (Parliament) and is directly elected by voters
Consists of 650 MPs, all elected in single-member constituencies using FPTP
Each MP represent a constituency, there are 650 constituencies currently but this is expected to be reduced to 600
The number of candidates seeking election in 2015 was nearly 4000 — Approximately 6 per constituency, mainly chosen and supported by political parties
House of Commons: what is the Fixed Term Parliaments Act?
Under the fixed term parliament act 2011, general elections are supposed to be held at regular five year intervals
but an early election can be held if the government loses a vote of no confidence and the Prime Minister fails to form another government within 14 days OR if 2/3 of MPs support an early election
In 2017, Theresa May called an early election with the support of at least 2/3 of MPs
House of Commons: what is a by-election?
A by-election is called for a constituency to fill a vacancy if an MP dies or retires during a Parliamentary term
House of Commons: what are MPs usually elected as?
MPs are usually elected as members of a political party and are subject to party discipline
Only 1 independent MP (Lady Hermon for North Down, Northern Ireland) was elected in 2010 and 2015
Although sometimes an MP may resign or be expelled from a party and serve the rest of the Parliamentary term as an independent MP (e.g. in 2017, UKIP’s only MP Douglas Carswell left the party to become an independent)
House of Commons: what are the majority of MPs?
The majority of MPs (roughly 75%) are backbenchers
The rest are front benchers who occupy the front benches and are subdivided Into members of the government (ministers) and members of the opposition (Shadow ministers)
the shadow cabinet is headed by the leader of the opposition — since 2015, this has been Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party
backbenchers = MPs who do not hold a ministerial or shadow ministerial position, they occupy the benches in the debating chamber behind their leaders, their main role is to represent their constituencies and they are also expected to support their party and leader
the opposition = the official opposition is usually the party with the second largest number of seats in the Commons, the main role of the opposition is to scrutinise the government and it often opposes many of its legislative proposals, also seeks to present itself an an alternative government
House of Commons: key terminology (whip, backbencher, front bench, division, scrutiny)
whip = Puts pressure on MPs to align with the party (e.g. vote in favour of the party), can be a thing such as the three line whip or a person
Backbencher = A regular member of Parliament who does not have a ministerial position
Front bench = occupied by Cabinet ministers and Shadow ministers
division = a vote
scrutiny = holding the government to account, for example by examining questioning and challenging their decisions and work
House of Commons: key terminology (cronyism, the Salisbury Convention, nepotism, Parliamentary privilege, the speaker)
cronyism = promoting and siding with friends
salisbury convention = House of Lords cannot veto or go against policies included in the governments manifesto
nepotism = promoting members of the family to positions
parliamentary privilege = The right to speak freely in debates
The speaker = keeps the Commons under control, currently John Bercow
House of Commons: how many MPs are there?
650 MPs (100 of which hold ministerial positions, 20 in cabinet, 35 shadow/opposition ministers)
MPs are usually linked to a party and subject to party discipline
MPs are elected in single-member constituencies using FPTP
The House of Commons is more representative than the Lords — In 2017, the proportion of women rose to 32% while the House of Lords is still at 24%
House of Commons: what are the powers of the House of Commons?
supreme legislative powers
can remove the government of the day through a vote of no confidence, such as what happened to labour under James Callaghan in the 1970s
The House of Commons has financial privilege over the House of Lords
House of Commons: key functions
legislation (passing and discussing, not making)
representation of constituents
scrutiny (holding the government to account by asking questions, debating issues, carrying out in-depth enquiries via committees, Prime Minister‘s question time et cetera)
Legitimacy (elected body) — The Commons provides legitimacy (the right to rule) because MPs are elected by the public
The House of Commons also provides recruitment and training of ministers
House of Commons: what are select committees?
In the House of Commons there is one select committee for each department
Select committees scrutinise the decisions of government
they now provide better scrutiny since select committee chairs are now elected by the house instead of being chosen by whips
House of Lords: what is the House of Lords and what is it made up of?
The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK legislature (parliament), not directly elected by voters
Does not have an upper limit on the size of its membership (unlike the commons)
in late 2016, it had 809 peers and the parliament website is regularly updated with details of membership
The House of Lords is one of the undemocratic features of the UK — It is the unelected chamber of Parliament
House of Lords: what are the three main types of peer?
There are three types of peers but none of these are elected
There are three main categories of peer; hereditary, life and Lords Spiritual
hereditary peers = peers that have inherited their title from their family, there are 89 left in the Lords but they are no longer allowed to pass on their titles
Life peers = Appointed by the Prime Minister based on merit and formalised by the Queen, there are 705 in the House of Lords
Lords Spiritual peers = Anglican archbishops and bishops, sit in the Lords for historic reasons as the Church of England is the official Church of the British state, appointed by the Prime Minister and officially represent the Queen, 26 of these in the house of lords
House of Lords: what are the main roles of the House of Lords?
The House of Lords has the power to delay legislation by up to a year according to the 1949 parliament Act
it is a deliberative and revising chamber that looks at laws to improve them, debates on issues of the day, etc
three main roles — Questions and scrutinises the government, shapes laws (works with the House of Commons) and investigates issues (committees examine bills, etc)
Hold the government to account, brings up issues and demands answers from the commons
No time limit for them to consider bills
House of Lords: who dominates the House of Lords?
No party holds a majority or can dominate the House of Lords, roughly a third of lords are neutral crossbenchers
Crossbenchers are non-political appointees that are not affiliated with a party, they may have political leanings but have had the whip withdrawn
Many different people with various occupations and skills sit in the House of Lords (e.g. doctors actors, etc) — the upper house represents areas of interest rather than regions like the House of Commons
House of Lords: what was established in 2000?
In 2000 the Lords Appointment Commission was established which is an independent body that recommends people to be appointed to the upper house
The public can also nominate people to become peers
House of Lords: why is the whip not as influential in the House of Lords?
The whip is not as influential as in the House of Commons because no one’s political career depends on staying in the line
a peerage lasts for life whereas MPs are re-elected every five years and can be demoted and promoted by their party leaders
House of Lords: main functions
The main functions of the House of Lords…
Make laws and check them to ensure they are fair and will work
Scrutinise the government and hold it to account
Provide a source of specialist knowledge and expertise
why are some Lords appointed?
former cabinet ministers, political experience, et cetera
reward for good work in cabinet and political service
cash for honours — Granted peerages in return for large donations
what is the average age of the Lords?
Over 70
what do the Lords do with the legislation that comes from the House of Commons?
improve legislation by making amendments e.g. making and adding clauses
analyse and review any legislation from the House of Commons in great detail
what happens if a bill is defeated?
gets sent back to the House of Commons, they review and alter it and then send it back to the House of Lords again — this is known as Parliamentary ping-pong
both houses need to reach agreement but the Commons should have the final say because they are the elected house (i.e. the Lords should ’give way’ to the Commons)
what is the job of the whip?
push for legislation to pass through both houses with little changes and amendments
what happens when a hereditary peer dies?
The remaining hereditaries vote for a replacement (replacement must have an inherited title)
this is the only elected part of the Lords
what is the ratio of female peers to male peers in the House of Lords?
One in four — There are around 200 female peers but 800 male peers
how was Lord Bird appointed?
Lord Bird is a people’s peer
being a People’s peer means he has been chosen by an independent panel/commission to bring wider experience into the House of Lords
He founded the Big Issue, advocates housing and helps the homeless
who are the crossbenchers and why are they a significant force in the House of Lords?
Crossbenchers are independent, neutral peers who do not belong to a party
this insures that no party can hold a majority in the House of Lords, the government of the day cannot dominate
they can be the deciding factor on whether a bill passes through the House of Lords or not
what is the point of the questions to ministers? how is this organised?
Interrogate and scrutinise the decisions of government, holding them to account
peers decide between themselves on who gets to speak, the process is self regulated
what is the role of committees in the House of Lords?
investigate and examine certain issues of the day in detail
legislative committees review laws and bills
why is the defeat for the government on the Housing Bill seen as a good thing by some of the Lords?
being defeated ensures that the government properly thinks out the bill, it forces them to review it again
