Parliament : DEBATE Is Parliament Fulfilling Its Functions? Flashcards
Key functions of parliament
- Legislation
- Representation
- Recruiting and maintaining government
- Legitimacy
- Scrutiny
private members bill
Bill proposed by an MP who is not a member of the government, usually though an annual ballot
Who initiates private members bills ?
Backbenchers - only successful with government support
Example of a successful private member’s bill
2009 - national sutistic society’s ‘I exist’ Campaign persuaded MP’s to back Cheryl Gillian’s Autism Act
How do you examine Parliament’s effectiveness?
To see when it has hallenged gov legislation and when it has allowed leg to pass unchallenged
Why is the threat of defeating a bill important?
Can force the government to commpromise and introduce amendments to win support from backbenchers
Example of effectivene legislative function - Blair
2005 - backbench MP’s defeated Blair’s plans to extent the detention of terroist suspects to 90 days - his first commons defeat since 1997
Example of effective legislative function - Cameron
2015 - Cameron’s gov defeated in commons on the rules surrounding the EU referendum. Also lost a vote to reform Sunday Trading Laws in England
Example of effective legislative function - libdems
Under the coalition, the 2010-2015 parliament was the most rebellious of the post-war era. Coalition MPs rebelled against 35% of votes. The longest libdem rebellion was on tuition fees, with 21/57 libdem MPs voting against raising the fees
Example of effective legislative function - may’s minority government
May’s minority gov had a ‘working majority’ of 13 which meant commons has lots of influence over legislation. There were 28 defeats in 2 years. Jan 2019, May suffered the heaviest parliamentary defeat of any british PM in the democratic era after MPs rejected her brexit deal with a majoirty of 230, with 118 tory mps voting against their party
Example of effective legislative function - johnson’s first gov
When johnson took over from may in july 2019 his gov was defeated 12 times in commons, including on its first division - first time since 1894. His gov didn’t win a single vote until six weeks after its first sitting
Example of effective legislative function - johnson’s second gov
After the 2019general election where johnson’s second goc had a majority of 80 there were less defeats. But gov forced into U-turns on air bridges for foreign travel during covid, and forced to exclude Huawei from involvement in the 5g network, throughout 2020. Forced to amend internal market bill and emergency covid leg, giving parliament a say in both cases. Late 2019, tory backbenchers forced gov to abandon planning reforms for new houses due to constituent complaints. All these came as a consequence of threatened rebellions by conservative backbenchers
Example of effective legislative function - the lords’ defeats 2017-2019
69
Example of effective legislative function - the lords’ defeats 2016 - 2017
38
Example of effective legislative function - the lords’ defeats 2013 -2014
Considered 62 bills and made 1,686 amendments
Example of effective legislative function - the lords and may
When may got leg through commons, it was often defeated by the lords. Eg, defeated the gov 15 times in a short period in 2018 over the EU Withdrawal Bill
Example of effective legislative function - the lords and johnson
Lost 3 votes in lords over brexit leg in 2020. Biggest gov defeat since 1999 over Internal Market Bill in december 2020 - lords forced gov to ensure greater protection for devolved parliaments
Minority government
Gov that does not have overall majority in the assembly or parliament - usually formed by single parties that are unable or unwilling to form coalitions
Example of ineffective legislative function - blair
Blair did not lose a vote in the commons from 1997 to 2005
Example of ineffective legislative function - coalition
Tory/libdem coalition only defeated 7 times in the commons in 5 years - low for a coalition
Example of ineffective legislative function - brown
Brown gov (2007-2010) only defeated 3 times in commons
Example of ineffective legislative function - the lords
Lords’ effectiveness restricetd by the Parliament Acts which eans they can only delay bills and their amendments can often be overturned. Made several amendments to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (2012) but these were easily overturned because the Parliament Act (1911) gives the commoons ‘financial privilege’ and the lords cannot block money bills that authorise expenditure or taxation. Made 3 amendments to the Transparency of Lobbying Act 2014 but all overturned
Example of ineffective legislative function - johnson
Johnson’s 2020ndefeats reversed when he held an 80 seat majority
Parliamentary privilege
Right of MP’s of lords to make certain statements within parliament without being subject to outside influence including the law
Example of parliamentary privilege
2018 - former cabinet member peter hain used it to name sir philip green as the businessman at the centre of the #metoo allegations after green obtained a legal injunction to stop his name enetering public domain
Parliament is democratically representative
- Each mp represents an area in the uk as they are elected by geographical constituency
- Mps raise the grievances of their constituents so the people’s dissatisfaction with gov can be expressed peacefully and democratically
Parliament isn’t democratically representative
- FPTP undermines effectiveness of represention by distorting representation of parties so MPs are often elected by less than half their constituents
- Lords is unelected so had a limited representative role and weakens the democratic responsiveness of parliament
Parliament reflects the people it represents
2019 - most diverse parliament ever elected - 220 women, 65 ethnic minorities, and 45 LGBT MPs elected
Parliament doesn’t reflect the people it represents
- White, middle-class men dominate parliament - 430/650 MPs are male
- Only 6% of lords come gfrom an ethnic minority background
MPs and social class
Predominantly middle-class, 4/5+ have a professional or business background with the main professions being poltics, business, and finance. The working class is under-represented even in the labour party (10%)
Mps and gender
Women are under-represented but progress since the 1980s when they were only 3%. 2019 election most every women mps, 34%
Mps and ethnicity
Ethnic minorities are under represented, but 2019 saw tge highest number of non-white mps at 65, up from 52 in 2017
Mps and age
Predominantly middle-aged, 60% aged between 40 and 59, average age in 2019 51
Mps and education
Better educated than most UK citizens - 2/3+ are graduates with 21% being oxbridge educated and a furhter 1/3 went to a russell group. 27% of Mps attended private school, 4x more than population as a whole. 4/5 of these are tory mps
Mps and sexuality
46 lgbt mps - 7% - higher than uk - 2%
Models of representation
- Trustee model
- Delegate model
- Doctrine of the mandate
Trustee model of representation
Mps decide what they think is best for constituents and constituents trust them to do so
Delegate model of representation
Mps are the messenger of the constituents, without expressing their own views or opinions. Rarely applied historically
Doctrine of the mandate
In winning an election the party gains a mandate to carry out the policies in its manifesto. Political parties, not just individual mps, fulfill parliament’s representative function. Most influential thoery in uk politics
Evidence for doctrine of the mandate
- General elections focus on parties - people vote for a party not candidate
Example of social media to express constituent concerns
Can contact MPs on twitter encouraging them to act as delegates. Eg gay marriage legislation in 2013, air strikes in syria in 2016 whena twitter campaign led to many mps reconsidering their vote. December 2020 gov changed decision on increasing housing targets by relaxing planning laws - reversed when tory backbenchers felt pressure from their constituents
Example against the doctrine of the mandate
Under the coalition, tory and libdem mps supported policies that weren’t in their manifesto or went against their manifesto
Example for the trustee model
Free votes on issues allow mps to have more ability to listen to the views of constituents. 2013 - the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill passed, but 136 tory mps voted against it and 40 abstained
Did conservatives support brexit?
Many voted to remain but felt unable to support oeither boris johnson or theresa may’s approach
Did labour mps support brexit?
Many labour mps supported remaining but represented constituencies that voted to leave
Lisa nandy and brexit
Third in the labour leadership election in 2020, campaigned and voted to remain. Her Wigan constituency voted 63-37% to leave. After the referendum she supported the wishes of her constituents and supported leg to leave and rejected the call for a second referendum which many in labour supported. She lost 15% of her vote in 2019 (brexit party gained 13%), but was reelected with a 47% vote share
Laura pidcock and brexit
MP for north west durham in 2017, rising star in the labobur party. Consistently voted against brexit against the wishes of her constituency, which voted 55-45% to leave, and lost her seat in 2019 to conservative richard holden
Dominic grieve and brexit
2019, former attorney-general and key anti-brexit player, lost his beaconsfield seat which voted 5000-49.01% to remain which he had represented for 22 years. Grieve was one of the 21 conservative mps who in september 2019 had the party whip withdrawn over their opposition to a no deal brexit. Lost to offical conservative candidate joy morrissey, elected with 56% of the vote to grieve’s 29%
Anna soubry and brexit
Remain mp who struggled to come to terms with the referndum result. Voted to trigger article 50 in feb 2017, becme a key supporter of the people’s vote movement, which campagined for a second referendum. 2019, resigned the conservative whip and joined the Independent Group for Change. Lost her Broxtowe seat (52.5-47.5 leave) to the offical conservative candidate
