Parliament part 1 Flashcards
Who is the House of Commons made up of?
The lower house, made up of democratically elected MPs
Who is the House of Lords made up of?
The upper house, made up of life peers who are appointed
How many MPs sit in the House of Commons?
650 MPs sit in the House of commons but there is only 427 seats for MPs to sit down on the green bench
Who is the opposition?
The opposition holds the government to account for its actions through the shadow cabinet. The largest party after the governing party is HM Loyal opposition.
What is the layout of the House of Commons
Governing party to the right side of the speaker and opposition HM loyal to the left side of the speaker
What is the role of the speaker in the House of Commons?
The speaker is the most important officer in the commons and sessions are presided by them. The speaker presides votes and debates, they intervene to restore order, decides who speaks and can bar members.
how is a speaker decided?
A speaker is picked from MPS when a new parliamentary is made in an election of MPS called by the father of the house.
Do speakers vote?
If an MP becomes a speaker, this means they will not vote unless there is a tie. This evokes the speaker Denison rule meaning the speaker will use their casting vote to uphold status quo or call for further debate.
What is the role of the leader of the house?
The leader of the House of Commons is responsible for controlling the timetable for the house, and the legislative programme.
Explain more about MPS
Elected by the UK public to represent their interests and concerns in the House of Commons.
The average salary for an MP is around 91,000. If an MP does not hold a ministerial post or is part of HM loyal opposition they become a back bencher.
What is the role of a back bencher?
A backbenchers role is falls into these areas- legislation (passing laws), debating policy, scrutinising the executive and helping constituents.
What constituent work may an MP do?
Some MPs would say this is the most important part of their role. MPs hold weekly surgeries in their constituent for local public-regardless if they voted for them or not- where they seek advice or raise concerns. MPs take an interest in everything in their constituent and can ask written or verbal questions in the house of commons.
What parliamentary work an MP do?
They can vote on bills introduced by the government, introduce their own private member bills.
Early day motions which is a record of strong view expressed but rarely leaders to a vote or full debate.
Adjournment debate- normally in the last half an hour of the meeting, an MP request a debate on a topic without a request for a particular outcome.
E-petitions- if an MP gets over a 1000 signatures on a particular issue they win a debate in commons
What does it mean when an MP sits as independent?
An MP who does not belong to a political party sits as independent.
What is a Whip?
Whips are MPs or Lords appointed who instruct backbenchers on how to vote and maintain part discipline.
MPs who represent a party have a party whip . Occasionally, MPs will have the free right to vote on topics like abortion. Otherwise they will be whipped to vote a certain way.
