Structure and Roles of Parliament

Question 1

What are Parliament’s 5 roles? - Structure and Roles

Answer 1

Parliament’s 5 roles are: legislating, scrutinising the Executive, facilitating debate, representing the people and providing ministers.

Question 2

How many members are there in a) the HoC b) the HoL? Add how members come to be in either house - Structure and Roles

Answer 2

A) the HoC has 650 members, who are elected by the people at a General Election.
B) the HoL has over 800 members who are appointed by party leaders/ PM/ public nomination/ by birth.

Question 3

What are frontbenchers and backbenchers in the Commons? What is the Lords equivalents? - Structure and Roles

Answer 3

Commons frontbenchers are those involved as ministers or Secretaries of State. Backbenchers are any MPs not involved in government.
The Lords has Frontbench spokespersons, with all other peers effectively backbenchers.

Question 4

What are the functions of the Commons specifically? - Structure and Roles

Answer 4

The Commons legislates, legitimises government policy on behalf of the people, holds government to account, represents constituent and wider interests, scrutinises legislation, debates on national issues.

Question 5

What are the functions of the Lords specifically? - Structure and Roles

Answer 5

The Lords scrutinise legislation, delay legislation (if necessary) and debate important national issues.

Question 6

Why is the Lords less democratically legitimate than the Commons? What impact does this have on the roles of the Lords? - Structure and Roles

Answer 6

The Lords has less democratic legitimacy than the Commons as it is not an elected body and therefore is unaccountable to the people. This has resulted in the Lords agreeing not to vote against any government policy in a victorious election manifesto (The Salisbury Convention).

Question 7

How does the House of Commons provide legitimation of Government policy? - Structure and Roles

Answer 7

The Commons is a body elected by the public. It is understood that by doing this they give consent for their MP to act on their behalf and make decisions. By voting for government policy, MPs legitimise these actions on behalf of the people.

Question 8

How does the Commons legislate? (What is this and why is this needed?) - Structure and Roles

Answer 8

The Commons passes laws through parliamentary votes and other procedures. This is necessary so that legislation can be approved by two separate houses and also so that it can be amended to better serve the people.

Question 9

How does the Commons hold government accountable? - Structure and Roles

Answer 9

The Commons asks questions at questioning sessions, force ministers to justify the actions of a government, forms select committees which scrutinise departments and their workings, can reject legislation by voting against it, can remove a government through votes of no confidence.

Question 10

Why is the Commons required to hold government to account? - Structure and Roles

Answer 10

The Commons is required to hold the Government to account as the people can only hold government to account at elections. The Commons fills the window between these by questioning and scrutinised government on behalf of the people.

Question 11

How does the Commons scrutinise legislation? - Structure and Roles

Answer 11

MPs serve on Public Bill Committees which scrutinise legislation line by line, often suggesting amendments. They can also vote against legislation they deem to be wrong.

Question 12

How successful is the Commons at scrutinising legislation? - Structure and Roles

Answer 12

The Commons rarely amends legislation radically, with government usually getting their own way with legislation through the influence of whips securing Party loyalty on this. Similarly, Public Bill Committees have a government majority on them.

Question 13

What are the names of the Commons Committees that scrutinise legislation? - Structure and Roles

Answer 13

The Commons Committees that Scrutinise legislation are known as Public Bill Committees.

Question 14

How does the Commons represent interests of Constituents and of other groups? - Structure and Roles

Answer 14

MPs support and represent the views and interests of their constituents in parliamentary business, as well as other groups which they may have been involved with before being and MP/pressure groups. They also form All-Party Parliamentary Groups.

Question 15

How does the Commons facilitate National Debate? What examples have there been in recent years? - Structure and Roles

Answer 15

Holds major debates on major national issues in which MPs weigh up the positives and negatives of each side.
2017 Debate on the Triggering of Article 50
2022 Debate following statement on ‘Partygate’
2023 Windsor Framework Debate over changes to customs arrangements in Northern Ireland.

Question 16

How does the Lords scrutinise and revise primary legislation? Why is this important? - Structure and Roles

Answer 16

The Lords scrutinise primary legislation as a whole house, with any Peer present able to suggest amendments to a Bill.
The Lords is made up of experts on a variety of subjects, therefore their input may help the protection of minorities or increase the efficiency of legislation.

Question 17

How does the Lords delay legislation? (Explain WHY and through what mechanism) - Structure and Roles

Answer 17

The Lords can delay a piece of legislation for up to 1 Year (due to the 1949 Parliament Act) if they are unhappy with the clauses of a Bill and wish that the Government will rethink its decisions.

Question 18

What examples have there been of the Lords delaying legislation and leading to Government using the Parliament Acts? - Structure and Roles

Answer 18

The Hunting Act 2004, in which Fox hunting was banned.

Sexual Offences Amendment Act 2001, in which the age of consent for gay men was lowered to 16.

Question 19

How does the Lords scrutinise secondary legislation? (Explain how and why this is significant) - Structure and Roles

Answer 19

The Lords scrutinises secondary legislation, which is not done by the Commons. This is done through the Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, which consider and propose any necessary amendments.

Question 20

What is secondary legislation and how does it differ from primary legislation? - Structure and Roles

Answer 20

Secondary legislation is legislation created by government ministers which is a result of delegation of powers by previous legislation. This allows ministers to create legislation which does not pass through the same scrutiny as primary legislation.

Question 21

How does the Lords facilitate national debate? Give examples - Structure and Roles

Answer 21

The Lords debates issues of national importance with moral or ethical dilemmas. This includes debate on assisted suicide, treatment of asylum seekers and refugees and GM crops.

Question 22

How geographically representative of the UK is Parliament? - Structure and Roles

Answer 22

The House of Commons is incredibly representative of the country geographically, with each MP representing a region which comprises 70-80,000 constituents. The Lords is far less representative than this, with Peers not representing any geographical area.

Question 23

How socially representative is Parliament? (Gender, Race, Education, Sexuality) - Structure and Roles

Answer 23

Gender (2/3 men), BAME (8% compared to 13% nationally), Oxbridge (17% compared to 1%) LGBT (7% compared to estimated 2% nationally).

Question 24

How politically representative is Parliament? - Structure and Roles

Answer 24

HoC - Not at all, with SNP gaining 3.9% of the vote in 2019, returning 48 MPs, compared to 11.6% of the vote for the Lib Dems resulting in 11 seats.

Question 25

What is Parliamentary Privilege? What is its significance? - Structure and Roles

Answer 25

Parliamentary Privilege is the protection provided to MPs and Peers, granting them freedom of speech within the HoC chamber. This protects MPs from being sued for libel by individuals for comments made in the chamber.

Question 26

What limitation is there on Parliamentary Privilege? - Structure and Roles

Answer 26

Parliamentary Privilege is limited by the Speakers of the Commons and Lords, who moderate the behaviour of Parliamentarians by disciplining their language and preventing them from abusing their position.

Question 27

When has parliamentary privilege been used by an MP? - Structure and Roles

Answer 27

SDLP MP Colum Eastwood used parliamentary privilege in order to name a solider who had previously been unnamed that had participated in the Bloody Sunday massacre.

Question 28

When did Theresa May face a vote of no confidence? What was the outcome of this? - Structure and Roles

Answer 28

May faced a vote of no confidence in January 2019, with this being rejected by 325 votes to 306.

Question 29

What is an example of an MP strongly representing an issue? - Structure and Roles

Answer 29

Labour MP Jess Phillips strongly campaigns against misogyny and in favour of women’s rights.
Johnny Mercer campaigns for the rights of veterans and in support of their interests.