The comparative powers of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Question 1

what are the differeces between the house and house of lords

Answer 1

• Mandate for Government – The Government must come from the party that receives the most seats in the
  House of Commons after a General Election (or one that can form a stable coalition). This preserves the democratic mandate of the government in the UK.
  ▪ Dominant Chamber – The House of Commons is the dominant chamber. This is clear from the fact that most
  legislation comes from the House of Commons. Equally, money bills cannot come from the House of Lords and must originate from the House of Commons. The Salisbury Convention also ensures that Government bills based on their
  manifesto are not blocked by the House of Lords.
  ▪ Powers of Scrutiny – The Commons has more powers of scrutiny than the House of Lords. Since most
  members of the Government are MPs, they have to be questioned in the chamber of the House of Commons. In
  particular, by convention the Prime Minister also comes from the House of Commons.
  ▪ Support of Government – Only a vote of no-confidence in the House of Commons can bring down a
  government. This last happened to the Callaghan government in 1979.

Question 2

what is the constitutional reform act of 2005

Answer 2

enhanced superiority of the house of commons
took away the Judicial Powers of the House of Lords, powers
which it possessed that the Commons did not.

Question 3

what is the representation of women MPs

Answer 3

220 which is 5.76% increase since 2017

Question 4

what is the representation of ethnic minority MPs

Answer 4

65, up 25% since 2017

Question 5

how many diabled mps are there

Answer 5

5 , down 37.5% since 2017

Question 6

what is the representation of MPs from comprehensve schools

Answer 6

351 up 6% since 2017

Question 7

what is the representation of lgbt+ MPs

Answer 7

46, up 2.5% since 2017

Question 8

why does representatio matter in the commons

Answer 8

A more representative Commons will be better able to empathise with the issues facing them and their
communities.
* It may give more minorities faith in the work of Parliament.
* It is dangerous for democracy if parliament is dominated by a certain demographic. If certain groups are
excluded, they feel cut off from the political process.
* When certain groups are excluded there are fewer discussion around the issues that affect them.
* It is not fully fair for political parties to talk up against discrimination when groups are not fairly represented in
Parliament.

Question 9

why do we not need a representive parliment

Answer 9

Some constituents will be represented by people who are unlike them. This does not mean that they represent them
* Good MPs are able to represent their constituents all of the time, regardless of their ethnicity, religion or gender.
* Britain is a representative democracy in which MPs are there to broadly reflect the views of their constituent. To
do this, they do not have to mirror their constituents.
* The personal abilities of a candidate should be what matters in elected politicians. It would be unfair to positively
discriminate in favour of minorities, which would inevitably mean that high quality candidates are overlooked
because they are in the majority

Question 10

what is a payroll vote

Answer 10

As a result of the convention of collective responsibility, Ministers are expected to vote
with the Government. This means there are a number of votes that the Government can almost always rely on
in any division.

Question 11

what is the impact of mps being so reliant on their position in the party

Answer 11

are expected to ‘toe the party line’ and vote in the way that the Party Leader
and his whips insist. If MPs do not do this they may have the ‘party whip withdrawn’ these means that they no longer sit as MPs for their political party. In addition, they may be deselected, meaning they cannot represent that
party at the next General Election and have to sit as an independent

Question 12

what are some examples of mps who have had their whip withdrawn

Answer 12

2022: Anne Morris - In January 2022 Anne Marie Morris had the whip withdrawn after being
the only Conservative to vote for a Labour motion to cut VAT on energy bills.

Question 13

why would mps be reluctant to rebel against their own party

Answer 13

• The whips have enormous power. If an MP wants to advance their career in Parliament, they will not
  want to upset the whips.
• MPs understand that party unity is very important. MPs know that rebelling can reduce the appearance of
  a unified party and, in turn, harm their own electoral prospects.
• MPs are likely to share the broad ideological position with their party and therefore willing to compromise
  on some of their own belief to stay loyal.

Question 14

how many mps have not rebelled give examples

Answer 14

As of 1st February 2022, there are 319 MPs who have never rebelled since the December 2019
General Election. However, it should be noted, this includes Government Ministers and
Opposition Ministers who are bound by the convention of collective responsibility
Amanda Milling (Conservative) – Only rebelled 1 time since 2015.

Question 15

what are the reasons an mp may rebel

Answer 15

e they believe so strongly in a particular issue
that they feel they have no choice morally, or because they are less concerned with their future advancement.

Question 16

why is abstaining a better alternative to rebelling

Answer 16

g can be seen as a soft rebellion, as whilst they
do not vote with their party, they do not vote with the opposition either. However, voting
against their party can be seen as a hard rebellion.
An MP will often abstain rather than vote against their party because they want to send a clear
message to their party leaders without actually pushing the party towards a defeat.

Question 17

what is an example of an abstaining mp

Answer 17

2021 – A number of Conservative MPs abstained on the new COVID 19 restrictions in
December 2021. These included former Prime Minister Thresa May.

Question 18

what is some significant backbench rebellions

Answer 18

2021 – Boris Johnson’s plan to introduce vaccine passports for COVID-19 in the UK was
opposed by 99 Conservatives. As it was supported the Opposition it passed, but this was a
significant rebellion for the Prime Minister.

Question 19

what are free votes
give example

Answer 19

votes on which the whips agree not
to tell their MPs how to vote. These votes are rare and are usually on issues that might be considered to be moral
rather than political judgements
eg 2015 – Assisted Dying Bill to legalise euthanasia in the UK under certain circumstances:
Defeated by 330-118

Question 20

what is the relationship with mps and their constituency

Answer 20

MPs regularly hold constituency surgeries
and attend constituency meetings about issues that affect their constituents. MPs often deal with issues on behalf of their
constituents, representing their interests to government departments
MPs also represent everyone in their constituency, regardless of the political
allegiance of their constituents
According to a 2015 Survey MPs spend just over 50% of their week working on parliamentary,
rather than constituency work.

Question 21

what is an example of mps losing their seats in parliament as a result of their government no long supporting them

Answer 21

In the 1997 General Election
five Conservative Government Ministers lost their seat. These included Michael Portillo, the
Secretary of State for Defence.
No PM has ever lost his seat, but Conservative Leader Arthur
Balfour lost his seat in 1906.

Question 22

what is an example of conflicts between local and national interest

Answer 22

High Speed Rail
2 (HS2). This plan involves a major High-Speed Rail Line between London and Northern Cities
such as Leeds and Manchester. Many MPs represent constituencies which will have to have
homes and business destroyed to make room for the new rail line. However, they voted largely
for the High-Speed Rail Bill as they believed it be in the national interest.

June 2016 52% of voters chose to leave the European Union. However, it is estimated that
418 constituencies out of 650 had a majority in favour of remaining. This means when
considering the Brexit result and triggering Article 50 many MPs had to vote against the wishes
of their constituents. However, despite this, only 114 MPs voted against the Article 50 bill.

Question 23

how do mps act on their own conscience and interests
give an example

Answer 23

introduce their own attempts to change the law,
called Private Members Bills. Sometimes, however, MPs can also act on behalf of Special Interest Groups. MPs are
consistently lobbied by people who want their views represented in Parliament.
2013 the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act was passed by Parliament by 359 to 154
vigorously opposed by Sir Gerald Howarth, the then MP for Aldershot, who made
clear that he was opposed to this bill on moral ground

Question 24

Does an MP have to vote the way his constituency wants?

Answer 24

Britain is a representative democracy, this means that MPs are elected to represent their constituents. However, Britain
also follows a trustee model of representation.
This is also sometimes called the Burkean Model In this trustee model of representation MPs do not have to vote as the majority of their
constituents might want.

Question 25

what is an example of a three line whip

Answer 25

In October 2011 there was a motion in the House of Commons demanding a referendum
on UK Membership of the EU. David Cameron ordered a three-line whip for his MPs to
oppose this motion. Despite this, 81 Conservative MPs voted against the Government –
thereby ignoring David Cameron’s instructions.

Question 26

what does it mean to have your ‘whip withdrawn’ what is an example

Answer 26

means that the MP in
question no longer sits in the House of Commons are a representative of the party in question.
In 2003, George Galloway had the whip withdrawn for his vehement criticism of the Labour Party’s
position on Iraq

Question 27

what are the