The Opposition

Question 1

what are the key roles of the opposition?

Answer 1

the opposition is fundamental to representative democracy as it provides crucial checks and balances

the opposition questions and scrutinises the government, criticises its policies, suggests alternatives and forces the government to explain their decisions — thus holding them to account

without the opposition there is no representative democracy, this is because the opposition ensures that the range of perspectives and opinions in society are still represented in Parliament

Question 2

what do many argue about the opposition and the government?

Answer 2

many argue that a strong opposition makes a better government

Question 3

what is the official/main opposition?

Answer 3

The official/main opposition is the largest party elected in the House of Commons that is not in government

Question 4

what rights and privileges do the official opposition have?

Answer 4

The main opposition have more rights than other opposition parties, including…

• higher number of questions in PMQs
• higher share of chairs in select committees
• chairs of specific committees must come from the opposition (e.g. Public Accounts Committee)
• main respondent to any ministerial statements (as it is the government in waiting)
• more resources available (e.g. short money) — this helps them carry out their Parliamentary business, helps with the running costs of the opposition leader’s office, compensates for the fact that they do not have access to the civil service unlike the government, used to fund policy research and pay the salaries of staff

(however, the Conservative government cut the amount available after 2015 — Labour spokeswoman at the time argued that this was “anti democratic” and gave the government an “unfair advantage”)

• leader of the opposition can hold the government to account by taking the leading role in responding to the government program as set out in the annual Queen’s speech and responds to the Chancellor of the Exchequer‘s budget speech

Question 5

how many days per Parliamentary session are allocated for the discussion of topics chosen by the opposition parties?

Answer 5

20 days per Parliamentary session are allocated for the discussion of topics chosen by the opposition parties, 17 of which are for the main opposition

The second largest opposition party has 2 questions at PMQs and 3 opposition days which gives them more visibility as seen in 2015-17 with the SNP

in 2015, the SNP used its days to instigate debate on the Trident nuclear defence system and on the closure of HRMC offices

however, smaller parties struggle to gain visibility due to sheer lack of MPs (E.g. the Green party only has 1 MP) and therefore cannot hold the government accountable as they cannot get involved in scrutiny of all areas of government activity

Question 6

how can opposition backbenchers be effective in holding the government to account?

Answer 6

opposition backbenchers can be very effective in holding the government to account as they have no designated duties so they can dedicate more time to serving their constituents, developing campaigns and following scrutiny lines of inquiry

they can also use their vote to steer government attention to a particular issue

Question 7

what are the limits to the power of the opposition?

Answer 7

however, the opposition are not in a strong position to hold the government to account unless the government’s majority is small

they face a constant dilemma — The need to criticise ministers while projecting themselves in a statesmanlike light as the alternative government

therefore, they have to be careful not to attack ministers too much otherwise they may come across as unprofessional

Even if the leader of the opposition is judged to be an effective performer in the House of Commons, such as William Hague in the period of Tony Blair’s first government, they may still have little impact or impression on the public which was shown by Hague’s defeat in the 2001 election

Question 8

where else does scrutiny from the opposition occur?

Answer 8

scrutiny from the opposition also occurs in the House of Lords where no party holds a majority or is dominant, allowing for crucial scrutiny of government activity

in fact, most defeats take place in the House of Lords

for example, Lord Dubs’ amendments to the Immigration Bill in the 2015 to 17 parliament led to the government reconsidering the number of refugees welcome in the UK

Question 9

in what circumstances is the opposition likely to be ineffective?

Answer 9

The opposition is ineffective if the government has a strong majority

opposition days are of only symbolic importance, allowing them to express views on policy but no action needs to be taken

The government will usually table an amendment to the opposition motion, cancelling it out by commending its own policy

A government with its own majority that is particularly strong will usually have no problem dismissing the opposition