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Parliament > the structure and role of the House of Commons and the House of Lords > Flashcards

the structure and role of the House of Commons and the House of Lords Flashcards

1
Q

what is the HOC?

A

The primary chamber of the UK legislature, directly elected by voters.

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2
Q

what is the HOL?

A

The second chamber of the UK legislature, not directly elected by voters.

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3
Q

what is the structure of the HOC?

A
  • 650 MPs, each elected from a constituency
  • MPs are divided into backbench and frontbench MPs
  • MPs do a lot of their work in committees, the main ones are select committees and legislative committees
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4
Q

what is a party whip?

A

they are appointed by main parties and they ensure the MPs in their parties are remaining loyal to the party and inform them on issues

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5
Q

what is the difference between frontbench and backbench MPs?

A

frontbench MPs are more senior, they are ministers, and party officials appointed by the PM, there are also opposition frontbench MPs

whereas backbench MPs are the majority, and can be more independent than frontbench MPs but are still expected to show party loyalty

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6
Q

what is the structure of the HOL?

A
  • 92 hereditary peers
  • 26 are archbishops
  • the rest of the members are life peers
  • unelected chamber
  • scrutinise government
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7
Q

what are life peers?

A

someone who is granted a peerage, which entitles the holder to attend the HOL, take part in debates and scrutinise and vote on legislation, this is for life, and unlike hereditary peers, it cannot be passed down to their children

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8
Q

how do you become an MP?

A
  • join a party
  • get placed on the party’s approval central list of candidates
  • get nominated as the prospective parliamentary candidate for a constituency by being elected by the local members
  • when an election is called, ensure that you are nominated by at least ten local residents and registered with the constituencies returning officer
  • win a plurality of votes in the constituency when a general election is held
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9
Q

what are crossbenchers?

A

those of the HOL who are not formal members of a party, and are independent minded

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10
Q

how might the HOL be reformed?

A
  • an all appointed second chamber
  • an all elected second chamber
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11
Q

what are the problems with the current HOL?

A
  • an unelected legislature is undemocratic
  • too many members of the current HOL are not active or are only semi-active
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12
Q

appointment process of life peers

A

Nominated, either by current party leader, the House of Lords Appointments
Commission or the public

Nominees are considered and vetted by the independent House of Lords Appointments Commission and the names are then passed to the Prime Minister

The Prime Minister considers the list and passes it to the monarch, who issues official Letters Patent

The newly created life peer presents their Letters Patent and is sworn in as a life peer in a short ceremony

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13
Q

the functions of the HOC

A

legislating
scrutiny of government
representation
national debate
social representation

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14
Q

how can the HOC legislate?

A
  • they grant the government legitimacy for what it does
  • private member bills
  • pass legislation and approve public finances
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15
Q

what are private member bills?

A

when backbench MPs develop their own legislation

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16
Q

what is the process of a private member bill?

A

ballot : names of backbench MPs are randomly drawn and there is an allocated time to discuss the proposed bill

this is where MPs make a ten minute speech of their bill.

they can be introduced through a presentation

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17
Q

what is the problem with private member bills?

A

the chances of seeing it through to law are small

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18
Q

give 2 examples of private member bills that happened 2017-2019

A

Animal Welfare Act 2019 by Sir Oliver Heald cons MP

Assaults on emergency workers Act 2018 by Chris Bryant labour MP

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19
Q

what is the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019? what was a problem with it?

A

banned the practice of upskirting

it was difficult to pass onto law as it took a whole year

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20
Q

how can the Lords legislate?

A

they do not really legitimise legislation

  • they can scrutinise proposed legislation, to give their opinion and ask the government to think again and maybe amend the proposals
  • they have the power to delay legislation for up to one year
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21
Q

what can the commons do when the lords delays legislation?

A

they can vote to bypass legislation and pass legislation without approval from the lords after the one year delay

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22
Q

when has the Commons bypassed legislation from the lords? (2)

A
  • The Hunting Act 2004: banning fox hunting
  • Sexual Offences Amendment Act 2000: lowering the age of consent for gay men to 16
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23
Q

the Sailsbury Convention

A

the lords cannot obstruct any proposed legislation that was contained in the government’s manifesto.

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24
Q

1911 and 1949 parliament acts

A

the lords can only delay legislation for one year and have no legislative control over financial matters.

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25
Q

weaknesses of the HOC

A
  • MPs are expected to be loyal to their party
  • it is hard to pass legislation without a decisive majority
  • MPs lack research facilities
  • there are few opportunities for MPs to raise issues on the floor of the house
26
Q

strengths of the HOC

A
  • MPs can be influential in select committees
  • collectively MPs can get rid of government
  • MPs can attract considerable public and media attention
  • without a majority in the commons, small groups of MPs can become extremely influential
27
Q

Public Accounts Committee

A
  • scrutinises value for money: the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of public spending and generally holds the government to account
  • members are elected by MPs so are independent
  • unanimous conclusions
  • high profile in the media
28
Q

Liason Committee

A

Committee that includes the chairs of all select committees and questions the prime minister on public policy twice a year

29
Q

Backbench Business Committee

A

determines the business of the house for more than 20 days a year. it decides what backbenchers will debate on those days

30
Q

example of a departmental committee report

A

2016 work and pensions committee investigated the collapse of BHS and the loss of the employee’s pension fund. the company was reported to the pensions regulator.

31
Q

what happens in PMQTs?

A

every Wednesday for 30 mins, the PM is questioned

32
Q

why are PMQTs important?

A

hold government to account, and shows opinions and policies of the opposition

33
Q

what is commons questioning?

A

when the minister sits in the House of Commons and faces questioning, they will have to prepare a good case for what they propose to do/ what they have done

it puts the government on the spot

34
Q

when have commons questioning been effective?

A

has the power to force someone out of parliament (e.g. Amber Rudd and the windrush generation)

35
Q

what are committees?

A

members of the Commons investigate the quality of government, e.g. whether taxpayers money is being well spent, and if government is rational and efficient

36
Q

why are committees important?

A

they asses proposed legislations and see whether it can be altered or ammended to protect the interests of minorities

37
Q

how effective are committees?

A

they do not have the power to reject proposed legislation as a whole, meaning the Commons are more effective

38
Q

what is commons voting?

A

The commons can refuse to pass a piece of legislation, and it weakens the government/forces government to think again

39
Q

why is commons voting important?

A

if it happens enough, it can force a prime minister out of power, for example, Theresa May was forced out of power in 2019, when she failed to pass proposals for Brexit

40
Q

how is commons voting effective?

A

has the power to force the prime minister out of power by holding them to account

41
Q

what is a vote of confidence?

A

the commons can remove a government by passing a vote of confidence if they are unhappy with the current government

42
Q

when has a vote of no confidence been effective?

A

e.g. in 1979, James Callagham was voted out due to failure to suport the interests of minority government

43
Q

why are votes of no confidence important?

A

it has the power to force someone out of power, like Callaghan, but Theresa May survived her vote of no confidence in 2019

44
Q

how important is the opposition leaders role?

A
  • the opposition have to look like they are a better government in waiting in order to receive more votes
  • have to scrutinise government policy
  • has the right to ask 6 questions during PMQT
  • important to highlight short fallings of the government and offer their own political solutions
45
Q

name a weak opposition role

A

Jeremy Corbyn because he couldn’t speak up for Labour during questions about Brexit

he was ‘on the fence’

46
Q

what is secondary legislation?

A

legislation that is made by government ministers, but do not have to pass through the full procedure

47
Q

when can the HOL claim to be more important than the HOC ?

A

October 2015, the HOL voted against secondary legislation that would have reduced the tax level paid to low income families, this forced the government to amend the legislation until it is accepted by peers

48
Q

in what ways can the HOC scrutinise government?

A
  • criticism (PMQTs)
  • forcing the government to justify its policies
  • departmental committees investigate the quality of the government
  • refuse to pass legislation
  • vote of no confidence to remove a government, but this is rare
49
Q

when have the HOC refused to pass legislation?

A

in 2016, they voted against a new law extending legal opening hours for large stores on Sundays

50
Q

in what ways can the HOL scrutinise the government?

A
  • many members of the HOL are experts in their field, and have a lot to offer
  • the ‘committee stage’ : they can amend a bill so severely so that government is forced to drop it
51
Q

in what ways can an MP represent their constituency?

A

they can approach an MP over disputes with a public body, such as HMRC, or the Department for Work and Pensions over welfare payments

most MPs hold ‘surgeries’ when constituents can bring their problems to the MPs attention if they feel they have a good case

52
Q

2 times where an MP has disagreed with their constituency

A

the fracking debate: conservatives support fracking but conservative constituents don’t

HS2: expansion of Heathrow

53
Q

constituency representation: the Lords

A

ha u got tricked ;D

the Lords only represent the interests of their own members, and has no constituency to represent

54
Q

how many women are in parliament in 2019 compared to 1979?

A

1979: 19
2019: 220

55
Q

many MPs are over the age of 40 in 2019?

A

514- they are old mate

56
Q

how many MPs are from a minority ethnic background?

A

65 out of 650 - that is barely anything

57
Q

how many conservative MPs are from private schools compared to labour?

A

conservative: 44%
labour: 19%

58
Q

when has parliament been seen as important in their role in government?

A

Iraq war debate 2003

gone to war based on a debate in parliament instead of royal prerogative due to how controversial it was

parliament was given the opportunity to decide

59
Q

what is an urgent question?

A

when backbench MPs force the prime minister to answer a question , which is empowering for backbenchers

60
Q

comparing powers of the HOC and the HOL

powers and functions of the HOC only

A
  • examine and approve financial affairs of the government
  • veto legislation
  • dismiss government by a vote of no confidence
  • examine the work of government departments
  • final approval for amendments to legislation
61
Q

comparing powers of the HOC and the HOL

powers and functions that are shared between the chambers

A
  • debating legislation and voting on proposals
  • proposing amendments
  • calling government and individual ministers to account
  • debating key issues of the day
  • private members may introduce their own legislation
62
Q

comparing powers of the HOC and the HOL

powers and functions of the HOL only

A
  • examine secondary legislation and making recommendations
  • delaying primary legislation for up to one year

Parliament (3 decks)

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