The UK Parliament Flashcards
legislative+executive, role, reform
Functions of parliament
- making legislation
- scrutinising the executive
- sustaining government
- representation
- financial scrutiny
- redress of grievances
- debating major issues
What does making legislation include?
- the biggest focus in a new government
- passing through a lengthy process in the HOC and HOL before reaching the statute book
- members given an opportunity to debate the principles of the bill, and details of the legislation
- opportunity for MPs to table amendments to get concessions from government
- delegated legislation does not have to pass through rigorous process, but orders laid before MPs
What does scrutinising the executive include?
- scrutiny by questions to ministers, PMQs, opposition days (when opposition decide what is discussed in the Commons for the day)
- necessary when government has significant majority
What does sustaining government include?
- ensuring that the government can govern due to having a majority of the seats in the Commons, and the ability to legislate through giving party MPs the whip
- the recruitment and training of ministers in junior roles of opposition to create the future ministers and cabinet members
What does representation in parliament include?
- political parties attempt to represent the people who elect them and reflect their views
- individual MPs attempt to represent the people in their constituency
- MPs are held accountable for representation of their constituents
- discussion about how representative parliament is overleaf
What does financial scrutiny include?
- scrutiny of public spending
- the Budget (annual finance bill) has to be passed in order for taxation and spending to continue
- many parliamentary committees oversee matters such as government spending
- parliament have on-going control of public finances
What does redress of grievances include?
- one of the earliest purposes of the Commons to hear problems of the people
- citizens can go to parliament and lobby their MP about a particular issue that concerns them
- some MPs take up these causes and try to persuade government to change the law based on them using procedure of private members’ legislation
What does debating major issues include?
- the discussion of major issues
- when parliament is the focus of the nation’s attention during emergency
- if crisis emerges during parliamentary recess, members may demand parliament to be recalled for debate
selecting members for the House of Lords
- no maximum number
- PM can nominate
- hereditary peers: family- inherited title who have been lords throughout history
- life peers: chosen by the PM to be a lord
- lord spiritual: bishop or archbishop in the Church of England
House of Lords Reform
1909- ‘people’s budget’ by Chancellor George was damaging to upper classes so HOL voted against it, but Lords cannot vote against Salisbury Convention (1946)
1911 Parliament Act- power to veto replaced by 2 year delay
1949 Parliament Act- power to delay 2 years reduced to 1 year
1958 Parliament Act- introduced life peers
1999 HOL Reform- removed majority of hereditary peers to 92
2014 HOL Reform Act- Lords could be removed if they had a prison sentence, disqualified for poor attendance, could resign or retire
2015 HOL (explusion and suspension) Act- House could expel/ suspend members
2015 Lords Spiritual (women) Act- female church of england bishops could become lord spirituals
2017 Burns Report- recommended reducing number of Lords to 600 through two-out one-in approach to appointing members
Roles of HOL members
- debate legislation sent from the Commons
- initiate legislation
- delay legislation
hold general debates - lords with more experience and expertise than the commons, and don’t represent anyone
- lords are not elected so are said to lack legitimacy
Executive powers of the HOC
- vetoing legislation
- approving government budgets
- vote of no confidence can dismiss a government and trigger a General Election
- representing constituencies
Positives of the HOL
- less party discipline (whips) so members can make their own decisions
- more scrutiny takes place than in the HOC
- Lords are appointed due to their expertise that they can contribute to legislation
- more time to devote to debates
- offering ammendments
- more independent as government lacks majority in the HOL, and many peers are crossbenchers
Negatives of the HOL
- 1911 and 1949 Acts make the Lords less powerful than the Commons, as they can’t reject legislation
- Salisbury convention means the Lords can’t affect financial bills or bills related to the manifesto
- Lords is unelected (lacking mandate)
- media focus on HOC instead of HOL
- committees include HOC members, so HOC has a greater degree of scrutiny than the HOL
- debates in HOL largely symbolic
- Lords cannot be held accountable
- anachronistic (92 hereditary peers)
- members of Church of England entitled to sit (arch/bishops)
- too many members compared to US counterpart (Senate)- 800
- cronyism (appointments due to PM’s opinion)
options for HOL reform
- abolition
- elected
- appointed
- no change
- party appointed, party elected (hybrid model)
NO CHANGE as HOL reform positives
Lords has proved to be effective and it would be unwise to make reforms which could have unknown circumstances
NO CHANGE as HOL reform negatives
undemocratic and unrepresentative due to appointments. This undemocratic institution should not be involved in the legislative process
ABOLITION as HOL reform positives
removal of the HOL for a unicameral system like Denmark and New Zealand
ABOLITION as HOL reform negatives
HOC already demonstrated they would vote against a unicameral system 2007- majority 253 in favour of retaining appointed chamber (removing HOL would involve more work for the HOC)
ALL-ELECTED CHAMBER as HOL reform positives
more democratic and therefore house would be more accountable, providing legitimacy, and a more effective check on the legislative
ALL-ELECTED CHAMBER as HOL reform negatives
HOL could mirror the HOC, serving no purpose if one party had a majority in 2 houses, they would lack scrutiny. Removal of significant opposition could make gridlock between chambers with different party majorities
ALL-APPOINTED CHAMBER as HOL reform positives
help to bring back high quality members into the legislative process and avoid giving too much power to the second chamber- consultative so as not to obstruct effective government. Appointments could be challenged ******
ALL-APPOINTED CHAMBER as HOL reform negatives
preserves the undemocratic nature of the HOL, as the government could appoint people who agree with their views.
HYBRID MODEL as HOL reform positives
combination of the advantages of both systems, having elected and appointed members
HYBRID MODEL as HOL reform negatives
only a compromise, as this system is only partly democratic, reserving the power of the government to appoint members
role of the MP
representing concerns of constituents (Vicky Ford taking up over 1000 cases in more than 60 policy areas in her first 6 months as MP)
Members of Committees
(HOC science and technology select committee member Vicky Ford)
Attending debates and voting on new laws
(Marie Goldman on assisted dying bill)
serving constituents
(Marie Goldman and Vicky Ford visiting local schools, Marie Goldman submitting a scheme to local highways panel asking for a zebra crossing/ school crossing patrol)
where does parliament restrict the government
- select committees (and others)
- question time
- role of opposition
- House of Lords
- voting and amending government legislation
- vote of no confidence
what do select committees do?
loyal to policy area, investigate policy, call for government records, experts and ministerial witnesses.
they produce reports based off research, usually involving recommendations for improvements- these are not enforceable
example of successful select committee
Justice Select Committee report on criminal charges
- recommended removal of criminal courts charge as was reported to be grossly disproportionate (Nov 2015)
- Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said fee would ensure criminals pay their way
- next Justice Secretary Michael Gove removed court charge (Dec 2015)
limits of Select Committees
- government has an inbuilt majority in each select committee as the HOC ratio is mirrored
- limited time and resources as MPs have other duties
- government is not legally required to accept reports
example of unsuccessful select committee - science and tech
2019 HOC science and technology committee report on childhood trauma by Norman Lamb Lib Dem MP
- said government should produce as new national strategy to tackle adversity and trauma in childhood to reduce risk of ill health/ social problems in later life
- government largely dismissed the report despite identification of schemes which could be more effective
example of unsuccessful select committee- media and sport
Digital culture media and sport select committee
- reported that the UK faces a democratic crisis with fake news, and there is a lack of government strategy
- out of 42 recommendations suggested by Collins- conservative- only 3 were accepted by the government
what is question time?
PMQs once a week as the leader of opposition has up to 6 questions for the PM, followed by the second largest party with a couple of questions.
any other MPs are able to ask questions if called on by the speaker
PM does not technically know the questions, but prepares a binder for possible questions
what does question time aim to do?
exposes weaknesses in government policy, attracting negative publicity for the government or opposition, calls for change publicly in policy or practice
what is the House of Commons Liaison Committee?
committee made up of select committee chairs
what are the HOC liaison committee’s functions
- considers the overall work of HOC select committees
- promotes effective scrutiny of the government
- debates reports from various committees
- questions and scrutinises the work of the PM around 3 times a year
how does the HOC liaison committee perform effective scrutiny?
- more civilised and considerate circumstances than PMQs
- cross-party affairs questioning, presenting unity in the best interests of the country
- questions on a range of questions which are relevant to each select committee chair
limitations of the HOC liaison committee
only 3-4 times per year in sessions of 1hour 30mins, so only up to 6 hours of scrutiny per year
what do Public Bill Committees do?
scrutinise bills after the second reading and report scrutiny and amendments during the report stage. Formed by party whips who are unchallenged on the decision. The committee can take evidence form outside of parliament.
evidence of whips being biased with selection for public bill committees
Dr Sarah Woolaston prevented from sitting in the committee on Health and Social care Bill despite status as a practicing doctor
limitations of public bill committees
amendments are not often accepted, unless proposed by the governing party
evidence of public bill committees taking outside evidence
Domestic Abuse Bill received 96 pieces of written evidence from various stakeholders.
what is the Salisbury Convention
HOL does not block legislation promised in the governing party’s manifesto, respecting the democratic mandate of the HOC. Lords cannot vote against financial bills
what are three-line whips?
strong party instructions for MPs to vote in a specific way, indicating that their attendance and compliance are crucial
What have been the implications of the 2024 General Election on UK parliament?
- Labour’s decisive victory of 118 seat majority uncovered widespread discontent with the Conservative party’s management
- Keir Starmer was positioned as a PM capable of addressing voters’ concerns
- Limit on how effectively the current government can represent diverse perspectives
- Commanding government majority, leading to restricted debate and scrutiny as party discipline will lead the ruling party to proceed with legislative agendas due to little constraint: e.g. January 2025 amendment to the Children’s Welfare Bill faced limited resistance from Labour MPs despite widespread criticism. Three line whip ensured MPs were forced to vote in favour, raising concerns over the representation of constituents’ views
weakness of the opposition- 2024 general election
Conservative Party reduced to 121 seats, leading to struggles in effective scrutiny of the executive. Other parties in opposition such as Lib Dems slightly increased seat counts, but left opposition too fragmented for meaningful influence- imbalance weakened parliament’s ability to hold the government accountable
what are backbenchers?
MPs without a role in the government
what is the house of commons?
the primary legislative chamber of parliament
how does parliament represent people?
- party
- self
- constituency
- functional representation
- pressure groups
how do parties ensure representation in parliament?
when MPs stand for office, they usually run as part of a political party. They usually vote with that party in parliament, as parties indicate how important it is to vote with them by use of the whip. In 2019, PM Johnson faced a rebellion over his Brexit deal from his MPs. He removes the whip from 21 MPs who voted against him, meaning they were no longer considered part of the Conservative party.
what are the limitations as parties ensuring representation
- expectation of voting with the party may clash with constituency of self-representation
- dominance of the governing party means the party-line votes may lack scrutiny
How does self-representation ensure representation in parliament?
UK’s representative democracy based on Burkean model of ‘trustees’, meaning MPs can use their conscience when decision-making.
In 2014, Nicky Morgan voted against the Marriage Act, saying that the Christian faith was part of the reason, and that she had received more letters from constituents against the bill than for it
what are the limitations of self-representation in parliament?
MPs can use parliamentary privilege to speak on issues, which challenges the rule of law. e.g. use of parliamentary privilege to break judicial injunctions
how do constituencies ensure representation in parliament?
MPs are elected to represent a specific geographical area, so they may need to represent issues specific to their local area in parliament. e.g. In 2022 Mark Menzies gave a speech in parliament criticising the government’s plans about fracking due to the impact it would have on his constituency
what are the limitations of constituencies as representation
those who hold a governmental role are not allowed to speak on the floor of the Chamber unless answering a question, limiting their ability to represent their constituents
how does functional representation ensure representation in parliament?
representation by MPs of groups sharing socioeconomic descriptors (women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+). e.g. In 2019, number of women elected to parliament was a record- 220 (34%). However, it remains way below percentage of women in national population- 51%
limitations of functional representation
although diversity in parliament is increasing, it is still below the levels within UK population
how do pressure groups ensure representation within parliament?
MPs may have links to pressure group to try to enact change. e.g. In 2010, Nicky Morgan took part in oral questions to ask about the building of a waste incinerator in her constituency, and stood against it with pressure group CHAIN
limitations of pressure groups for representation in parliament
links between MPs and pressure groups led to lobbying scandals, raising questions over who MPs should listen to
powers of the HOC
- right to veto any legislation as the elected house with elected mandate from the electorate
- call a vote of no confidence in the government to remove them from power
- accept, amend, delay and reject legislation put forward by the government
- scrutinise the government through a range of methods
- power of monetary legislation
limitations of the HOC
- government holds a majority, restricting power of smaller parties
- using the whips can limit the effectiveness of scrutiny
powers of backbenchers
- taking part in select committees
- taking part in Backbench Business Committee
- using parliamentary privilege (speaking in the chamber)
- introducing a Private Members’ bill
- debating, voting, taking part in a public bill committee for the legislative process
- asking questions
- liaison committee if chair a select committee
- bringing urgent questions to the speaker
Reasons why backbenchers are effective
- oral questions can raise the profile of an issue, causing media to pick it up e.g. Kim Leadbetter introducing assisted dying bill attracting media attention
- there have been successful Private Members’ bills passed e.g. Live Music Act
- reforms to select committees have made them more independent and therefore more able to scrutinise the government effectively e.g. select committee reports regularly make headlines
- the Backbench Business Committee and Petitions Committee have power over the agenda of Parliament on some days
Reasons why backbenchers are ineffective
- when a government has a clear majority there is little a backbencher can do to have an impact on the government e.g. Starmer’s 2024 majority 411/650
- party whips can enforce party discipline and prevent backbench rebellions
- select committees cannot enforce reports
- MPc can take part in oral questions, but PMQs can be mostly theatre
- the government does not have to send the cabinet minister to answer urgent questions, it can send junior ministers
