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Gov & Politics > UK Parliament > Flashcards

UK Parliament Flashcards

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1
Q

How many MPs are there?

A

650

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2
Q

What is the average constituency size?

A

68,000

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3
Q

Example of an independent MP

A

Jeremy Corbyn (kicked out of Labour)

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4
Q

How many Conservative MPs were elected in 2019?

A

365

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5
Q

How many Labour MPs were elected in 2019?

A

200

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6
Q

How many SNP MPs were elected in 2019?

A

47

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7
Q

How big should the House of Lords be?

A

No fixed size

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8
Q

How many Lords are there currently?

A

~800

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9
Q

3 types of peers

A
  • Life peers
  • Hereditary peers
  • Lords spiritual
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10
Q

What are life peers?

A

Appointed to the Lords for their lifetime only
Often nominated by leaders of political parties

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11
Q

How many hereditary peers are there?

A

92

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12
Q

How are hereditary peers chosen?

A

If a peer dies or resigns, the other 91 hereditary peers elect who should fill their seat

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13
Q

How many Lords Spiritual are there?

A

26 - all Church of England bishops

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14
Q

What are crossbenchers?

A

Peers in the HoL that do not have a party affiliation

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15
Q

How many crossbench peers are there?

A

184

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16
Q

How many female MPs were elected in 2019?

A

220

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17
Q

What is the role of the speaker?

A
  • Keeping order in the HoC
  • Ensuring as many MPs as possible can speak during parliamentary debates
  • Can suspend MPs who break the rules
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18
Q

Who is the current speaker?

A

Lindsay Hoyle

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19
Q

What is the role of the Leader of the House of Commons?

A

Ensure the commons runs smoothly and bills are properly timetabled

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20
Q

What is the role of a government whip?

A

Maintaining party discipline and ensuring MPs stay loyal

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21
Q

What is a three line whip?

A

A strict instruction to all MPs that they must support the government’s legislation or they face having the whip removed

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22
Q

What is having the whip removed?

A

When an MP is kicked out their party and therefore remains in the Commons as an independent

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23
Q

Example of an MP having the whip removed

A

Matt Hancock after he decided to go on I’m A Celeb

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24
Q

What is a frontbench MP?

A

Members of the government who are also ministers

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25
Q

4 main functions of parliament

A
  1. Legislation
  2. Representation
  3. Scrutiny
  4. Debate
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26
Q

What are public bills?

A

Bills that come from the government and apply to everyone once it becomes law

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27
Q

How many public bills were passed in 2019?

A

31

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28
Q

What is a Green Paper?

A

Government document setting out an issue and the options for legislation to resolve said issue

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29
Q

What is a White Paper?

A

Government document setting out detailed plans and proposals for legislation

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30
Q

6 stages of the legislative process?

A
  1. First reading
  2. Second reading
  3. Committee stage
  4. Report stage
  5. Third reading
  6. Continues to the Lords
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31
Q

What happens in the first reading?

A

Formal introduction of a bill
No vote or debate

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32
Q

What happens in the second reading?

A

Main debate on the principles of the bill takes place
Vote to continue (nearly always passes)

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33
Q

Example of a bill which failed at the second reading?

A

1986 Sunday Trading Bill
(this was the last time this happened)

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34
Q

What happens in the committee stage?

A

Bill sent to a public bill committee
Suggest amendments and review the bill in detail

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35
Q

Why are public bill committees weak?

A
  • Temporary
  • Members appointed by party whips
  • Membership reflects HoC proportions
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36
Q

What happens in the report stage?

A

Any amendments from the committee stage are considered by the HoC

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37
Q

What happens in the third reading?

A

Final debate and vote on the amended version of the bill

38
Q

What happens when the legislative process is successful in the House of Commons?

A

The process is then repeated in the Lords

39
Q

What is secondary legislation?

A

The relevant minister of a department can introduce new clauses or changes without it passing through Parliament

40
Q

Why is secondary legislation useful?

A
  • Allows legislation to be passed quickly
  • Scrutinised by Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments
41
Q

Example of a committee where the government does not enjoy a majority

A

Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments

42
Q

Why can secondary legislation be controversial?

A

Important decisions ‘swept under the rug’ and do not receive democratic scrutiny

43
Q

What act allows drugs to be criminalised through secondary legislation?

A

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971

44
Q

What are Private Members Bills?

A

Bills drafted and presented by backbench MPs

45
Q

Example of a Private Members Bill

A

Abortion Act 1967 - outlawed abortion

46
Q

Is Parliament good at representation? - YES

A
  • 650 constituencies which are all roughly even
  • Wide range of parties
  • Commons is increasingly diverse
47
Q

Is Parliament good at representation? - NO

A
  • FPTP favours the two largest parties and regionally concentrated parties (ie SNP)
  • Women significantly underrepresented
  • MPs largely from privileged backgrounds
48
Q

What percentage of MPs are women?

A

34%

49
Q

What percentage of MPs are LGBTQ+?

A

6% (compared to 2% nationally)

50
Q

What percentage of MPs were privately educated?

A

29% (compared to 7% nationally)

51
Q

What percentage of MPs have declared second jobs?

A

18%

52
Q

Example of an MP with a second job

A

Conservative MP Martha Caulfield works part time as a nurse, as this is necessary for her to keep her nursing registration

53
Q

Burkean/trustee theory of representation

A

Elected officials are trusted by their constituents to make decisions in their best interests

54
Q

Delegate theory of representation

A

Elected officials should act as a mouthpiece for their constituents

55
Q

Example of an MP following the trustee theory of representation

A

Conservative MP Nick Boles represented a Leave constituency (Grantham) but personally supported the remain campaign and voted against the government’s Brexit plans

56
Q

Example of an MP following the delegate theory of representation

A

Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith promised his constituents that he would resign if the government backed building a 3rd runway at Heathrow (he did)

57
Q

Mandate theory of representation

A

MPs are elected to carry out the policies stated in the party manifesto

58
Q

Example of an MPs following the mandate theory of representation

A

When 139 MPs rebelled against the Blair government over the invasion of Iraq - not a manifesto promise so they did not have to follow

59
Q

Example of parliamentary debate causing effective scrutiny

A

After a heated and emotional debate on the Syrian military intervention in 2013, the Cameron government was defeated by 13 votes

60
Q

What is parliamentary privilege?

A

MPs and peers cannot be convicted for anything they say in Parliament, allowing for true freedom of speech in debate

61
Q

How many signatures must a petition get to be debated in the Commons?

A

100,000

62
Q

Examples of successful petitions which have been debated in the Commons

A

A 2020 petition asking for NHS staff to receive free parking received 450,000 signatures and was successful

63
Q

Why are parliamentary debates weak?

A
  • Poorly attended
  • No direct power over government
  • Many MPs of the governing party may be reluctant to publicly criticise the government
  • Opposition MPs can be seen as playing politics instead of providing effective scrutiny
64
Q

What are ‘patsy questions’?

A

Questions asked by governing party MPs during PMQs which praise the government

65
Q

Is PMQs effective? - YES

A
  • High profile
  • Forces the PM to face direct questioning publicly (no US equivalent)
  • Builds up profile of opposition
  • Parliamentary accountability of executive
66
Q

Is PMQs effective? - NO

A
  • Mostly seen as ‘Punch and Judy’ politics, trying to score political points instead of effective scrutiny
  • PM rarely directly answers questions
  • Patsy questions
67
Q

Three types of committee

A
  • Public bill committees
  • Select committees
  • Lords committees
68
Q

What are public bill committees?

A

Temporary committees created to scrutinise bills going through the legislative process

69
Q

Advantages of public bill committees

A
  • Backbench MPs play a key role
  • Chaired by both governing party and opposition
  • Provide opportunities for pressure groups to scrutinise legislation
70
Q

Example of a public bill committee providing effective scrutiny

A

Investigatory Powers Act 2016
Additional safeguards put in place to protect journalists

71
Q

Disadvantages of public bill committees

A
  • Membership is proportional to party strength in Commons
  • Major amendments unlikely (just 0.5%)
  • Temporary membership, MPs aren’t experts
  • Select committees choose membership
72
Q

Role of select committees

A

To hold ministers and departments to account for their policies and decision making

73
Q

What is the most important select committee?

A

Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
Reviews how government spends money
Chair is Labour MP Meg Hillier

74
Q

Example of a select committee chaired by an expert

A

Until 2019, the Health Select Committee was chaired by former GP Sarah Wollaston

75
Q

How many select committees are there?

A

28

76
Q

What is the standard number of members in a select committee?

A

11

77
Q

How are select committee chairs chosen?

A

Secret ballot of MPs

78
Q

Example of a select committee chaired by Labour

A

Work and Pensions Committee chaired by Stephen Timms (as of 2019 election)

79
Q

Powers of select committees

A
  • Summon witnesses
  • Analyse restricted documents
80
Q

Example of select committees scrutinising a government appointment

A

In 2013, the Education Select Committee rejected the proposed head of Ofsted
However, she was still appointed to the post

81
Q

Are select committees effective? - YES

A
  • Less partisan than Parliament
  • Chaired by opposition MPs
  • Power to call witnesses
  • Members are often specialists
82
Q

Are select committees effective? - NO

A
  • Often committees vote along party lines
  • Governing party has majority of committee seats
  • Government under no obligation to accept suggestions
83
Q

What are Lords committees?

A

Specialist committees which analyse niche areas

84
Q

Example of a Lords committee

A

COVID-19 committee to analyse the long-term affects of the pandemic

85
Q

How can the opposition provide scrutiny of the governing party?

A
  • PMQs
  • 20 opposition days a year
  • Shadow cabinet questioning ministers
  • Work in select committees
86
Q

What are opposition days?

A

The opposition party, for 20 days a year, are allowed to choose what is debated in Parliament

87
Q

Examples of opposition day topics

A

In 2018, Labour raised the issue of the Grenfell Tower fire

88
Q

Purposes of the opposition in Parliament

A
  • Receive short money to help them effectively scrutinise
  • Present an alternative government to the public
  • Can check government policy
89
Q

Weaknesses of the opposition in Parliament

A
  • Government has more funding and media coverage, can be hard to opposition to make big statements
  • Successes are rare
90
Q

Example of a shadow cabinet appearing weak

A

In 2017, Diane Abbott, shadow home secretary, was interviewed on LBC and was criticised for her lacklustre understanding of the police force

91
Q

Does the executive dominate parliament? - YES

A
  • Whipping ensures that government-backed bills pass easily
  • The executive proposes majority of legislation
  • Committees are also dominated by governing party
92
Q

Does the executive dominate parliament? - NO

A
  • Govs in minority or small majority can be easily defeated by small groups of rebels
  • Opposition days and private members bills
  • Select committees reasonably independent

Gov & Politics (23 decks)

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