UK POLITICS PARLIAMENT

Question 1

what is the structure of the house of commons

Answer 1

• consists of 650 MPs (elected members of parliament)
• there is one MP per constituency who will take that seat, after being elected within their constituency through the first past the post voting system
• MPs will be loyal to a specific party
• most MPs are backbenchers, but there are some members of government who are frontbenchers (ie cabinet ministers)

Question 2

what is the structure of the house of lords, and who are the different peers appointed by

Answer 2

• consists of 801 lords in total which can be broken down into:
• life peers (690) - appointed by PM
• people peers (70) - lords appointment commission
• hereditary peers (86) (but the maximum that can sit is 92) - inherited title
• archbishops and bishops (26) - appointed by PM from church of england

Question 3

bullet point the functions of the house of commons

Answer 3

• representation
• scrutinise the government (mainly done by opposition backbenchers)
• debate and generate legislation
• recruitment of ministers
• promote legitimacy

Question 4

bullet point the functions of the house of lords

Answer 4

• scrutinise legislation
• scrutinise the government
• propose amendments to bills
• representative function

Question 5

what are the features of parliamentary government

Answer 5

• a fusion of powers, whereby the executive and legislative branches are fused - the government (ie executive) is also involved in the law making process
• as a result of elections in parliament, a government is formed, of which the strength of the party is based on their dominance in parliament
• there are no separate elections for a prime minister (head of government)
• government is not individual leadership, it consists of a cabinet
• people within the government must come from parliament (ie cabinet ministers must also be MPs and democratically elected)
• the cabinet is responsible to parliament, and can only continue to govern with the confidence of the commons through a vote of confidence (idea of confidence and supply)

Question 6

what are some of the methods to scrutinise the government in the commons

Answer 6

• prime minister’s question time
• select committees
• voting on legislation
• the opposition

Question 7

what is the role of the opposition

Answer 7

• scrutinise and discredit the government
• present itself to the electorate as an alternative, and better government

Question 8

how is the opposition effective at scrutinising government

Answer 8

• 20 days a year to raise issues for debate in prime ministers question time

Question 9

how is the opposition ineffective at scrutinising government

Question 10

what is the role of the whip system

Answer 10

• ensure that the party leader is aware of feelings of MPs toward legislation
• ensure that MP’s (esp backbenchers) toe the party line and follow party discipline to present the government as strong and united
• can withdraw the whip from MPs (ie Brexit, Johnson, 21 MPs)

Question 11

when may the role of the whip be more difficult

Answer 11

• when in a coalition or minority government, there is more power given to backbenchers, because the government relies on them so heavily to pass these votes
• only a small number of voters can cause the government to lose a vote

Question 12

how does the lords fulfil and not fulfil its representative function

Answer 12

FULFIL:
- in 2021, there were 263 conservative members in the lords - mirrors the political majority in the commons which was created by the electorate
- 184 crossbenchers who lack party affiliation - neutrality

NOT FULFIL:
- 576 men compared to 225 women
- only 48 people of ethnic minorities

Question 13

what are the POWERS of the house of commons

Answer 13

• have supreme legislative power (make any law which the lords can only delay)
• money bills
• question government ministers and PM
• represent the people
• remove the government of the day and replace them within 14 days under the Fixed Term Parliament Act or a general election is held.

Question 14

what are the POWERS of the house of lords, and how may the power of the house of lords be limited

Answer 14

• can delay bills being passed by the commons for up to a year
• the lords cannot delay money bills
• the lords cannot defeat measures which are in the government manifesto (SAILSBURY CONVENTION)

Question 15

describe the legislative process

Answer 15

1. the government makes a draft of a bill, whereby senior party members and pressure groups make comments
2. first reading - the government announces the bill in the house of commons
3. second reading - MPs discuss, question and vote on the bill
4. committee stage - groups of MPs will scrutinise the bill and make amendments to it
5. report stage whereby amendments are made and voted on
6. third reading whereby the bill is read for the final time
7. the bill will enter the house of lords, whereby the process of parliamentary ping pong will take place
8. royal assent is given

Question 16

examples of how are backbenchers an effective check on the governments power

Answer 16

• lack strong political affiliation - ie backbenchers went against the government on heathrow runway plans (since the post war period, there have been 2x the number of rebellions)
• prevent government evasiveness - ie in the 2011 Hillsborough disaster and a 2011 membership debate
• rebel against the party - ie Johnson removed the whip from 21 MPs after their vote on the European Withdrawal Bill

Question 17

how are backbenchers an ineffective check on government power

Question 18

how are select committees ineffective checks on government power

Answer 18

1. lack resources and legitimacy (ie Mark Zuckereberg didn’t attend his hearing) - lack the resources to force this or are not treated seriously (only 40% of suggestions are adopted)
2. high turnover rate - ie from 2010 to 2015, the defence committee had a turnover rate of 83%
3. partisan alignment - Cameron assists Reece Mogg to answer questions, and in that period, the conservatives would have chaired 12/14 committees

Question 19

how are select committees an effective check on government power

Answer 19

1. force resignations of ministers and exposes gaps in knowledge - ie Amber Rudd in 2018 on the Windrush Scandal and leaked emails
2. MPs can bring forward issues of choice - ie Backbench Business Committee allows backbenchers to bring forward debates of choice
3. questions the decisions of the prime minister - questioned UK intervention in libya and syria in the Liason committee
4. specialist presence - Sarah Wollaston was used for the health committee
5. leads to a tangible change in government policy (ie 2015 report published by the environmental committee announced fracking as damaging, thereby the government introduced the climate change act)
6. members are elected by secret ballot which reduces any level of partisanship
7. good publicity, which forces the government to acknowledge these findings (education select committee was mentioned 10x in 2008, but 55x in 2012)

Question 20

examples of the recruitment of ministers

Answer 20

• cameron was appointed by major to prepare him for prime ministers question time
• ed miliband was a special advisor for gordon brown

Question 21

examples of how is the commons effective and ineffective in terms of representation

Answer 21

EFFECTIVE:
- MPs launched a campaign to reverse the introduction of casinos to boost the local economy, in constituencies which would be impacted and face a spike in crime (ie Manchester)

INEFFECTIVE:
- use of the FPTP voting system which exaggerates party majority and success (lack of proportionality, no regional representation, feel a need to toe along party lines)

Question 22

how is prime ministers questions an effective and ineffective check on the power of the prime minister

Answer 22

EFFECTIVE:

INEFFECTIVE:

Question 23

how does the government have legitimacy

Answer 23

• elected in by the FPTP system, which exaggerates results, giving them a sizeable mandate and majority
• this may cause an unelected dictatorship

Question 24

how is the house of commons more powerful than the house of lords

Answer 24

• financial autonomy and powers of the commons, whereby the lords cannot block money bills (ie HS2 would have access to over $65 billion of funding)
• bills in the government manifesto cannot be blocked by the lords
• more legitimate - ie more select committees
• power to remove and create governments - ie fixed term parliament act
• introduction of primary legislation - ie 2012 Scotland Act

Question 25

how is the house of lords more powerful than the house of commons

Answer 25

• the lords can induce parliamentary ping pong - ie because Rwanda was not in the manifesto, the Lords introduced ping pong
• the lords can force amendments into government bills - ie 374 amendments were added to the health and social care bill
• increasing legitimacy since reform (ie House of Lords Act 1999 limited the number of hereditary peers)
• lacks party affiliation, 180/800 members in the lords are crossbenchers

Question 26

what were the wright reforms

Answer 26

allowed for reform and re-establishment of select committees to become more effective

Question 27

forms of scrutiny in parliament

Answer 27

• backbenchers
• opposition
• house of lords
• select committees
• PMQ

Question 28

how could parliament be said to be legitimate

Answer 28

• multiple houses - ability to scrutinise and check laws
• commons is elected - to be a head of government and in cabinet you must be elected
• lords = experience and professionalism (ie Beeban Kidron)

Question 29

how is parliament not legitimate

Answer 29

• FPTP system used in the commons - creates an unelected dictatorship
• the lords is an unelected body

Question 30

how is parliament effective and ineffective at passing legislation

Answer 30

• decisive majority will create a lack of opposition and allow for the quick and swift introduction of bills without any scrutiny (ie the European union (future relations) bill was passed by both houses in one day)
• backbench business committee - can choose topics which come up in discussion and emergency measures

ineffective:
- parliamentary ping pong structure which hinders the quick passing of emergency legislation