09/09/2024

How is the House of Commons Structured?

Parliament is made up of three parts:

- House of Commons
- House of Lords
- Monarchy (ceremonial role only)

Parliament’s role is to make laws, debate, scrutinising and passing legislation. It holds
the government to account and represent who elected them. 650 MPs = 650
constituencies.

The government is the executive, it proposes laws to parliament and runs the country.
(100 MPs in government).

The cabinet is 25 people in government (PM +24). Some roles can be added or
removed such as during Covid there was a Covid advisor. But there are also roles that
can never be removed such as Chancellor.

Civil Servants = They do Admin such as actually getting tasks done. They are meant
to be politically neutral and remain no matter the government.

The Whip = How the party’s keep the backbenchers in order. They tell the MPs how to
vote. If there is a backbench rebellion this could be a major issue for a party, is they
have a small majority or are a part of a coalition. If the whip is suspended, the
candidate is temporarily an independent candidate, if it is really bad you could get the
whip removed, where you are no longer a member of the party.

This term the opposition are the Conservatives with 121 seats.

The Liberal Democrats have a record 72 seats and this is the first time since 1923
where there has been such a strong third party.

When a law is made it is first proposed by the Government, then it is debated and
voted on in the House of Commons. Then it goes to the House of Lords where expert
peers go in detail through the law re-writing, removing loopholes and vagueness or
blocking it if it really outrageous.

The Fusion of Power in the UK System.

In the UK, the Legislature (Parliament) and the Executive (Government) are fused.
Where the Executive are elected officials of the Legislature. This is unusual because in
many countries (like the US). There is also the judiciary which are the courts. Before
2005 all three were merged the Law Lords were the highest level of court in the
country, but now the Supreme Court was set up, separating the Judiciary.

12/09/2024

Features of Parliamentary Government.

 There is a fusion between the Executive and the Legislature.

  Governments are formed after a general election from the strongest party, this
is known as the First past the Post System.

 Parliament can remove the government through a vote of no confidence. The

last time this happened was in 1979, they lost by one vote. The party can also
remove their leader and replace them (such as with Liss Truss and Rishi Sunak).

 The government is based on the principle of cabinet government rather than

personal leadership.

 The Prime Minister is the head of the government, not the Head of State. The
Monarch is the Head of State but only has ceremonial powers.

House of Commons

 All MPs must win an election to sit in the House of Commons.

 There are 650 MPs in the Commons representing 650 constituencies.

 MPs are nearly all-party members but they can be independent.

 Most MPs are ‘Backbenchers’ while only a few are ‘Frontbenchers’ these are the
Cabinet or the Shadow Cabinet.

16/09/2024

How is the House of Commons Structured?

Within the House of Commons there are many roles:

MPs
 Expected to vote on laws and deal with the issues of the day

 Expected to scrutinise the government

 Represent their constituencies and deal with the grievances of individual

constituencies.

 The Backbenchers

 They question Ministers

 Participate in debates

 Vote on legislation

 Participate in public bill and select committees

The Opposition

 Opposing and criticising the policies of government

  It presents a shadow government which put forward what they would do if they
were in power.

The Whips

 Responsible for pairing MPs who wish to be absent from the house

 Ensure that the party is aware of the MPs views

 They make sure that MPs vote the way the party wants them to

 At times of a minority or coalition government their job is harder as a backbench

rebellion is more powerful.

 As punishment many MPs will have the whip suspended (temporary) or removed
meaning they are no longer a member of the party.

The Speaker

 An impartial MP

 They call upon MPs to speak in debates

 Ensure that parties receive their fair share of debating time

 Discipling MPs when they decide to break the rules of the house

 Announcing the votes in the house.

 Casting the deciding vote in the event of a tie (usually in the way the
government is voting).

Backbencher= An MP who does not hold a ministerial post, called backbenchers

because they generally sit on the benches further back.

Frontbenchers= An MP who holds a ministerial or ‘shadow’ position and they generally

sit on the front benches.

Opposition= The MPs and Lords who are not members of the governing party or
parties.

Pairing= an arrangement between two MPs of two opposing parties to not vote in a
particulier division, enabling the MPs to be absent without affecting the result of the
vote, as they effectively cancel each other out.

Toe the Party Line= To support and vote with your party even if you disagree with it.

John Bercow.
John Bercow was the speaker between 2009 and 2019. He came to power because
ethe previous Speaker had been caught up in a money scandal. Bercow was
controversial due to his anti-Brexit stance and several bullying allegations from
members of the commons and civil servants. The peak of his controversy came when
he snubbed a third Brexit vote and forcing Boris Johnson to pass the Brexit legislation
before the election along forcing a publication of the Brexit strategy early. He retired
mainly because of his controversies and PM Boris Johnson refused to grant him
peerage which is the norm for retired speakers.

19/09/2024

Structure of the House of Lords

 There are 4 types of peers

 The house of lords is controversial because they make laws but are not elected
officials.

 The House of Lords Act of 1999 removed most of the hereditary peers but left
92.

 The 2005 Constitutional Reform Act removed the Law Lords as the highest court
in the country and set up the Supreme Court.

 The House of Lords is the second largest legislature in the world behind China
(Over 800 members)

 Before Tony Blair there were 1330 peers, over 600 were conservative. He
removed a lot of them he also added 374 peers, Brown 34, Cameron 245, May
43, Johnson 87 and Truss (in 49 days) 32 new peers.

23/09/2024

Structure of the House of Lords (continued)

Powers of Commons Powers of Lords
Supreme legislative power. Theoretically The Lords can only delay laws for up to a
can make, unmake or amend any law it year.
wishes.
Can approve government budget. Cannot approve government budget.
Select committees can only exist in the Lords cannot defeat motion outlined in
Commons. an electoral manifesto.
Power to question the government and The Lords are independent and have less
ministers. party loyalties.
Power to remove the government of the The Lords can question government
day through a vote of no-confidence. departments.

Conventions in the relationship between the Commons and the Lords.

1. Salisbury Doctrine – Lords cannot block or delay legislation that was in the
electoral manifesto.

2. Reasonable Time – Lords should consider government business in a reasonable

time.

3. Secondary Legislation – Lords do not actually object to secondary legislation

(making an amendment to an already existing law).
Key Reforms of the Lords.

 Parliament Act 1911, the Lords can only delay a bill for 2 years

 Parliament Act 1949, the Lords can only delay a bill for a year.

 Since 1949, the Lords have only delayed bills 7 times. The last time was
controversial as it was the 2004 Hunting Act which banned the hunting of wild
mammals with dogs (an activity many of the Lords enjoyed).