parliament

Question 1

in 2015 what was the vote in favour of military action in syria

Answer 1

397 to 223

Question 2

how many MPs are there in the commons?

Answer 2

650

Question 3

Average salary of an MP?

Answer 3

£75,000

Question 4

how many hereditary peers were there before the 1999 act ?

Answer 4

750

Question 5

In november 2016 how many female peers were there

Answer 5

211 (26% of the lords compared to 9% in 1999)

Question 6

what bills have been passed without consent of the laws

Answer 6

war crimes act 1911
European parliamentary election act 1999
sexual offences (amendments) act 2000
hunting act 2004

Question 7

how many confidence votes have there been since 1945

Answer 7

23 votes of no confidence and 3 of confidence

Question 8

examples of no confidence votes

Answer 8

James Callaghan 1979 - lost by one vote
Theresa May 2019 - won 325 to 306
Boris Johnson 2022 - won 211 to 148

Question 9

examples of reform in the house of lords

Answer 9

the house of lords reform act 1999, focused primarily on the composition of the lords rather than its relationship with the commons but changes to its membership affect the legitimacy and power of the lords.

Question 10

how many times has a government been defeated

Answer 10

Twice since 1945. The most recent in 1986 when the sunday trading bill was defeated by 14 votes, despite a government majority of 140

Question 11

examples of parliamentary ping pong

Answer 11

2010-2012, when the commons overturned a series of Lords’ amendments on legal aid and welfare reform. If an agreement cannot be reached, the government must decide whether to accept chnages made by the lords, drop a bill or invoke a parliament act.

Question 12

examples of private members bills

Answer 12

Murder act 1965 and the abortion act 1967

Question 13

how many pieces of secondary legislation are passed every year

Answer 13

3500

Question 14

What style of questioning did Corbyn use in the 2015-2016 session?

Answer 14

He tried to change the gladitorial style by asking questions sent in by the public.

Question 15

In 2015-16 how many written questions were there compared to oral question

Answer 15

35000 written questions compared to 3600

Question 16

time spent on business in house of commons (hours)

Answer 16

Government bills - 289
Private member bills - 61
Government motions - 47
Opposition days - 125
Backbench business - 130
Debates - 98
Questions - 332
Other - 133

Question 17

how much short money did the labour government recieve in 2015-16

Answer 17

£6.8 million but the government proposed reductions in this cost

Question 18

when were departmental select committees created?

Answer 18

1979

Question 19

how many members do select committees have ?

Answer 19

11

Question 20

Business, Energy and Industrial strategy committee (2016) - 1

Answer 20

working practices at retailer Sports Direct concluded that Mike Ashley must be help accountable for extremely disturbing working practices at company

Question 21

Business, Energy and Industrial strategy committee (2016) - 2

Answer 21

the sale and acquisition of high-street department store chain BHS was highly critical of Sir Phillip Green and concluded that he had a moral duty to resolve problems with the BHS pension scheme.

Question 22

Foreign Affairs Committee (2016)

Answer 22

UK’s intervention in Libya concluded that the UK’s 2011 actions in Libya were ill-concieved and that the other political options should have been attempted. It stated that David Cameron was ultimately responsible for the failure to develop a coherent strategy

Question 23

Which MP isnt aligned with a party?

Answer 23

Sylvia Hermon, once a Ulster Unionist MPs, was re-elected as an independent in north down in 2010 and 2015.

Question 24

what did the house of lords 1999 act do to hereditary peers

Answer 24

ended the right but all of 92 hereditary peers to sit and vote in the lords

Question 25

the life peerages act 1958

Answer 25

gave the prime minister the right to appoint members to the upper house for life

Question 26

examples of times finacial privilege was used

Answer 26

welfare reform bill 2012
counter terrorism 2008
identity cards 2010
support for child refugees 2016

Question 27

MP turnover stats

Answer 27

227 new in 2010, 182 in 2015 and 98 in 2017, so lack of MPs for senior positions

Question 28

Female candidates

Answer 28

eaching 208 in 2017, but women make up only 32% of the Commons compared to 51% of the UK population.

Question 29

success of priority lists

Answer 29

Only 19 of the 49 female candidates were elected in the 2010 election

Question 30

Ethnic background MPs

Answer 30

The number of black and minority ethnic MPs rose from 41 to 52 at the 2017 general election, but this is only 11% of the house, comapred to 14% of the population.

Question 31

LGBTQ MPs

Answer 31

45 MPs elected in 2017 define themselves as LGBTQ+, the highest number of the world.

Question 32

Age MPs

Answer 32

Most MPs being in the 35 to 55 age range. The SNP’s Mhairi Black was only 20 when first elected in 2015 - the youngest MP to be elected since 1832.

Question 33

Education background of MPs

Answer 33

29% of MPs elected in 2017 attended a fee-paying school, compared to 7% of voters, but the number is in long-term decline. 9/10 are university graduates.

Question 34

Social class of MPs

Answer 34

The number of MPs who previously had manual occupations has been falling. MPs who worked in business are more likely to be conservatives, and those who worked in the public sector to be Labour.

Question 35

examples of governments legislative majority

Answer 35

With a majority of 167 at the 2001 election, the Blair government survived large rebellions from Labour backbenchers on Iraq, tuition fees and foundation hospitals. The government suffered its first Commons defeat within months of its majority being cut to 65 at the 2005 election.

Question 36

post war minority governments

Answer 36

• Wilson’s 1974 government - 301 seats, called another election in october and got a majority of 3
• May government 2017 - 317 seats

Question 37

Majority governments examples

Answer 37

• Thatcher 1979-1990 - 339 - 397 - 376
• Blair - 1997-2005 - 418 - 412 - 355

Question 38

effectiveness of parliament example

Answer 38

In 2009, a select committee on reform of the House of Commons, chaired by Labour MP Tom Wright, recommended changes to parliamentary procedures that enhanced parliamentary scrutiny and its agenda-setting ability: