2.1 the structure and role of the house of commons and house of lords

Question 1

How are members of the HoC chosen?

Answer 1

through election to represent single-member constituencies, using FPTP

Question 2

What was the number of candidates seeking election in 2015?

Answer 2

3971

Question 3

How did Theresa May call an early election in 2017?

Answer 3

she had the support of the necessary proportion of MPs

Question 4

How many MPs currently in parliament (April 2024) are independent?

Answer 4

18

Question 5

How much of the total membership of the Commons consists of backbenchers?

Answer 5

three-quarters

Question 6

What is a backbencher?

Answer 6

MPs who do not have a ministerial or shadow-ministerial position

Question 7

How many people are in the HoL(April 2024)?

Answer 7

788

Question 8

What are the three main categories of peer?

Answer 8

• hereditary peers
• life peers
  26 ‘Lords Spiritual’ (Anglican archbishops and bishops)

Question 9

What are the three main functions both the commons and lords perform?

Answer 9

• passing legislation
• scrutiny of the executive
• providing ministers

Question 10

What is the Lords not allowed to intervene with?

Answer 10

‘money’ bills, they don’t have power to give consent to taxation

Question 11

Who is most legislation initiated by?

Answer 11

the government

Question 12

What is an example of opposition parties and rebels on the government side working together to defeat legislation?

Answer 12

March 2016 - Camerons defeat on plans to extend Sunday trading, when Labour and the SNP joined with Conservative dissidents

Question 13

What are the party whips responsible for?

Answer 13

ensuring that MPs attend parliamentary votes and for granting leave of absence if their vote is not essential

Question 14

What is a ‘three-line whip’

Answer 14

the most important votes that indicates MPs should be there

Question 15

What may whips offer to encourage and reward loyalty?

Answer 15

prospect of ministerial posts

Question 16

What may happen to MPs that persistently rebel?

Answer 16

• the whip may be withdrawn, meaning they are effectively suspended from the party and have to sit as an independent

Question 17

What is an example of an MP who has had the whip removed and when?

Answer 17

Diane Abbott - April 2023

Question 18

What is an example of legislation that was pushed through parliament quickly and how quickly?

Answer 18

2005 Prevention of Terrorism Act, which introduced control orders for individuals suspected of terrorist offences
- 18 days to complete all the stages

Question 19

What is an example of legislation that is poorly drafted so virtually unworkable?

Answer 19

1991 Dangerous Dogs Act - passed in response to a series of tabloid stories about dog attacks
- a review by the RSPCA 25 years later saw that of the 30 deaths caused in that period 21 involved breeds not specified in the act

Question 20

What are the three ways the function of scrutiny id performed?

Answer 20

• questions to ministers
• select committees
• debates

Question 21

What are questions to ministers?

Answer 21

• may call for oral or written answers
• a weekly question-and-answer session in the chamber of the Commons

Question 22

How has PMQs been criticised?

Answer 22

• being unduly theatrical
• largely a point-scoring exercise dominated by the PM and the leader of the opposition

Question 23

What do select committees do?

Answer 23

shadow individual government departments in the Commons

Question 24

What do select committees in the Commons investigate?

Answer 24

• on activities of government departments

Question 25

What do select committees in the Lords do?

Answer 25

• carry out topic-based inquiries

Question 26

An example of a select committee in the Lords

Answer 26

Science and Technology Committee

Question 27

Who is in select committees?

Answer 27

backbench MPs

Question 28

What does the Backbench Business Committee (2010) do?

Answer 28

gives MPs more power to shape the agenda by allowing them to choose the topic for debate on one day per week

Question 29

What was the August 2013 House of Commons debate?

Answer 29

the Cameron government was defeated on its proposal to undertake military action in Syria

Question 30

Why are debates in the Lords given credit for their high quality?

Answer 30

• participants commonly include recently retired individuals with expertise in a particular field

Question 31

How does parliament act as a recruiting ground for future ministers?

Answer 31

• whips make recommendations to the PM on suitable candidates for promotion

Question 32

How can the services of a particular individual as a minister be secured if that person is not an MP?

Answer 32

the award of a peerage

Question 33

Who did Gordon Brown give a peerage to following the 2008 financial crisis?

Answer 33

• Brown recalled Peter Mandelson from the European Commission, appointing him to the Lords so that he could serve as business secretary

Question 34

How many members of the Lords are over 70?

Answer 34

over half of its members

Question 35

How many members of the Lords are male?

Answer 35

three quarters

Question 36

How many members of the Lords are from ethnic minorites?

Answer 36

around 5%

Question 37

How is the MPs who voted against HS2 an example of the link between constituents and MP?

Answer 37

a number of the 44 MPs who voted against the HS2 in March 2016 represented constituencies that would be affected by the planned route

Question 38

What is a concern on how effectively parliament performs its representative function?

Answer 38

• MPs loyalty to their party = reinforced by the desire to win a promotion to the government, may come into conflict with the need to represent a constituency

Question 39

What is a concern on how effectively parliament performs its representative function of society as a whole?

Answer 39

• 35% of MPs are female (Feb 2024) compared to 51% of the UK population
• 10% of MPs are from ethnic minorities (Oct 2023) compared to 18% of the UK popualtion