Houses Of Parliament

Question 1

What does Bicameral mean?

Answer 1

Made up of two chambers

Question 2

What branch is parliament?

Answer 2

Parliament is the legislature

Question 3

How many constituencies are there?

Answer 3

650

Question 4

How are MPs selected?

Answer 4

Through a general election

Question 5

What are backbenchers?

Answer 5

MPs that don’t sit in the two front benches in the House of Commons.

Question 6

Who sits on the front two benches in the Houses of Parliament?

Answer 6

MPs who are cabinet ministers, shadow cabinet members and opposition party leadership team.

Question 7

What does the speaker do?

Answer 7

Mp who chairs debates in the chamber.

Question 8

What are most Lords titled as?

Answer 8

Life peers

Question 9

How many life peers were there in 2018?

Answer 9

676

Question 10

What are archbishops and bishops known as?

Answer 10

“Lords spiritual”

Question 11

What are peers known as?

Answer 11

lords temporal

Question 12

When was the House of Lords act?

Answer 12

1999

Question 13

What did the House of Lords act do?

Answer 13

Reduced the number of hereditary peers to 92

Question 14

How many bishops are there in the House of Lords?

Answer 14

26

Question 15

Where do Lords spiritual come from?

Answer 15

The Church of England

Question 16

Who appoints the Lords?

Answer 16

The House of Lords appointments committee.

Question 17

What are the powers the PM has that can appoint Lords?

Answer 17

Patronage powers.

Question 18

Who did Gordon Brown appoint to the lords and when?

Answer 18

lord sugar in 2009

Question 19

Who did David Cameron appoint to the House of Lords and when?

Answer 19

Ed Llewelyn in 2016

Question 20

What can political parties use to influence and try and appoint party members to the House of Lords?

Answer 20

Political lists- the members act in the party’s interests.

Question 21

What is parliamentary privilege?

Answer 21

The legal immunity enjoyed by members of parliament, particularly their right to free speech in parliament

Question 22

When was the expenses scandal?

Answer 22

2009

Question 23

What 3 roles does the whip carry out?

Answer 23

• ensuring that MPs attend parliamentary divisions (votes)
• issuing instructions on how MPs should vote
• enforcing discipline within the parliamentary party.

Question 24

How many MPs were imprisoned as a result of the expenses scandal?

Answer 24

4

Question 25

Who was the first speaker to be forced from office in 174 years?

Answer 25

Micheal Martin in 2009 as a result of the expenses scandal

Question 26

What exclusive powers does the House of Commons have?

Answer 26

- right to insist on legislation - financial privilege (lords cannot delay or amend money bills) - the power to dismiss the executive

Question 27

What are the main conventions covering the relationship between the two chambers?

Answer 27

- Salisbury doctrine (manifesto commitments cannot be blocked by the lords) - reasonable time - secondary legislation (lords usually don’t object to secondary legislation)

Question 28

What did the parliament act 1911 do?

Answer 28

Restricted veto power of the Lords to 2 parliamentary sessions this was then reduced to 1 in the 1949 parliament act

Question 29

What does the government require from the House of Commons to remain in office?

Answer 29

Confidence and supply - the government must be able to command a majority in the House of Commons on votes of confidence and supply (budget)

Question 30

How can the commons get rid of a government?

Answer 30

Through a vote of no confidence and a confidence motion.

Question 31

What is the Salisbury doctrine?

Answer 31

The convention that the House of Lords does not block legislation that was promised in the manifesto of government

Question 32

When did the Salisbury convention come under strain?

Answer 32

In 2006, peers voted against identity cards bill, despite it being in labours 2005 manifesto.

Question 33

What acts has the House of Lords blocked?

Answer 33

Sexual offences (amendment) Act 2000 and the hunting act 2004

Question 34

What issues were the Blair and brown government defeated in the House of Lords?

Answer 34

On judicial and constitutional matters (counter-terrorism)

Question 35

How many defeats in the House of Lords did the coalition government have?

Answer 35

99 defeats

Question 36

What has the effectiveness of the House of Lords checking powers come from?

Answer 36

- party balance - enhanced legitimacy (no longer afraid to voice its opinions of constitutional matters) - Government mandate - Support from MPs

Question 37

What are the arguments for the House of Lords being wholly elected?

Answer 37

- more democratic - it would be more confident in scrutinising government bills - it would challenge the dominance of the executive - it would be more representative of the electorate

Question 38

Arguments against the House of Lords being wholly elected?

Answer 38

- it would come into conflict with the House of Commons - would produce legislative gridlock - the problems with representation and party control in he House of Commons would be duplicated in an elected upper house