Parliament Flashcards
(62 cards)
Is the UK Parliament bicameral?
Yes because it has two chambers, the House of Lords and the House of Commons
Which of Parliament’s chambers is more powerful?
The House of Commons holds virtually all real power
Describe MPs in the Commons
There are 650 members of Parliament, each elected using the First Past the Post system
What is the issue with the House of Lords?
It consists almost entirely of unelected members and therefore lacks democratic mandate
When did Britain become a parliamentary state?
The 1689 Bill of Rights
How has Parliament changed?
a. Parliament’s membership was increasingly chosen by all of the people as the UK moved towards a Parliamentary democracy, the reforms culminated in the achievement of full female suffrage in 1928
b. real political power shifted wholly to the Commons, from a balance with the Lords, due to the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949
c. Membership of the Commons has been diversified eg 263 female MPS
d. Centralised discipline by political parties is becoming less effective with increasingly rebellious MPs eg Theresa May’s inability to get her Brexit deal through Parliament
e. Increasing use of committees for debate instead of the main chambers eg PMQs, means the adversarial atmosphere of the Commons dissipates and discussion is more effective
f. Parliament has been televised since 1989, raising its profile with the electorate and enabling public familiarity with procedure etc
g. Devolution (in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and EU membership (until 2020) meant many policies and laws were decided away from Westminster eg in Edinburgh or Brussels
How is Parliament still outdated?
Formality and ritual still play a large role in Westminster eg MPs don’t vote electronically, they file into the division lobby and walk through one of the two doors, the Ayes and Noes, and are manually counted
What is Westminster known as?
The ‘mother of all parliaments’
What are the functions of Parliament?
- Legislative, where laws are introduced, debated and passed
- Representative, represent the people, geographically through constituencies, and politically, through parties
- Scrutiny, checking and scrutinising the government by questioning its actions and legislative plans
- Deliberative, forum for debate and discussion, especially in times of crisis eg Brexit, public focus turns to Westminster and its debates, speeches and decisions
How many public bills does Parliament pass each year?
On average, 30 to 40
Describe the legislative process.
The government first produces a discussion document called a Green paper eg in 2019 one was produced on adult social care, then it becomes a White paper.
The first reading is the formal introduction of a bill by the relevant government minister
The second reading is where the main debate on the principles of the bill occurs
Next is the committee stage when bills are sent to public bill committees, the members of which consider the bill line by line, often suggesting amendments or calling expert witnesses to inform debate.
Next is the report stage when any amendments agreed in the committee stage are considered by the Commons and accepted, rejected or changed
The third reading is the final debate on the amended version of the bill
If the bill gets through all its Commons stages, the process is repeated in the Lords. Sometimes a bill goes back and forth in a process dubbed ‘parliamentary ping pong’
How can backbenchers influence legislation beyond voting?
By creating private member’s bills
What do ordinary MPs sometimes feel like their role is reduced to?
‘Lobby fodder’ as if they are only there to support or oppose bills drafted by the frontbench
What forms can private members bills take?
Ballot bills, ten minute rule bills, presentation bills
What are ballot bills?
Thirteen friday sittings are set aside for Ballot Bills, these have the best chance of becoming law. MPs enter the ballot and may be lucky enough to be drawn out but may not have a specific bill in mind, in which case they are approached by eager pressure groups. They only stand a chance of passing if they are uncontroversial and the government doesn’t oppose them. Otherwise they are very easily blocked eg the 2016 Turing Bill when a government minister spoke against the bill for 25 minutes, until the time allotted for debate had been spent on his speech
What are ten minute rule bills?
They are policy aspirations put into legislative language in order to secure a 10 minute speaking slot in parliamentary ‘primetime’ after Question time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They are often used as an opportunity for backbenchers to raise concerns of constituency matters. Slots are decided by party whips which undermines the independence of the process. Unfortunately, they don’t usually come to anything- a rare exception was the 2017 Guardianship Act
What are presentation bills?
They are formally presented on a Friday but the MP presenting the bill cannot make a speech and there is no debate so they are only really used to address discrete, non controversial policy issues and to resolve anomalies in the law. As there is no debate, they are less useful than ballot or ten minute rule bills
What are the theories of representation?
Burkean, delegate and mandate theories
Who do MPs represent?
Their constituency, their party and any particular interests they are passionate about
Why does Parliament perform its representative function successfully?
a. The whole of the UK is represented geographically as there are 650 constituencies of roughly equal size, the boundaries are drawn by the Boundary Commission who have no party bias, to prevent gerrymandering
b. a range of opinions are represented in the Commons as there are a wide range of parties
c. The Commons is becoming increasingly diverse, especially in gender, race and sexuality
d. MPs have their own wider interests which they informally represent
Why does Parliament not perform its representative function successfully?
a. Constituencies are often unequal in population size, the most populous is 6 times larger than the least
b. The First Past the Post electoral system favours the two main parties and regionally concentrated parties eg SNP while parties like the Lib Dems are unrepesented
c. Women are very under represented, half of all voters are women but in 2019 only 34% of the MP intake were women
d. MPs often come from backgrounds and have different life experiences to their constituents, eg in 2019 29% of MPs were privately educated, but only 7% of the population is
When are MPs part-time representatives?
When they continue to undertake jobs outside of Parliament once elected, this was the case for 18% of MPs in the 2017- 2019 parliament. These jobs must be declared in the Register of Members’ Interests to improve transparency and avoid any clear conflict of interests. Eg Portsmouth Labour MP Stephen Morgan continued to work as a city councillor after his election as MP in 2017
When are MPs representatives of particular interests?
MPs frequently informally represent particular interests that cut across geography and party. MPs often join all party groups with other MPs who share similar interests, among the hundreds currently registered include ones on independent education and Scottish whisky
When are MPs constituency problem solvers?
MPs once elected seek to represent all of their constituents regardless of who they voted for. Most MPs hold regular local surgeries to listen to their constituent’s concerns. They often raise these matters with the local council, the relevant government department or in a Commons debate in the redress of grievances
