House of Commons

• • Politically and legally the dominant chamber of parliament.
• • There is a difference between its formal powers, enshrined in law and constitutional theory and its political significance.
• • Supreme legislative power- in theory, the commons can make, unmake or amend any law it wishes.
• • Legal sovereignty of parliament solely exercised by the HoC in practice.
• • HoC can alone remove the government of the day- based on convention of collective ministerial responsibility; a government that is defeated by the HoC on a major issue or matter of confidence is obliged to resign or to call a general election.
• The HoC has sole authority over the budgetary process- the HoC must approve all taxation and public expenditure proposals put forward by the executive.
• The HoC has the right to initiate legislation- although this is not an absolute right as bills may be introduced from other sources such as private members’ bills and royal assent bills.
• The HoC has the right to scrutinise the workings of the executive- through questions, debates, select committees and backbench business time.
• The HoC has the right to hold the government accountable- through the use of parliamentary privilege and the ability to summon witnesses and documents.
• The HoC has the right to hold the government accountable- through its ability to vote down the government on matters of confidence and supply, and to investigate the actions of ministers via select committees.
• The HoC has the right to represent the interests of constituents- through their role as local representatives and advocates for their communities.
• The HoC has the ability to influence policy- through the passage of primary legislation and secondary legislation.
• 1. Leader of the Opposition: leader of the largest opposition party (the party with the second-largest number of MPs) with responsibility for leading scrutiny of and opposition to the Government.
• Whips:party members responsible for enforcing discipline, particularly on backbenchers, ensuring that they vote in accordance with their party line. The system used is a ‘line’ system- if a reading/voting of a bill is underlined three times, the MP must vote according to the party line.
• The HoC can reject the HoLs amendments to bill