Structure and role of the commons

• Selecting members of the House of Commons:

  • Members are elected in general elections + by-elections using FPTP
  • 650 members of the House of Commons
  • Electing members gives the House of Commons democratic legitimacy
  • MPs sit with their party, unless they're independent (e.g Jeremy Corbyn - suspension of the whip 2020)
• Roles of the House of Commons: Passing legislation

  • Public Bill: effects general population (Elections Act 2022 - photo I.D to vote)
  • Private Bill: effects specific population (Universities of London Act 2018)
  • Private members Bill: bill proposed by a backbencher (Abortion Act 1967)
  • Hybrid Bill: Both a public and a private bill
• Roles of the House of Commons: Passing legislation, alternative way to propose:

  • Green paper: consultation document, ideas of a particular topic will be discussed
  • White paper: more definite proposal of the green paper
  • General committee/bill committee: a group of people that work on a bill from first hearing to final vote.
• Roles of the House of Commons: Raising/spending public money

  • The budget is put before parliament and discussed
  • PAC: scrutinises government's spending
  • DSC: scrutinises the work of government departments
• Roles of the House of Commons: Scrutinising the Government

  • DSCs
  • PAC
  • Early Day motions, short period at the start of parliamentary sessions where issues are raised, allows MPs to flag problems. Zarah Sultana, International Court of Justice ruling on Gaza and the UK's duties under the Genocide convention
  • Early day motions are not usually effective as they are rarely debated in the house, they simply draw attention to issues.
  • Question time, aims to scrutinise PM + secretaries of state.
• Roles of the House of Commons: Ensuring voices of citizens are heard

  • It is the elected chamber, reflects our society, its role is to voice the concerns of the public
• Roles of the House of Commons: Act as a focus for national debate

  • October 2019, the house sat on a Saturday for the first time since Falkland's war, in order to discuss the Brexit withdrawl deal
• Roles of the House of Commons: Recruiting a government
• Composition of commons

  • 650 mps
  • 442 men vs 208 women
  • 52 ethnic minorities
• Structure of commons(lords ish)

  • Backbencher (Not part of government, but part of government party)
  • Speaker
  • PM
  • Cabinet (20 ish, senior ministers, all have their own department of state)
  • Government minister: Junior ministers who work under a cabinet minister in a specific department
  • Opposition leader and cabinet
  • Opposition benchers
  • Crossbencher: unique to lords, no association to political parties
  • Whips: ensures backbenchers vote with parties
• Party representation


  MP represents the interests of their political party
• Party representation


  • 2019 - Boris Johnson faced a rebellion over his brexit deal and removed the whip from 21 MPs who voted against him
• Self (trustee) representation


  MP votes based on their own judgement and beliefs, not necessarily those of their constituents
• Self (trustee) representation


  • 2014 - Nicky Morgan voted against same-sex marriage on religious grounds, also claimed that her constituents wrote to her, asking her to vote against the bill
• Constituency representation


  MP represents the interests of their local area and constituents
• Constituency representation


  • 2022 - Mark Menzies gave a speech in Parliament criticising the government's plans about fracking due to the impact it would have on his constituencies
• Functional representation


  MP represents the interests of a specific group or demographic, such as women, ethnic groups, or LGBTQ
• Functional representation


  • 2019 - Number of women in parliament hit a record - 220 elected, however still far below the % of women in the UK 51%
• Pressure groups


  Groups that try to influence MPs and the government on specific issues
• Pressure groups


  • 2010 - Nicky Morgan asked oral questions about the building of a waste incinerator in her constituency - CHAIN also supported
• The Health and Social Care Select Committee - October 2021 produced a report stating that “during the first three months of covid, the UK followed the wrong policy” - heavily criticising the government.
• Select committee reports have led to the 25% 'latte levy' and the plastic bag charge