Parliament

• the UK parliament comprises of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
• UK parliament possesses supreme legislative authority. It scrutinises the work of the government and represents the diverse opinions of the UK.
• parliament provides the membership of the government
• the house of commons is parliaments democratically elected chamber. MPs represent constituencies in the UK, scrutinise government and vote on legislation.
• as the democratically elected branch of parliament, the house of commons can dismiss a government if it loses it's parliamentary vote of confidence.
• once a bill has passed it's second reading in the commons, it's details are considered by a public bill committee. When possible, amendments are made before the bill goes back to the house of commons for a third reading or report stage.
• since the lords cannot claim democratic legitimacy, the salisbury convention (1945) established that the lords couldn't attempt stop legislation that was in the winning party's manifesto. To do so would be to oppose the democratically expressed will of the public. The lords can still however propose amendments, but shouldn't be designed to wreck the bill.
• members of the House of Commons and Lords who are not members of either government front bench or opposition front bench are known as backbenchers.
• backbenchers are not bound by collective responsibility are so are more independent, although they are expected to obey the party whip.
• a bill (legislative bill) is a proposed piece of legislation that can be introduced in either the commons or the lords. if it passes through both houses and is given the royal assent, it becomes an act of parliament. as of the parliaments act 1911 and 1949, a bill can still become law even if it's opposed by the lords
• a parliamentary select committe is composed of a small number of MPs. House of Commons select committees investigate the work of departments of state but they can also focus on specific issues- the way the house of lords committees do. some issues can even be adressed by a joint committee of both houses.
• parliamentary privilege is a principle that protects MPs and peers from being sued for libel or slander. this ensures they have freedom of speech within Westminster. it also means parliament can control it's internal affairs without external interference.
• there are 650 Members of Parliament Selected by political parties (unless independent) as parliamentary candidates. they are elected in 650 constituencies, using the single-member simple plurality electoral system
• there are over 770+ peers of the realm. this inclides:

  • Life Peers
  • 26 ‘Lords Spiritual’
  • 92 Hereditary Peers
  • Retired Law Lords (or Justices of the Supreme Court)
• functions of parliament include:

  • Legislation
  • Scrutiny of the Executive
  • Representation (in the House of Commons)
  • Revision (in the House of Lords)
  • ‘a pool of talent for the recruitment of ministers’
  • a ‘legitimising’ function
• the legislative process involves:

  • A draft bill prepared (possibly after a White Paper and/or a Green Paper, and/or ‘pre-legislative)
  • scrutiny’ by a joint committee of both Houses
  • First Reading
  • Second Reading
  • Committee Stage
  • Report Stage
  • Third Reading
  • Then all this again in the House of Lords
  • And then, possibly, legislative ping-pong
• the retained EU law was introduced in April 2022 (Jacob Rees-Mogg, ‘Minister of State for Brexit Opportunities’) and whipped through the Commons. it was advertised as a ‘Brexit Freedoms Bill’ to remove all EU law (around 5000 pieces of legislation) from the UK statute book. the lords changed it from 5000 pieces of legislation to 800. At the instance of the President of the Board of Trade, Kemi Badenoch, the Commons accepted this compromise. (Scottish Parliament & Welsh Senedd refused legislative consent)
• Parliamentary ping-pong then failure


  • Margaret Thatcher's only major legislative defeat: the Shops (Sunday Trading) Bill 1986
  • Tony Blair's only major legislative defeat: the Terrorism Bill 2006
• The House of Lords Act 1999


  Compromise between a Labour Government & the Conservatives in the House of Lords
• Labour's attempt to introduce identity cards

  • Defeated by the House of Lords (2006-10)
• Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement Bill


  • Failed to secure the support of the House of Commons in 2018-9
• Since 2010 it has been Conservative Party policy to repeal the Human Rights Act, but this has never happened
• methods of scrutinising the government:

  • questions (written ministerial, prime ministerial, urgent)
  • debates (King’s Speech, Budget, No Confidence, Opposition Day)
  • Select committees (one for each department)
• Written Questions: can be tabled by any
• Written Questions: can be tabled by any MP to any government department and must be answered within fourteen days
• Urgent Questions: if the Speaker accepts an Urgent Question, a minister must turn up to the House and answer it
• Ministerial Question Time: once every three to four weeks per department
• Prime Minister’s Question Time: half an hour every Wednesday
• The annual ‘King’s Speech’ (or, formally, the ‘Gracious Address’) debate on the government’s legislative programme

  (last government defeat: 1924)
• The annual Budget debate on the government’s fiscal plan

  (last government defeat: 1909 in the House of Lords)
• No Confidence debate

  (last government defeat: 1979)
• Opposition Day debates: the fortnightly (20 yearly) opportunity for the Opposition to set the agenda
• select committees: One per government department; members and Chairs are elected. Occasionally Select Committees make the headlines. Reports are submitted to the whole House for approval.
• in addition to select committees, there are also special committees:

  
  

  • The Liaison Committee- which consists of the Chairs of all the other committees, and scrutinises the PM
  • The Committee on Standards, chaired by Chris Bryant- investigates & takes action on MPs’ misconduct
  • The Committee on Privileges, chaired by Harriet Harman- investigates & takes action on MPs’ abuse of parliamentary privilege, e.g. Boris Johnson
• parliament does NOT represent the people: Not proportionally in terms of how the electorate votes
• parliament PARTLY represents the people: In some ways, not in terms of public opinion: Immigration, the environment, crime, the EU?
• parliament DOES represent the people: in terms of gender, sexuality & ethnicity: more female than male Labour MPs 65 ‘BAME’ MPs, 45 openly gay MPs
• the house of lords is MORE representative than the commons:

  • It has more people from a non-political background
  • Its party-political balance is more representative of how the electorate voted than the Commons
  • There were black peers before there were black MPs

  the house of lords isn't MEANT to represent the people
• exclusive powers of the commons:

  • Legislative Supremacy- the House of Commons can ‘invoke the Parliament Act’
  • Confidence & Supply- the Budget, and the continuation of the Government
  • Scrutiny of the Prime Minister- the Prime Minister does not appear in the Lords
• functions of the Lords

  • Revision- the Lords is there to deliberate at greater length and is less partisan the Lords also contains political experience and specialist expertise
  • Delay- the power to block a bill for a year is politically significant
  • A ‘guardian of the constitution’- the powers of revision and delay can be used against tyranny