Parliament

• Effective/ineffective opposition

  • Unity of the opposition party
  • Strength of opposition leader
  • Weaknesses of government
  • Amount of opposition MPs
  • Large majority of governing party
  • Divided opposition
• Representation

  • Every MP represents their constituency who have elected them
  • More women in Parliament than ever before
  • Majority of Labour + Lib Dem MPs are female
  • Less than half of MPs altogether are female
  • Very few Cons MPs are female
  • Majority of MPs went to Uni
  • No black, Asian + ethnic minority MPs in Scotland, Wales + Northern Ireland
• Effective/ineffective Select Committee

  • SC reports receive publicity
  • SC members build up expertise in specific areas
  • 30-40% of SC recommendations become gov policy
  • Gov nominated 5 MPs to intelligence and Security Committee but committee went against gov advice and chose Julian Lewis as Chair instead
  • SC's have no enforcement policy powers
  • Often review issues after they've occurred
  • Gov succeeded at appointing Sir Berand Jenkins as Chair of Liasion Committee
• Effective/ineffective Backbenchers

  • Theresa May was defeated in larged defeat by over 230 votes
  • 29th March 2019 34 Cons BB's voted against bill which meant gov lost by 58 votes
  • Theresa May went on to survive vote of no Confidence
  • Boris Johnson announced that Parliament would be prorogued for up to 5 weeks so backbencher power was diminished
• PMQs effectiveness/ineffectiveness

  • Frequent opportunity of Scrutiny and fulfilment of constituency rep
  • Theresa May's first term average length of PMQs were 45mins
  • PMs dread PMQs as they are often held to account
  • PMQs have become 'Punch + Judy' of politics
  • No. of Qs asked by PM increased Since Blair
  • Cameron asked approx one Q per 1000 words
  • If a PM has more approval they're less likely to take it seriously
  • Under Johnson time of PMQs reduced to 30mins from 45
  • Johnson asked 25% of Questions
• How does a bill become a law?

  1. 1st Reading: bill introduced to HOL or HOC

  2. 2nd Reading: bills debated and vote may be taken if it's contested

  3. Committee stage: bill is scrutinized in detail by a select committee

  4. Report Stage: whole house debates bill again with amendments included which they can accept or reject

  5. 3rd Reading: debate on amended bill

  6. Transfer: bill is transferred to other house

  7. Royal Assent: monarch signed signs bill, making it a law
• Parliament's function of Scrutiny

  • PMQs +Urgent questions are effective
  • Public bill committees can now call upon outsider expertise
  • Select committees are now much more independent
  • Backbenchers have more control over Parliamentary business
  • Public bill committees are controlled by the whips
  • Select committees have no enforcement powers
  • PMQs encourages the worst of the in Commons
• Parliament's function of Legitimacy

  • Process of passing legislation
  • Parliament is legally Sovereign
  • Parliament gives the consent of the laws that they are expected to obey
  • PMs use Parliament as a 'rubber stamp' for their legislation, not allowing sufficient time for Parliament to scrutinise legislation
  • Respect for Parliament has been undermined by Scandals
• Parliament's function of legislation

  • If there's only slight majority, PM has to work harder to ensure their MP's back them
  • Gov doesn't always get its way
  • Usually gov have majority in commons + are rarely defeated
  • BB's vote with their party as their careers are in the hands of PMs
  • Coalition only defeated twice on legislation in the Commons
• Powers of the House of Lords

  • The Lords can delay bills passed by the Commons for up to a year
  • The Lords cannot delay money bills (Parliament Act)
  • Lords cannot defeat measures that are outlined in the Gov's manifesto (Salisbury Convention)
  • The Lords are more independent, with less loyalty to parties, with approx 1/4 being crossbenchers
  • Legislative committees in the Lords include peers who are experts in a particular field
• Powers of Parliament - Providing Ministers

  • The convention is that ministers should sit in one of the two houses
  • The PM possesses wide powers of patronage