parliament

• structure of parliament


  bicameral: House of Lords, House of Commons
• House of Commons


  elected part of parliament - 650 members - where most of the power lies
• House of Lords


  unelected - 785 members - life peers, hereditary peers, lords spiritual and independents
• developments since the 19th century in parliament: democracy


  process of having parliament being chosen by all of the people was achieved in 1928 when full female suffrage was achieved
• developments since the 19th century in parliament: balance of power

  between HoL and HoC - Acts of Parliament 1911 and 1949 - power shifted to the extent where real political power now lies in the HoC
• developments since the 19th century in parliament: diversity


  - first female MP: Nancy Astor took her seat in 1919 - 2019 election - 200 women MPS

  - 1987 - three black MPs - 2019 - 65 MPs were BAME
• developments since the 19th century in parliament: checks and balances


  growing trend towards centralised power and discipline with less scope for independent voting and policy-making
• developments since the 19th century in parliament: committees

  increased use of committees as forum of discussion and debate
• developments since the 19th century in parliament: broadcasting


  parliament has been televised since 1989 - raised profile and enable the electorate to become more familiar with its procedures, personalities and tone
• developments since the 19th century in parliament: devolution and EU membership

  devolution and EU membership meant many policies were decided outside of Westminster
• despite changes - parliament retains many ancient traditions

  - MPs do not vote electronically

  - government and opposition sit opposite each other

  - speaker starts each parliamentary business with a short, formal procession
• Prime Minister


  head of elected government - hold majority in the Commons - PM with large majority can normally rely on getting the vote the way they want - executive dominates legislature - scrutiny and accountability exists in inverse proportion to the size of the majority and effectiveness of the opposition
• The speaker


  - keeps order, enforces rules in debates - power to suspend MPs for breaking the rules

  - voted by fellow MPs in series of ballots

  - renounces any party allegiance - impartiality
• leader of the house of commons

  - cabinet-level position

  - government's business manager - tasked with running the Commons smoothly

  - involves close liaison with the government's chief whip
• The Whips


  - in charge of party discipline and try to ensure that MPs stay loyal and vote the way their leaders dictate

  - may be withdrawn from an MP - means that the MP is suspended from the party / for political disloyalty
• frontbenchers


  - members of government who are also ministers in the government

  - opposition MPs who are shadow ministers

  - sit front row in the Common chamber
• backbenchers


  - MPs who are not ministers or shadow ministers

  - loyal members of the party

  - independent MPs
• crossbencher


  occupied by members who are independent of any political party
• main functions of parliament: legislative


  parliament where laws are introduced, debated and passed
• main functions of parliament: representative

  parliament represents people, geographically through constituencies and in terms of political ideas through parties
• main functions of parliament: scrutiny

  parliament has the vital role of checking and scrutinising the government by questioning its actions and poring over its legislative plans
• main functions of parliament: deliberative


  parliament has important role as forum for debate and discussion
• public bills


  - legislation that applies to everyone (vast majority of bills)

  - 29 were passed in 2020
• government-backed bills


  government determines the parliamentary timetable (vast majority of bills)
• private bills


  only apply to specific groups of people or public bodies
• private member's bills


  presented by individual MPs or peers
• legislative process


  - first reading - formal introduction of the bill

  - second reading - main debate on the principles of the bill, take place in the Commons

  - committee stage - sent to public bill committees + scrutinised line by line and amendments are often suggested - experts may be called in

  - report stage - any amendments made are considered by the Commons

  - third reading - final debate - no further changes permitted

  - house of lords stages - process is repeated in the Lords - may go back and forth between the two chambers
• exceptions of the legislative process

  - money bills (designed to raise money through taxes or spend public money) - will receive royal assent even if lords do pass them

  - EVEL (English votes for English laws)
• secondary legislation/statutory instruments


  provisions within primary legislation for the relevant minister to introduce new clauses or changes - efficiency and is minister-made law not parliament-passed law
• What are PMBs in the context of UK Parliament

  Private Members' Bills (PMBs) are legislative proposals introduced by backbench MPs e.g. Abortion Act 1967
• How can backbench MPs influence legislation beyond voting in UK Parliament

  Backbench MPs can draft and present PMBs - some of which may become law, allowing them to respond to public issues or reflect their policy concerns
• Private Member Bills: Ballot Bills

  - 65 hours are set aside each year for the consideration of PMBs - priority is given to ballot bills

  - can enter a ballot and 20 names are chosen

  - can be blocked by MPs

  - only four ballot bills were passed from 2017-2019
• Private Member Bills: Ten minute rule Bills

  - policy aspirations put into legislative language in order to secure a 10-minute speaking slot during 'primetime' in the HoC Chamber after PMQs

  - allow backbench MPs to raise issues of concerns relating to their constituencies
• Private Member Bills: Presentation Bills

  any MP can introduce a bill of their choice - do not involve speech or debate
• how well does parliament perform its representative role: agree argument

  - all parts of the UK are represented through 650 constituencies

  - MPs have range of wider interests and specialist policy areas that they represent informally

  - Commons is being more diverse - 220 women elected in 2019
• how well does parliament perform its representative role: disagree argument

  - not all constituencies are equal in population size

  - MPs increasingly come from backgrounds and have life experiences that are unrepresentative of the country as a whole e.g. 2019 election - 29% of MPs were privately educated compared to 7% of the country

  - women remain under-represented - only 34% of 2019 MPs were women
• Burkean/Trustee Theory


  argues that elected officials are purely representative of their voters - once elected they are free to act in the interests of their electors as they see fit e.g. Nick Boles - represented a Leave constituency but personally supported Remain campaign - voted remain
• trustees


  elected official who takes into account the needs of their constituents before exercising their own judgement when making political decisions
• delegate


  elected official authorised to represent and act as a mouthpiece for their constituents
• votes of conscience'


  during these MPs are free to follow their own conscience when voting on issues such as abortion or assisted dying e.g. 2013 vote on gay marriage - Cameron backed it and gave government time to debate it - over half of his party either rebelled or abstained from the vote