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The Structure and Role of Parliament - Coggle Diagram
The Structure and Role of Parliament
Key Concepts
Referendum
- A direct public vote on a policy measure, the opposite of representative government.
House of Lords
- The unelected and least powerful chamber in parliament.
House of Commons
- The elected portion of parliament and where most power lies.
Member of Parliament (MP)
- Person formally and directly elected by voters to sit in the House of Commons.
Lord
- Members of the HoL, unelected and chosen for life or until they decide to retire.
Peer
- Another term for Lord.
Opposition
- Those parties not in government. After the 2019 election this comprised Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, the nationalist parties and the Northern Irish parties.
Legislation
- Measures put before parliament that, once passed, become law.
Debate
- Discussions in the main chamber that take place during the passage of a bill, especially during the second reading.
Indicative vote
- Rarely used means of 'testing the water' on different options relating to an issue as opposed to instigating a vote that is legally binding. During Brexit negotiations, had one of the options on offer gained majority support in the Commons it would probably have been formally proposed for a full binding vote.
Order paper
- List indicating the order in which business is to be conducted during that day's sitting of the HoC.
Delegate
- Elected official authorised to represent and act as a mouthpiece for their constiuents.
Trustee
- Elected official who takes into account the needs of their constituents before exercising their own judgment when making political decisions.
The Structure and functions of Parliament
Comprises of two chambers, The House of Lords and the House of Commons.
The House of Commons
The Comons virtually holds most of the real power.
Comprises of 650 MPs, all elected directly by single-member constituencies using the first-past-the-post electoral system.
Nearly all MPs are members of a political party. Although there have been some independents.
Conservatives and Labour dominate the HoC.
Former war correspondent Martin Bell, who represented Tatton rom 1997 to 2001 was an independent.
The House of Lords
The Lords is largely advisory and can only really ask the Commons to 'think again' about a proposed law.
Almost all are unelected members and therefore lacks any democratic mandate.
1999 Blair reforms:
Life peers - those who are appointed to a peerage for their lifetime only; made possible by the Life Peerages Act 1958. Law Lords ended in 2009. Most peers in the Lords today are life peers, often nominated by the leaders of political parties.
92 hereditary peers (prior to the 1999 reforms, there were around 700 sitting in the Lords).
26 Church of England bishops: selected mostly on the basis of seniority, although the bishops of five dioceses (Canterbury, Burham, London, Winchester and York) automatically get a seat. Collectively, they are known as the Lords spiritual.
A large number of independents (often known as crossbenchers) sit in the Lords. No one party since 1999 has enjoyed a majority.
There are 264 Conservatives party allegiance Lords sitting as of 2021.
Around 800 peers as of 2021.
Although parliament itself has been around centuries, it has remained neither static nor unchanging.
Democracy
- parliament's membership was increasingly chosen by all of the people as the UK moved towards a parliamentary democracy. This process was achieved via a number of parliamentary reform Acts, culminating in 1928 when full female suffrage was achieved.
Balance of power
- the balance of power between the two chambers, shifted considerably in the twentieth century to the extent that real political power now lies only with the Commons. The Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 brought about this change.
Diversity
- the growth of democracy has made membership of the Commons increasingly diverse. The first female MP, Nancy Astor, took her seat in 1919, whereas the December 2019 election returned a record 2020 women MPs.
Checks and balances
- there has been a growing trend towards centralised control and discipline via the political parties, with less scope for independent voting and policy-making. This has meant that the governing party has been able to dominate parliament with the resultant reduced scope for scrutiny and checks on the executive. However, in more recent times backbench MPs have become increasingly rebellious e.g. Theresa May was unable to get her Brexit deal through parliament.
Committees
- there has been an increased use of committees as a forum for discussion and debate in place of the main chambers. This development makes the often very heated and adversarial atmosphere of the Commons, especially during PMQs, untypical of much parliamentary business, which is considerably less lively and entertaining, although arguably more effective.
Broadcasting
- parliament has been televised since 1989, which has arguably raised its profile and enabled the electorate to become more familiar with its procedures, personalities and tone. Effective parliamentary debaters as well as less distinguished contributions are readily available for all to see.
Devolution and EU membership
- the advent of devolution (in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and EU membership (until 2020) has meant that many policies and laws have been decided outside Westminster. This was particularly true for those areas in which the EU held sway, such as trade and agriculture.
However, traditions still remain such as their way of voting.
Key positions in Parliament
The Prime Minister
- most important person in parliament. As leader of the largest single party, they nearly always command an overall majority in the Commons, and therefore can command and control most of the business and outcomes of the Commons. Although in theory parliament is meant to scrutinise and check the government, in reality a PM with a large majority can normally rely on getting the HoC to vote the way he or she wants.
By tradition, the speaker renounces any party allegiance on taking up the post, to ensure impartiality. John Bercow, faced growing criticism, especially from the government benches, over his alleged favouritism towards opposition MPs and his perceived lack of cooperation on progression of the Brexit bill following the 2016 referendum. Position currently held by Lindsay Hoyle.
The Speaker
- tries to keep order and ensure as many MPs as possible from across the range of parties are allowed to speak in debates. They also administer the rules of the HoC and can suspend MPs who break these rules for varying periods of time. Among the rules is a ban on callin a fellow MP a liar, or insinuating that they are lying or corrupt. E.g. then-speaker John Bercow suspended veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner for calling then PM David Cameron 'Dodgy Dave', and subsequently refusing to retract or apologise for his comments.
Leader of the HoC
- Held by Jacob Rees-Mogg following the 2019 election. It is the job that essentially that of the government's business manager. It is their job to see that from the executive's perspective the Commons runs smoothly, and that its bills are properly timetabled.
Whips
- Whips are in charge of party discipline and ensuring as far as they can that MPs stay loyal and vote the way their leaders dictate. In September 2019, when Boris Johnson removed the whip from 21 Tory rebels who defied the whips' instructions not to support a motion to take control of parliamentary business from the government during the Brexit bill saga.
Frontbench
- members of the governing party/parties who are also ministers in the government and also to apposition MPs who are shadow ministers.
Backbenchers
- ordinary MPs who are neither ministers nor shadow ministers. Some are loyal followers of the party, especially those who are hoping for promotion to the front benches. Several MPs have spent many years criticising and on occasion voting against their own party leadership from the backbenches.
The main functions of parliament
Legislative
- parliament is where laws are introduced, debated and passed.
Representative
- parliament represents people, geographically through constituencies and in terms of political ideas through parties.
Scrutiny
- parliament has the vital role of checking and scrutinising the government by questioning its actions and poring over its legislative plans.
Deliberative
- parliament has an important role as a forum for debate and discussion.
Parliamentary debate and the legislative process
Public bill
- Bill that applies to everyone once it becomes law. This applies to most legislation. A small number of bills passed fall into the special category of private bills, which only apply to specific groups of people or public bodies, usually local authorities. One recent example is the Middle Level Act 2018, which regulated navigation in part of the East Anglia Fens.
A bill becomes law via the following basic process.
1 All proposed laws (bills) must pass through both the Lords and the Commons.
2 All bills go through certain set stages in order to be passed. The length and opportunities for debate and scrutiny vary depending on the stage.
3 Every public bill is debated and can be amended.
4 Most government-backed bills become law. By contrast, most bills proposed by backbench MPs or peers do not.
5 Every bill must receive the royal assent to become law, but today this is only a formality.
Around 30-40 public bills are passed by parliament each year, with 31 being passed in 2019.
A government may first produce a discussion document called a Green Paper (Government document setting out the issues and options for legislation. A discussion document.). E.g a Green Paper on adult social care was published in September 2019.
The government may then go on to produce a White Paper (Government document setting out the detailed plans and proposals for legislation).
Stages for all bills to pass
1. First Reading
- the formal introduction or reading of the Bill's title by the relevant government minister.
2. Second Reading
- where the main debate on the principles of the bill takes place in the Commons Chamber. More important than the First Reading.
3. Committee Stage
- bills are then sent on to public bill committees, the members of which consider the bill line by line, often suggesting amendments.
4. Report stage
- During this stage any amendments agreed in the committee stage are considered by the Commons, and accepted, rejected or changed. There is also the opportunity for further amendments to be put to the vote.
5. Third Reading
- This is a final debate on the amended version of the bill. No further changes are permitted at this stage.
6. The House of Lords stages
- Once the bill has gone through all of the stages, the process is then repeated in the House of Lords. Any amendments made by the upper house only become part of the bill if they are accepted by the Commons. A bill may go back and forth between the two houses, a process often dubbed ‘parliamentary ping-pong’. If the agreement is not forthcoming, the Commons can invoke the Parliament Act, which means their version of the bill becomes law within a year.
There are no public bill committees in the Lords.
Peers spend more time debating bills than MPs.
EVEL (English Votes for English Law)
- Introduced in 2015 by former PM David Cameron following the Scottish independence Referendum. A set of procedures of the HoC whereby legislation that affected only England required the support of a majority of MPs representing English Constituencies; it gave those in charge of British Constituencies power to accept or veto legislations only affecting their constituents before it passed to its final Commons Stage.
Secondary legislation
Provisions within primary legislation for the relevant minister to introduce new clauses or changes. This is mainly for the sake of efficiency and is minister-made law, not parliament-passed law.
E.g. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 allows the government to more easily add new drugs to the list of banned substances as information about their harm becomes apparent.
Around 3,500 SIs (secondary legislation or statutory instruments).
Parliament must be asked for approval of all SIs but cannot amend them.
Backbench MPs and legislation
The system of drafting and presenting PMBs began in its current form in the late 1940s and enshrined the notion that some parliamentary time should be made available for legislation by individual MPs and peers, providing backbenchers with some freedom to respond to public concern or to reflect their own policy concerns.
Issues that are not primarily party political, or indeed where an MP's own party is divided, making it difficult for the leadership to present a united front are normally PMBs (Private Members' bills).
Th Abortion Act 1967 and the abolition of capital punishment in 1965 are examples of PMB's.
Ballot Bills
A type of PMB.
13 Friday sittings are set aside in the HoC each year for consideration of PMBs.
Ballot bills have the best chance of being passed and are therefore prioritised in the friday sittings.
Backbench MPs have the chance to enter a ballot every year with 20 names drawn out.
Ballot bills only stand a chance of getting passed if they are uncontroversial and the government doesn't oppose them.
The Turing Bill in 2016, would have pardoned all men living with UK convictions for same-sex offences committed before the was changed in 1967, but the government withdrew its initial support for the bill.
Presentation Bills
They are formally presented during a Friday sitting only after all the ballot bills on the order paper have been presented.
It does not require a speech and there is no debate on the proposals.
For MPs to pass a bill they must follow certain factors: being uncontroversial; getting lucky in being one of the 20 MPs successful in the ballot bills draw; havin government backing; exceptional circumstances, such as the 2018-19 Brexit debates, when the government temporarily lost control of the parliamentary agenda.
Ten Minute Rule Bills
These are policy aspirations put into legislative language in order to secure a 10-minute speaking slot during 'primetime' in the HoC after PMQs.
They allow backbenchers to raise issues of concern often relating to their constituencies as opposed to passing actual legislation.
They are usually unsuccessful.
A success was the Guardianship Act 2017, which created a new legal status of guardian of the affairs of a missing person.
Indirect backbench pressure on government legislation
Backbenchers can apply pressure before a bill ever reaches the floor of the HoC.
Governments are often keen to 'buy off' rebels in advance and may make changes to the bill before it is first debated.
In 2011 with the plans to privatise some English forests, major crossbench opposition forced the government to abandon its plans entirely.
Theories of Representation
Burkean or Trustee Theory
Theory that argues elected officials are purely representatives of their voters. Once elected, they are entirely free to act in the interests of their electors as they see fit.
Originates from 18th century political thinker MP Edmund Burke.
The trustee theory has been significantly weakened through the advent of strong party ties and the parliamentary whipping system, but it can still be seen in practise on occasion.
E.g. Nick Boles, former Conservative MP for Grantham and Stamford, represented a Leave constituency but personally supported the Remain campaign.
Delegate theory
Theory that views MPs as being bound by the wishes of their constituents - what the constituents want, the constituents get from their MP.
It is the hardest representation theory to put into practice.
E.g. In 2015, Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith promised his voters in Richmond Park that he would resign if the government backed a third runway at Heathrow. He stuck to his word when the government came out in favour of a third runway - he resigned from his seat in 2016 and fought the ensuing by-election as an independent.
Mandate theory
Arguably the most prevalent representation theory in modern UK politics. It suggests that MPs are primarily in their position to represent and carry out their party's policies and manifesto.
The strength of this theory is borne out by several examples of MPs being elected for a particular party, leaving it mid-term and standing again in the same constituency either for another party or as an independent.
E.g. In 2019 Frank Field, the long-serving and highly respected MP for Birkenhead, stood as an independent having left Labour, and was defeated in this very safe Labour seat.
Scrutiny of the Executive
The process by which opposition MPs ask questions and critique government actions, thereby holding government to account.
Parliamentary Debates
Parliamentary debates offer MPs the opportunity to raise their concerns and opinions, and on occasion can force the government to change its mind.
E.g. The debate in August 2013 over the airstrikes against Syria proposed by David Cameron as Syria had been revealed to be using chemical weapons on civilians.
Parliament voted against taking action by a margin of 285-272 votes as 30 Conservative MPs and 9 Liberal Democrats voted against the coalition government.
Parliamentary privilege
Exemption of MPs and peers from the laws of slander and contempt of court in order to uphold the principle of free speech within parliament. It does not apply beyond Westminster, nor does it grant MPs/peers immunity from prosecution for criminal offences.
In 2018 when Lord Peter Hain broke an interim injunction granted by the Court of Appeal to name business person Sir Philip Green as the man behind a court injunction banning a newspaper from naming him. This injunction had prevented the Daily Telegraph from publishing allegations of sexual and racial harassment that had been made against Green.
Emergency debates
Can be granted at the speaker's discretion, and must be on a 'specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration'. If the speaker grants permission, an MP has 3 times to put their request to the House.
A non-partisan debate was on the contaminated blood scandal. This concerned patients being given contaminated blood during transfusions and going on to contract serious conditions including the hepatitis C and HIV viruses. The debate was moved in July 2017 by Labour MP Diana Johnson.
Backbench debates/Westminster Hall debates
The Backbench Business Committee was set up in 2010 having been first proposed by the wright Committee in 2009 and gives MPs more opportunities to shape Commons business. It decides the topic for debate on the floor of the Commons and in Westminster Hall for roughly 1 day a week. The latter affords a very different atmosphere for discussion and deliberation to that of the main chamber.
On 12 February 2020, Cumbria MP and former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron raised the topic of support for hill farmers, while Mansfield MP Ben Bradley led a debate on education and attainment of white working-class boys.
E-petitions
Mondays are reserved for discussion of petitions and e-petitions. Any petition that garners more than 100,000 signatures must be considered for debate by the Petitions Committee, although it is not guaranteed to be debated.
At the height of the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2020, there were several petitions calling for greater government action.
Parliamentary Questions
Questions can be either written or asked in the chamber during question time sessions.
Prime Minister's Question Time (PMQs) take place every Wednesday at noon for 30 minutes. It is an occasion for oral questions. Backbench MPs from the governing party often use PMQs and ministers' questions to ask questions deliberately designed to show the government in the best possible light. They are also a chance to attack the opposition instead.
It is mostly an environment for petty point-scoring between the governing and opposition parties.
It gives a highly misleading and distorted image of parliament's work and how government is scrutinised.
It is a widely publicised event with clips appearing in the media often.
There has been a rise in the last few years in the speaker allowing MPs to ask urgent questions of ministers immediately after the usual question time.
Committees
Public Bill committees
It is about scrutinising bills going through Parliament.
They lack continuity and accumulated wisdom.
The effectiveness of bill committees is debatable.
E.g. The Equality Bill Committee
Select Committees
They are to hold ministers to account for their policy.
They launch investigations and call witnesses and publish reports.
Every government department has been shadowed by a select committee since 1979.
They are chaired by an MP with some expertise in that area.
There are currently 28 committees currently.
Most of these correspond with the government and since 2010 select committee chairs have been elected by a secret ballot.
The chairs are divided up between the parties in advance, so that the choice is between different backbench MPs from the same party.
The aim of any select committee is to achieve consensus and unanimity. Despite the government party having a majority on select committees. In September 2020, the Treasury Select Committee urged the government to consider extending the Covid-19 furlough scheme, a policy advocated by Labour.
Many MPs sit on a Select Committee for lengthy periods of time and therefore often develop more specialist knowledge.
Committees decide for themselves what issues to investigate and examine.
They have considerable powers to summon witnesses and examine restricted documents.
Ministers can also be subjected to tough questioning but they don't always come off well.
Select committees have the power to review major ministerial appointments. Appointments have divided committees or been rejected 13 times.
Selective committees are active bodies. The issues considered by select committees are wide-ranging. The PM is also scrutinised at least three times a year by committees
Select committees and Civil Servants
The position of senior civil servants is a particularly delicate one.
They are politically neutral, must be honest and are used as witnesses.
They are accountable to ministers. They do not give personal views.
They are personally accountable for what they say. They can refrain from giving evidence.
Lords committees
The committees in Lords are the least significant.
The Lords committees do not shadow the work of government departments.
There are permanent committees in the Lords.
Peers put forward proposals for special enquiry committees to the Lord's Liaison Committee.
The Lords now typically appoints four special enquiry committees each year.
Lords committees comprise 12 members not 11 like the Commons.
The government does not have the authority to push the party majority on them.
Given controversies over televised debates in subsequent elections, it would be difficult to argue that this report had a profound effect on the conduct a such debates.
Other Parliamentary committees
The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, originally set up by the Intelligence Services Act 1994, oversees Britain's intelligence community.
How do MPs represent the people
Around 13% of all MPs in the 2017-19 parliament had second jobs. Maria Caulfield (Conservative MP) used to be a nurse.
Stephen Morgan (Labour MP) continued his service as city councillor after first being elected to parliament in 2017.
MPs informally represent particular interests or causes that cut across their geographical area and their party lines. These interests can range from sport to prevention of child abuse and pretty much anything in between.
There are hundreds of all-party groups concerning hundreds of different interests, such as pigeon racing, darts, independent education and Scottish whisky etc.
MPs once elected should seek to represent all their constituents. Most hold regular local surgeries, usually via appointment, to listen to the concerns of constituents. MPs do not normally have the power to bring about instant remedies, they normally raise such matters with the local council or relevant government department, or in a Commons debate.
MPs receive thousands of emails, letters and telephone calls as well as over 2000 individual constituent cases.
MPs typically employ constituency caseworkers out of their parliamentary allowance to handle much of this work.
Opposition in Parliament
The opposition holds the executive to account n several ways, including through debates, PMQs and suggesting alternative policies. The Official Opposition acts as a 'government-in-waiting'.
The fundamental purpose of the opposition is to offer scrutiny and potentially a check on the government.
Opposition parties must also offer viable and practical alternative solutions.For example, those who opposed Brexit had to come up with 'better' alternatives, such as staying within the customs union.
The opposition can position itself as an alternative government.
Backbench rebels from within the governing party can present serious problems. For example, in 2012 Conservative rebels effectively blocked a bill that would have reformed the Lords.
Much depends on the quality of members of the shadow cabinet and how well they perform in debates and in the media.
Opposition successes are rare.
Despite some recent changes, to a large extent parliament is only partially effective at scrutinising the executive.
