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UK Parliament - Coggle Diagram

- - - - 650 meberes of Parliament, elected for a constitutency (each roughly of the size btw 60 000 and 80 000).
        
        533 MPs in England, 59 in Sc, 40 in Wales and 18 in NI
      - Most MPs represent a party
        
        e.g. of an independent MP - Jeremy Corbyn since 2020, the Labour had removed his whip, as of 2024 he remains independent
        
        e.g for independent Shockat Adam for Leicester South constituency
      - division btw frontbenchers (senior members, usually are in the gov party as ministers or they are appointed by PM - there is approximtely 90 of them + about 50 in opposition) and backbenchers (MPs who do not hold any government office)
      - Backbenchers are in majority but are still expected to show party loyalty
      - consists of select committees and legislative committees
      - Main parties have party whips who ensure that all MPs are aware of the parliamentary business + enhance party loyalty
        
        they inform party leaders of how MPs feel abt particular legislation, warning abt rebellion
      - The proceedings in the HoC are presided over by the Speaker (MP who is elected by oter MPs)
        
        Speaker is asked to put their party allegiance to the side + their role is to maintain discipline in the HoC & settle disputes
        
        e.g. in 2019 Sir Lindsay Hoyle was the speaker, remains in this position till this day
    - - Usually in order to be elected to the HoC, a person needs to be adopted by a political party as its official "prospective parliamentary candidate" PPC
        
        To become a PPC, selection is carried out by local party constituency committees which interview candidates from the shortlist
      - Official process
        
        Join a party
        
        Get placed on the party`s approved central list of candidates
        
        Get nominated as the PPc for a constituency by being elected by local party members
        
        Wheen election comes by make sure you are nominated by at least 10 local residents and registered with the constituency`s returning officer
        
        Win a plurality of votes in the constituency during elections
      - Having a high profile can help in ecoming an MP
        
        e.g. Keir Starmer was a Director of Public Prosecutions
        
        Some MPs may have "cut their teeth" in politicsa as a local gov councillor
      - e.g. after 2024 G.E. 411 seats (Labour), 121 (Cons), 72 seats (Lib Dems), 9 seats (SNP), 7 seats (Sinn Fein), 5 seats (REform UK), 5 seats (DUP) + 4 seats (Green Party)
    - - Legislating
        
        Function of making, amending/approving public finances and passing laws (most important constitutional function)
        
        Ensures that proposals from the gov have democratic legitimacy & support from the people
        
        Traditionally monarchs sought the approval from the HoC when making a decision of the taxs (which is essential to gain a CONSENT - idea that each legislation is consented by the people who pay taxes)
        
        Since the Parliament Act 1911 HoC must approve taxation and expenditure by the gov every time a change is proposed.
        
        Occurs every time in spring or summer after the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced the annual Budget
        
        e.g. the last time HoC has reheced gov`s budget was in 1924 under Ramsay MacDonald
        
        Backbenchers (BB) can also develop their legislation called the "private member legislation"
        
        Can be introduced via BALLOT when the names of BB MPs are drawn randomly on the 2nd Thursday of a parliamentary session, and allocated a specific time to introduce and have the proposed bill discussed
        
        10 MINUTE SPEECH in support of proposed bill
        
        PRESENTATION - when the MP notifies the House of their intention to propose a new bill (they present the title of a new bill to the House, but does not discuss it)
        
        e.g. During the 2017-19 Parliament, a total of 15 Private Members` Bills achieved the Royal Assent and became statute laws
        
        e.g. European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2019 - Yvette Cooper MP, Labour
        
        e.g. Health and Social Care Act 2018 - Peter Bone MP, Conservative
        
        e.g. The Voyeurism (Offences) Act, 2019
        
        the Sexual Offences Act, 2003 did not cover the crime of "upskirting" using phones
        
        In 2017, Gina Martin began a campaign as a victim of "upskirting", gaining 58,000 signatures on an e-petition.
        
        In 2018, Lib Dem MP Wera Hobhouse introduced a private member`s bill "The Voyerism Bill" that should ban "upskirting"
        
        PM Theresa May supported the bill, but on June 15, a Conservative MP, Sir Chope, called out "oppose," which sent the bill for further debate
        
        In 2018 it was re-introduced as the gov bill, gaining the Royal Assent in 2019.
      - Scrutiny
        
        Commons call the gov t account on the regular basis.
        
        Questioning times
        
        e.g. every Monday and Thursday questioning of ministers for an hour, ased on a rota for "Oral Questions"
        
        e.g. PMQT every Wednesday for 30 min + tony Blair described this as the "most nerve-racking experience"
        
        Forcing the gov to justify its policies and decisions.
        
        Through the select committes and the Public Accounts Committee which investigate the quality of gov
        
        All backbench MPs are required to serve in the legislative committee to examine the proposed legislation and offer improvements.
        
        They are weak at scrutinising bc they are dominated by the gov party and its whips + they do not have power to reject proposed legislation.
        
        Commins can refuse to pass a piece of legislation offered y the gov party.
        
        e.g. In April 2016 Commons voted against a new law extending the legal opening hours for large stores on Sundays
        
        e.g. in 2016, the gov withdrew a proposal to reduce entitlement to disability benefits in the face of widespread opposition from MPs (shows that the Commons have a huge role in scrutinising gov + can weaken it)
        
        If there is a repeated opposition against gov in Commons it can force PM from power
        
        e.g. in 2019 with the pressure on Theresa May after repeated failures to pass proposals for Brexit (btw 2017 & 19 she suffered 33 defeats Vs only 7 for Cameron in the 5 years of coalition)
        
        Can remove gov by passing the VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE
        
        e.g. last occured in 1979 (Laour gov was ousted), but Theresa May has survived th evote of no confidence in 2019
      - Representation
        
        Constituency representation
        
        MP represent their constituency (Synoptic link to the Democracy topic)
        
        Sometimes interests of constituents may run counter to gov policy. MPs usually lobby for their constituency
        
        e.g. 80% of Mps supported remaining in the EU but 77% voted to trigger Article 50 to leave as a result of the popular opinion expressed via referendum
        
        MPs also help individual constituents if they are in dispute with public body like Department for Work and Pensions over welfare payments
        
        redress of grivience - happens if MP feels that their constituents have strong case, then they will ut things right on their behalf.
        
        Representation of groups
        
        Social representation (elected representitives should be close to the microcosm of society as a whole and reflect it)
        
        e.g. in 2024, 40% of Parliament will be women compared to 51.6% in the whole UK
        
        e.g. Marcus Rushford and Child Food Roverty 2020 campaign was supported by Labour MP Tulip Siddiq
        
        Organisations like the Friends of the Earth encourage supporters to write to MPs in large numbers to try to further their cause, like opposing the expansion of the Heathrow Airport
        
        MPs have also formed themselves into groups to pursue particular interests or causes e.g. group focusing on the countering extremism
        
        Party representation
        
        e.g. Many conservative MPS voted in favour of Boris Johnson`s Withdrawal Agreement Bill in 2019 although their constituents were remain leaning.
        
        Due to the FPTP, there is a distortion in the party representation
        
        e.g. Many conservative MPS voted in favour of Boris Johnson`s Withdrawal Agreement Bill in 2019 although their constituents were remain leaning.
        
        e.g. Lib Dem won 11.5% of the vote in 2019 but only won 1.7% of the seats
        
        National Debate
        
        At times of national crisis, e.g. Covid, Parliament is called on to debate the issue and express the national will.
        
        e.g. debate on the Illegal immigration Bill 2023 in both HoC and HoL - the government proposed to detain and remove anyone entering illegally in the UK
        
        Social representation
        
        dea that the legislative body must reflect the groups of people in the society e.g. LGBT+, gender, race.
        
        As of 2024, in HoC 40% of MPs are women compared to 51% in society
        
        2024 - 10% of HoC are ethnic minorities vs. 18% in the UK
        
        2024 - 90% are uni graduates vs 42% in the whole UK
  - - - Its size is not regulated by law (e.g. in August 2020, Boris Johnson appointed 36 new peers, including his brother which is an example of "cronyism") + the method of appointing remain highly undemocratic
      - 92 are hereditary peers (their N was cut via the House of Lords Act 1999)
        
        When an HP dies, their successor is elected by other HP based on the party affiliation.\
        
        they are expected to take an active role in politics by regularly attending and voting
      - "Lords Spiritual" - 26 members are archbishops and bishops (reflecting the Anglican Christianity in the UK)
        
        Recently, representatives of other religions have been appointed as life peers.
        
        e.g. Lord Singh of Wimbledon, appointed in 2011, is a Sikh representative
      - Other life peers are appointed (cannot pass their title to their children if they die)
        
        They are politically appointed (by the PM - prerogative power) + are expected to follow their party line on most issues
        
        ! Some appointments are non-political bc candidates are advised by the non-governmental organisations
        
        There is a House of Lords Appointments Commission (decides who should be appointed& can veto some of the candidates)
      - There can be potential imbalance of powers btw parties
        
        e.g. Since 2010 Cons party made more appointments
        
        e.g. David Cameron created 246 life peerages (2010-16) compared to the Gordon Brown who gave only 34 life peerages (2007-2010)
      - Gov Party rarely has majority bc of larde amount of crossbenchers and non-affiliated members
        
        e.g. in early 2021 Cons Party had only 257 members out of 794
      - There are frontbench spokespersons (similar to HoC), they are expected to be loyal to their party leadership
      - Lord Speaker (is like a Speaker in the HoC)
        
        e.g. As of 2021, Lord Speaker is the Rt Hon the Lord McFall of Alcluith
      - Also have select and legislative committees, ut they are less significant then in HoC
    - - Nominated by PM / HoL Commission or the public
      - Nominees are considered and then vetted by the independent HoL Appointments Commission + names are passed to the PM
      - The PM considers the list and passes it to the monarch who issues the official Letters Patent
      - In a short ceremony, the nominee is shorn in as the life peer
    - - Legislating
        
        The Lords do not really legitimise legislation due to the Salisbury Convention
        
        They will not block or oppose any terms contained within a winning party`s manifesto.
        
        They can scrutinise/delay for 1 year and send legislation for amendments.
        
        If the Lords press on the legislation being delayed Commons can vote to bypass the Lords and pass the legislation after 1 year`s delay.
        
        e.g. It happened The War Powers Act 1991 (which allows the UK gov to prosecute the war criminals even if the offences were committed outside the UK)
        
        e.g. the Sexual Offences Amendment Act 2000 (lowered the age of consent for gay men to 16)
        
        SECONDARY LEGISLATION (SL)
        
        It is the laws, regulations and orders mostly made by the parliamentary ministers (Parliament has delegated such powers to ministers) that do not require parliamentary approval but do not have to pass through the full procedure.
        
        They take the form of statutory instruments, sometimes referred to as Henry VIII clauses
        
        e.g. In 2018 & 19, they raised a lot of concerns bc Theresa May in her Brexit legislation, included more than 600 secondary legislations (which would have allowed gov to make decisions on the rexit like return of powers etc without people`s consent)
        
        In 2019 the gov was trying to force more than 500 such measures without scrutiny of the Parliament even threatening to remove the power of the Lords to vote against SL
        
        There is HoL Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee which considers all SL (if there are any concerns they are reffered to the Commons)
        
        e.g. in 2015 Lords voted against a SL which would have reuce the lv of tax credits payed to low-income families.
      - Scrutiny
        
        Lords lack the means and methods to effectively scrutinise the gov`s actions bc nearly all senior ministers sit in the HoC
        
        Many memers in the HoL are experts in one field do they can offer a lot when scrutinising particular legislation
        
        Carry out the most scrutiny in the "committee stage" of a bill - any peers may take part in debating the details of proposed legislation and may propose legislation
        
        This improves legislation, adds clauses and ensures to protect minorities.
        
        e.g. the Nationality and Borders Bill (2021-2022), a Home Office Bill that proposed major changes to the immigration and asylum law. HoL made over 20 major amendments (a lot were overturned by Commons) like removing Clause 11 which created a two-ties asylum system.
      - Representation
        
        Represents the interests of its own members, as there are no constituencies to represent.
        
        Representation of groups
        
        Carried out better than in Commons since none of the parties has the majority, allowing for greater range of opinions and views to be represented.
        
        Represent a wider range of experience bc many Lords come from diff backgrounds.
        
        Lords are not concerned with the issue of re-election, thus can focus on issues of groups across the whole society
        
        Whip's power and thus party control is much weaker, so Lords can express a much wider range of political ideas.
        
        Lords can represent small parties that find it difficult to win seats in Commons
        
        e.g. UKIP had 5 peers in the Lords before 2019, when they choose to sit as independents.
        
        There are lots of crossbenchers and non-affiliated members which allows to represent more marginal interests.
        
        National Debate
        
        Debates in the HoL do not result in any decision, but help to inform decision-makers on specific issues
        
        e.g. during the debate on the Illegal Immigration Bill 2023 HoL raised a moral issue of the bill
        
        Social representation
        
        According to the statistics of 2019, 62% of peers were privately educated Vs. 6.5% of people in the UK
        
        6% of Lords belong to the ethnic minorities Vs. the 18% in the UK
        
        31% are women Vs. 51% in the UK
  - - - Shared
        
        Debating legislation
        
        Proposing amendments
        
        Calling gov and ministers to account
        
        Private members introducing legislations
      - HoC only
        
        Examining and aproving finances
        
        Veto of legislation
        
        Dismissal of gov by the vote of no confidence
        
        final approval of amendments to legislations
      - HoL
        
        Examining secondary legisaltions
        
        Delaing primary legislations for up to 1 year
    - - Bc lords do not aswer to the taxpayers, thus should not be in control of money bill.
    - - HoC has the power to remove the government nf to grant or withhold funding, + refers to an informal coalition where the minority partner agrees to provide these things for certain policy concessions
        
        e.g. the Confidence & Supply agreement btw DUP and Theresa May btw 2017 and 2019, where NI received an additional 1 billion pounds and a rise of a minimum of 2.5% in pensions in exchange, Cons received 10 DUP MPs that would support the government on agreed issues, giving Theresa May a majority of 328
      - If a gov fails to pass a"supply measure" or is defeated in a vote of no confidence all members of the gov must resign.
        
        e.g. in 1979 Jim Callaghan`s gov lost a vote of no confidence
    - - There was a fear the Lords would abuse the priviledge of delaying bills for 1 year on each matter.
      - Lords should aim to vote on legislation by the end of parlimentary session.
      - Since 1999 House of Lords Act, which gave HoL more legitimacy they are more likely to challenge Commons
- - - - ! During the 2nd reading of the PMB, any MP can block it by shouting "oppose" e.g. Sir Chope in a case study of "voyerism"
  - - - ! Finance bills are considered in a committe of the Whole House due to their importance
    - - If HoL suggest any amendments bill is sent back to the HoC - "parliamentary ping-pong"
        
        e.g. Illegal Immigration Bill 2023 - HoL proposed 20 amendments including ones on the protection of vulnerable groups like LGBT+
  - - - Vs. The Salisbury Convention has become less important, e.g. during 2010-15 bc of the coalition, there has been no effective mandate, thus the Lords passed many amendments to legislation in defiance of the gov.
    - - e.g. in 2015, the gov`s proposal to cut the payments of tax credits was rejected in the Lords and the go had to accept defeat.