Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
PARLIAMENT - Coggle Diagram
PARLIAMENT
2.1 - The structure and role of the commons and the Lords
Functions of Parliament
Legislation
It is much more accurate to say that legislation is passed
through parliament
than by parliament.
'effectiveness'
of Parliament when it comes to legislation comes down to their ability to scrutinise government.
Ineffective -
The Blair government did not lose a vote in the commons until
2005.
The Sailsbury convention
prevents the lords from delaying a bill which is a 'manifesto bill' thus limiting their ability to scrutinised.
The parliament acts of 1911 and 1949
- the lords cannot veto legislation they can only amend and delay it for up to a year - they also cannot delay the passing of 'money bills' such as the budget.
Effective -
The removal of hereditary peers in 1999
meant more defeats in the lords - as there was no longer a stable majority.
Cameron was defeated trying to change the wording of the EU referendum make it more remain friendly '2015'.
May's minority government
gave loads of power to parliament and was beaten
28 times
- most shockingly of which when in early 2019 her Brexit deal was rejected with 118 conservative MPs voting against it.
Scrutiny (goes into 2.4)
Questioning
PMQs
This is focused on questions from the leader of the opposition directed at the PM however minsters also ask questions and selected MPs.
This is the most public-facing method of scrutiny and if often dubbed as
'party political ping-pong'
- every Wednesday
Urgent Questions - from wright reforms (2010)
MPs apply to the speaker to ask an urgent question, if granted the ability the minister from the relevant government department will come and answer it, the use of these has much increased in recent years.
2007-2008 only 4 were asked, 2017-2019 307 were asked
. -ministers don’t like this it is very inconvenient
Written letters
- Ministers must respond to letters sent from MPs and peers.
Humble address
- Papers can be called upon from government departments and the notion can be debated, e.g.
2017
labour made the government produce their
studies on universal credit
.
PROS
allows the government to be held accountable by back bench MPs - eg
Amber Rudd 2018.
Gives the leader of the opposition an important platform in the eyes of the electorate. - Cameron VS Brown/Blair.
Many PMs have said that PMQs is the most dreaded part of their week - Blair only went into parliament for it.
CONS
MPs can act very childish boiling the whole thing down to a game, John Bercow omce told off Ian Lucas for 'barking'.
Many of the q
uestions are pre-prapered
and just works as an opportunity for the government to show off what they are doing. Back benchers suck up to their leaders.
PMQs is also crucially under the
watch of the media.
Many of the lines said are just an attempt at a sound bite / headline. Increasingly with the rise of social media.
Committees
The liaison committee
This happens twice a year where all 35 chairs of the selection committees meet to scrutinise the prime minister. A famous example of this is the scrutiny of Johnson over his handling of Covid-19 and the controversy with dominic cummings.
Select committees
Wright Reforms (2010)
made their scrutiny more effective - chairs chosen by MPs and given a very senior role (changes the way back benchers act). Eg Jeremy Hunt for health over coivd.
Weaknesses
- They lack enforcement powers, must opperate bipartisan to work effectivly, Ministers have a lot of support, often review problems after they have occured.
Strengths
- Can act independently, salary and support staff for chairs has improved, independence allows for better scrutiny - Yvette Cooper @ Amber Rudd 2018.
Public bill committees
Evidence can often be used from outside sources such as think tanks at this stage, a study showed that
99% of amendments
made at this stage by ministers from their own party (2015).
Strengths
- Scrutiny has improved over time, the work is less partisan, the majority. of PBC members have expertise in that specific area
Weaknesses
- Far less independent than select committees and their membership is still dominated by
whips
, A very small number of amendments actually come from opposing parties
Debates
Bills are debated on the floor of the house upon their
second reading
, the speaker can also call emergency debates, BbBC get 35 days to debate issues in each session
Strengths
- BBBc has given back benchers more power, increased use of E-petitions and emergency debates. PMs are more reluctant to take military action before consulting parliament.
Weaknesses
- PMs do not have to consult parliament before taking military action - May in Syria. Back benchers hold reduced power due to heavy whipping.
The opposition
Pros
- Labour oppostion did well in the early 90s and Cameron did well in 2005-10, they provide a clear alternative to the electorate
Cons
- Large majority governments can ignore the oppostion, not all oppostion leaders can undermine a governmnet even if they are weak.
Responsible government:
A government that is answerable to or accountable to an elected assembly and through it the people - scrutiny functioning is key to this.
Representation
Parliamentary privilage
The ability of parliamentarians to speak freely and not be bound by any other body.
Does parliamentary democracy effectively r
epresent the people?
YES
Each MP represents a geographical area and brings forward the grievences of the people who live there.
NO
FPTP means that representation in the commons is far from proportional. The lords are also unelected which is not representative.
Models of representation
The delegate model, The trustee model, the doctrine model (carry out manifesto promises)
Does Parliament reflect the people?
Descriptive representation
is important in the commons and focuses on the representation of marginalized groups.
YES - Parliaments are become more diverse, almost half of MPs are women (41%) and after the resignation of Lousie Haigh Starmer's cabinet is entirely state-school educated.
NO - White middle class men still dominate the commons, Laura Pidcock commented upon her election that ‘place reeks of establishment and power’. Only approximately 6% of the lords are from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Recruiting and maintaining government
Government has to be ‘
maintained’
and gain support on the basis of its effective functioning. You must work your way up from the bottom in parliament.
Effective
The system works as a ladder training MPs etc, many PMs hold cabinet positions before becoming PM.
Governments require the support of back benchers to pass legislation and ultimately the confidence of the commons (1979 VONC)
Ineffective
The
political class
are losing their experience in different fields and arguably parliament is not legitimate training for governance - no teaching on how to manage or be bureacratic.
Back benchers often just tow the party line.
Smaller governments can lose votes which is extremely unproductive
legitimacy
Parliamentary governments
promote legitimacy through parliament and create 'rightful' rulings
PROS
This means that people give ‘consent’ on laws that are created meaning that laws are more likely to be obeyed and they are more authoritative.
Parliament is
legally sovereign
and all laws passed by parliament have full legal authority.
The public are represented by parliament meaning that once a decision is approved by parliament it is essentially approved by the public.
CONS
The lords have no democratic legitimacy
Prime ministers with a large majority use parliament as a
‘rubber stamp’
as they know that their legislation will pass, e.g. Tony Blair rarely ever attended the commons except for PMQs.
The respect for parliament has been undermined by scandals such as
‘cash for questions’
where MPs were paid to ask questions in parliament.
Features of Parliament
Parliament is governed through the idea of the
'fusion of power'
and 'parliamentary government'
Parliament itself is comprised of
3 separate areas
: - The house of commons - The house of lords - the monarchy
Key features of parliamentary government -
The fusion of powers (legislator + Executive)
Governments are formed on the basis of representation in the commons
Government personnel typically come from the largest party in the commons and they must sit in parliament.
Governments can only govern with the ‘confidence’ of parliament -
confidence and supply
arrangement.
The government’s ‘face’ is that of the cabinet
The prime minister
is not head of state but head of government.
The role of the monarch
The monarch's role as the head of state is more of a symbolic thing. In Bagehot’s formulation, the monarchy is a ‘
dignified’
rather than an ‘effective’ institution
Interactions with parliament...
Appointing a government
- conventionally the leader of the largest party
The King's speech
- sets out the government's programme at the start of each parliamentary session.
The Royal Assent
- The final stage of the legislative process, Monarchs never refuse to grant Royal Assent
opening and dismissing parliament
- At the request of the PM the monarch
'dissolves'
parliament before a general election
The structure of the two chambers
The Lords
People's peers
These appointments a made on the basis o
f individual recommendations t
o the lords through the appointments comission. By the end of 2018, 70 had been appointed, although their lack of resemblance to ‘ordinary’ citizens has been a source of criticism.
Lords spiritual
There are
26 bishops and archbishops of the Church of England.
They are collectively referred to as the ‘Lords Spiritual’. They are appointed by the Prime Minister on the basis of recommendations made by the Church of England
Life peers
Entitled to sit in the lords for their own lifetime and are appointed by the prime minister. These people are experts in a specific field and dominate the lords around 690.
Hereditary peers
These peers hold inherited titles which carry the right to sit in the Lords. Once, there were over
700 hereditary peers, but since 1999 only a maximum of 92 are permitted to sit.
These 92 were elected by other members of the house
Current party split
- conservative majority
The commons
The make-up of the commons
All 650 MPs must be elected to a constituency - most of these represent a party but some stand as independents
You therefore need 326 MPs to form a majority in the commons
Most MPs are '
back benchers'
unless they are members of the cabinet or the shadow cabinet
The role of MPs
represent and deal with issues from constituents, - scrutinise the government - debate and amend legislation - provide legitimacy
EG - assisted dying bill was brought to the house by a private members bill by
Kim Leadbeater
current make-up of the commons
How MPs can gain power
questioning ministers
participating in debates
voting on legisaltion
participating in bills and committees
ROLES
Whips
they are responsible for '
towing the party line'
and ensuring that legislation is passed.
whips 'pair' opposing MPs if they must be absent for a vote.
going against the whip risks ones position in the party.
EG - Punishments
21 MPs
were banished from the party by chief whip Mark Spencer (under Johnson) because they did not agree with the government's position on the EU. Sep 2019
7 MPs
had the whip removed in July of 2024 for voting with the SNP to scrap the 2 child benefit cap
The speaker
This is an MP selected to be the i
mpartial chair
of the house.
Duties
- calling on MPs, ensuring parties receive equal time when debating, discipling MPs, announcing the result of votes, casting the deciding vote in the event of a tie.
the opposition
- an incredibly integrated part of the chamber - seen through events such as PMQS
criticises the work of government and presents and alternative to the electorate
2.2 - The comparative powers of the Commons and the Lords.
Exclusive powers of the commons
Examinsation and approval of the financial affairs of government
Complete veto of legislation in certain circumstances and the dismissal of a government with a vote of no confidence.
Select committee examination of the work of government and final approval for ammenments to legislation.
Confidence and supply
- the notion of parliament legitimising government. This is also used to describe a type of informal coalition where a minority partner provides legitimacy along with other things to a government in exchange for policy concessions.
The DUP gave May 10 MPs
If the government cannot pass a supply bill (eg the budget) or loses a vote of no confience the government in expected to resign by convention.
Callaghan 1979
Main powers of the Lords
Examinaing secondary legislation and making recommendations for further consideration.
Delaying primary legislation for up to a year.
Legislative scrutiny:
The lords aim to 'probe amendments' and not vote down bills - by convention. 1,000 - 2,000 amendments can be made to bills in a given parliamentary year.
success - many amendments are passed
Meg Russell (2013)
- found that many amendments from the lords infact come from back benchers, in addition to this it was found that there is an 'anticipated reacion' from the lords which changes nature of bills that are presented and can stop them all together.
Scrutinise & influence government:
much of the the scrutiny work done by the lords is through
cross-cutting sessional committees
which are permanent or adhoc.
These ensure that acts will achieve their intended purpose
Success
- These committees can also contain sub committees and perform post-legislative scrutiny.
Reports done by these committees surrounding Brexit held a lot of weight.
Raise issues of concern to citizens:
The lords can debate issues that are important to citizens; these do not have to be partisan in any way and require a response from a government minister.
Success
- The Lords are an effective agenda setting chamber as they are less involved in partisan theatrics.
Assisted dying
entered the political agenda following a private members bill in the Lords by Lord Joffe (2003) and then later brought up by Kim Leadbeater (2024).
Overall effectiveness
collective composition
- No party holds an absolute majority in the lords meaning consensus is key. While the commons is characterised by the politics of assertion the lords are characterised by the politics of justification.
individual composition
- The lords have important expertise for their role such as time served in the armed forces, however this does take them out of line with the population.
procedures
- There is much less limitation on debate in the house of lords, amendments can be considered not only at the committee and report stage but also at the 3rd reading. The house can also award extra time for amendments to be made.
Elected second chamber?
FOR -
Democratic legitimacy + wider respresentation
Better legislation - prevents the lords from playing a role as a 'revising chamber'
Better checks on the commons - Full
bicameralism
requires two co-equal chambers.
ending executive tyranny - A second chamber that is potentially more powerful would further improve the checking of the executive.
AGAINST
Specialist knowledge - ordinary politicians are often elected on the basis of their public speaking and campaigning skills.
Gridlocked government - The two chambers holding equal power could lead to rivalry and further parliamentary ping pong. The two chambers currently complement eachother.
Dangers of partisanship - the peers would lose the freedom to think for themselves.
Descriptive representation - A strucuterd method of appointiment would be needed to improve representation.
Bicameralism
- The system or practice in a legislature of having two chambers.
Debates about the relative powers of the two chambers.
Reasonable time convention
- This is a parliamentary convention which suggests that the lords should not abuse the year they have until they cannot delay a bill any further, they should just work till the end of a parliamentary session.
Ever since the lords gained more
democratic legitimacy
in 1999 they have been more active and played a role as a 'partisan constraint' on parliament.
EXAMPLES - The impact of COVID on the workings of Parliament
workings / back benchers
The move to remote working raised a number of key issues
Took away from the spontaneous nature of debates
The debates were lower quality which meant for less effective legislation
Prevented casual conversations in the lobby - effect on voting
Back benchers overall became far less rebellious - they felt it was their duty to allow the government to pass legislation.
Committees
The
Liaison committee
was set up during the pandemic and begun by remotely scrutinising Johnson; it was noted that he lacked knowledge and preparation.
Former Health minister
Jeremy Hunt
was chair of the select committee for health and was critical of the government’s ability to track the virus claiming they had not learnt their lesson from SARS or MERS.
PMQs
Starmer
used the opportunity to
‘prosecute an argument that the Prime Minister is incompetent, insufficiently on top of the detail and leading a failing government’
. Starmer chose to use super specific questions to really test Boris.
He was very critical of the government’s track and trace scheme and
his flippant attitude to governance.
PMQs was also a key time to get to the roots of the party gate scandal.
Starmer once asked Boris an unexpected question about black history month and he just answered as if it was the
prepared question on health.
2.3 - The legislative process
Stages of the process
There are 3 types of bill -
Public Bills
- apply to everyone and either the government or backbench MPs propose them. Most bills are public.
Private bills
- change the law for a limited set of interests such as a single organisation or an individual.
Hybrid bills -
combine aspects of public and private bills and are used in very specific circumstances when a bill both has a broad public purpose and will affect people at a local level
How the process of legislation begins
The first stages of a bill very rarely come from within Parliament - the are commonly either from
pre-parliamentary or extra-parliamentary exercises.
Ideas often come from: Polls, Think Tanks, The media, pressure groups, manifestos
2012 health and social care act
- needed a lot of consultation to guarantee a degree of support from doctors.
To tackle the issue of changing the ofsted rating system Bridget Phillipson consulted both focus groups and think tanks.
1st/2nd reading
The first reading is not a forum for debate, this is an opportunity foe the bill to be understood. It is an the second reading that amendments are suggested.
Green paper
- A bill that is open to amendments and not yet decided.
White paper
- A bill that is almost complete and wants to be passed without amenmendts.
committee + report stage
Bills at this stage are referred to
public bill committees
which are set up for different legislation - these made amendments line by line and close loopholes.
The majority of amendments are passed by government
important parts of bills are often never properly scrutinised in the commons as opposition MPs attempt to
'wreck amendments'
Private members bills
a very hard to get through - often run out of support, funding and time.
Success - Private members legislation changed the law on abortion, capital punishment, divorce and homosexuality in the 1960s which were very important (also now with assisted dying bill).
judges
must in some cases declare an act 'inconsistent' if it violates the ECHR and can also rule 'incompatibility' against the HRA.
delegated legislation
a method of amending regulations without having to go through parliament - done by government or public bodies.
This in a sense undermines parliamentary sovereignty.
Interactions between the two houses
Conventions/acts
The
1911
lords act took away their power to be able to veto legislation indefinitely and meant that Bills could only be delayed up to 2 years.
The
1949
lords act reduced the length of time the lords could delay to one year.
They cannot block
money of 'supply bills'
This means that the lords can only block and not revise.
Sailsbury convention
- when a bill fulfills a manifesto pledge the lords must make it pass its second reading and cannot use
'wrecking amendments'
Shared powers of the two chambers
Debated legislation and voting on legislative proposals
proposing amendments to legislation
Calling government and individual ministers to account
Debating key issues of the day and introducing their own legislation (private members)
Parliament's influence
Parliament legitimates rather than legislates
Parliament's influence on the details of legislation is
limited
, they transform legislation via amendments and tweaks rather than creating it.
Parliament provides legitimacy for the policies formed by the executive.
