用戶:Politics Notes on the UK Parliament

Introduction

The UK has a bicameral legislature.

Bicameral: a parliament with two chambers

The UK Parliament is composed of:

• the House of Lords (the upper chamber)
• the House of Commons (the lower chamber)

In addition, the monarch retains a formal and ceremonial role in parliament

Commons: structure and members

A democratically elected chamber of 650 MPs

each MP is elected in a single-member constituency by the FPTP electoral system

the number of MPS is not fixed and can change following reviews od parliamentary constituencies

Frontbenchers: Ministers and shadow ministers

Backbenchers: MPs with no ministerial or shadow ministerial posts

Parliamentary Privilege

The legal immunity enjoyed by members of parliament, particularly their right to free speech in parliament.

Freedom of Speech: Members of both houses are free to raise any issue in parliament without fear of prosecution.

MPs have revealed information that is subject to court injunctions

Exclusive Cognisance: The right of each house to regulate its own internal affairs without interference from outside bodies

Key Office Holders

Whips

• a) A party official responsible for ensuring that MPs turn up to parliamentary votes and follow party instructions on how to vote;
• b) An instruction to vote that is issued to MPs by political parties

Whips (a) have 3 main roles:

• Ensuring that MPs attend parliamentary divisions (votes) and approving the absence of MPs when their vote will not be required
• Issuing instructions on how MPs should vote
• Enforcing discipline within the parliamentary party

Speaker of the Commons

presides over debates in the chamber

selecting MPs to speal

maintain order

may temporarily suspend MPs who break parliamentary rules

elected by MPs in a secret ballot

must stand down from the post at a general election but is normally re-elected at the start of the next parliament

once chosen, the speaker gives up their party affiliation and is non-partisan

the speaker does not vote unless there is a tie

in which case they do not use it to deliver a final decision

Lords: Structure and Members

Peer: a member of the House of Lords

chaired by the Lord Speaker

who is elected by peers and is politically neutral

The House of Lords has three different categories of members:

• hereditary peers
• life peers
• lords spiritual (2 archbishops, 24 senior bishops)

Hereditary Peers

before 1999, the Lords had more than 750 hereditary peers

HoL Act 1999 ended the right of all but 92 hereditary peers to sit and vote in the Lords

when one dies or resigns, a by-election is held in which peers from the same group choose a replacement from a register of hereditary peers

by Sep 2021, 43 by-elections had been held

Life Peers

Life Peerages Act 1958 gave the PM the right to appoint members to the Lords for life

their tile and right to sit in the Lords cannot be inherited

since the removal of most hereditary peers, life peers are the largest category of members of the upper house

The removal of most hereditary peers was intended to be the first step towards wider reform of the Lords, but reform has stalled as MPs and peers have been unable to agree on whether a reformed upper chamber should be wholly appointed, partially elected or wholly elected

Comparative powers of the Commons and the Lords

The commons has been the dominant chamber for over a century. It has a bumber of exclusive powers

• the right to insist on legislation: in cases of conflict over legislation, the lords should ultimately give way to the commons
• Financial privilege: the lords cannot delay or amend money bills
• the power to dismiss the executive: if the government is defeated on a motion of no confidence, it must resign

the primacy of the commons is underpinned in legislation, notably the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, and in constitutional conventions

the main conventions covering the relationship between the two chambers are:

• the Salisbury Convention: Bills implementing manifesto commitments are not opposed by the Lords.
• Reasonable time: the Lords should consider government business within a reasonable time
• Secondary Legislation: the Lords does not usually object to secondary legislation

The Parliament Act

the Lords does not have a veto iver legislation approved by the Commons

it can only delay most bills passed by the Commons for up to 1 year. Prior to 1911 it could block bills passed by the commons indefinitely

the Parliament Act 1911 restricted this veto power to 2 parliamentary sessions, which was subsequently reduced to 1 by the parliament act 1949

Confidence and Supply

the government requires the confidence and supply of the commons to remain in office

supply refers to the authorisation of government spending by the commons.

traditionally, a government defeated on a key supply bill is expected to resign.

the commons can remove the government by defeating irtin a motion of no confidence or a confidence motion

Motion of no confidence: a parliamentary censure motion initiated by the opposition which, if passed, requires the resignation of the governent

Confidence motion: a motion of confidence in the government. It may be initiated by the government as a threat of dissolution, or used to approve the formation of a new government

Functions of Parliament

Legislation

Bill: is a proposal for a new law, or change to a current law.

Act of Parliament: A law passed by parliament

Public Bill: A bill concerning a general issue of public policy, introduced by a government minister

The government may produce a consultative Green Paper setting out options, and/or

a White Paper explaining the objectives of government polcy

First Reading: formal presentation of the title of the bill on the floor of