The structure and role of parliament

What happens in parliament?

• Debates take place over diverse issues

• National laws are passed

• Public is represented by 650 directly elected representatives (HOC)

Define a referendum

• A direct public vote on a policy measure

What is parliament?

• Bicameral legislature

• Made up of the HOC→ Elected chamber, wielding more power

• HOL→ Unelected chamber and less powerful

Who was the last PM to come from the Lords and what convention relates to this?

• Alec-Douglas Holmes in 1963, resigned his peerage and won a by-election so that he could sit in the commons.

• By convention all prime ministers and most government minsters sit in the commons. ( But David Cameron was appointed foreign secretary under Sunak in 2023 when he was not an MP -as a result he was granted a life peerage to have a seat in parliament)

• Some argued as an unelected peer he lacked accountability

• (Despite the convention it is acceptable for minsters to sit in lords)

Membership of the commons

• 650 MPs

• Elected by their constituents via FPTP

• Nearly all MPs are from a major political party, with a few independents and some belonging to a smaller party.

What was the MPs expense scandal

• A political crisis in 2009→ when it was revealed that many MPs had misused taxpayer-funded allowances, leading to resignations, prosecutions and public outrage.

• Plans were drawn up to reduce the number of MPs to 600 as a result (so less tax revenue would go towards politics) but this was not implemented.

Political affiliation in the commons and its effect

• 404 labour

• 119 Tory

• 72 lib dems

• 5 reform

• 4 green party

• 9 independents

Although there is variations in political allegiances, there is still a duopoly between labour and the Tories

And the chamber remains dominated by party politics (Focusing on the interests of your own party)

What is the house of lords?

• A largely advisory chamber

• Consist of unelected peers that are chosen for life or until they decide to retire or if they are removed- if sentence is more than a year

• Lack of democratic mandate is correspondingly reflected in lack of powers.

Membership of the lords

• Size varies over time as there’s no fixed number- roughly 800 peers in 2025

• Unelected

What “type of “ lords are there in the HOL ?

• Life peers: Those who are appointed for their lifetime only (title cant be passed down). This made possible by the life peerages act. Most peers in the lords today are life peers appointed by the PM.

• Hereditary peers: 92 chosen from among the wider number of hereditary peers.