The UK parliament

Uk parliament keywords and concepts, component 2 of Edexcel Alevel politics and govt

legislative process

the process parliament must go through to pass a bill creating a new law

Reforms of the House of Lords

-House of Lords Act 1999: reformed house of lords by reducing hereditary peers from 600 to 92

-House of Lords Bill 2024: removed all hereditary peers, effective from 2026

-peers are elected from a large range of professional backgrounds

-800 peers avg

Functions of parliament

-creating and passing legislation

-scrutinising and holding the govt to account

-representing the electorate

-debating

House of Lords

unelected members of parliament who scrutinise the government, represent the electorate, investigate and amend public policies and bills

no party has a ‘majority’, and there are many independent and cross bench peers

Salisbury convention

a limiting factor of the House of Lords, they can not oppose policies which are in the manifesto of an elected government

What is the most effective method of HOL scrutiny of the government?

-cross party groups means they tend to have less of a bias

-scrutinise and investigate the government

-provide detailed evidence for judgement of departments

Methods of Parliament scrutiny of the executive

-ministerial questions

-prime minister questions

-select committees

-debates

ministerial questions

1 hour a day where ministers must attend and answer any questions about their department work from any MP, this ensures accountability

An example of ministerial questions

In 2023, Yvette Cooper used ministerial questions to scrutinise Home Secretary Braverman over a speeding offence, raising concerns about ministerial conduct. This shows accountability over minsters personal conduct

Prime Minister Questions

every wednesday for 30 minutes the opposition leader can ask the PM 6 questions and any MPs can ask follow up questions, this shows accountability by ensuring the PM is aware of current affairs

An example of Prime Minister questions

At Prime Minister’s Questions in 2023, Keir Starmer questioned Rishi Sunak over rising NHS waiting lists, forcing the Prime Minister to justify government performance, showing public and direct accountability, however limited as these answers tend to be scripted

Select committees

cross party groups who hold departments accountable through investigating government departments policy, spending and administration

Debates

examine, question and challenge government policies ensuring transparency and accountability

House of Commons

650 elected members who form committees, have legislative authorities, hold positions of powers, debate and represent their constituencies

the party with the largest number of seats formsthe government, but all MP’s have the responsibility of accountability

Hereditary peers

their right to the HOL is inherited

Partisan

bias towards one specific party

Life peers

peers whose titles can’t be inherited, they are appointed by a monarch often at suggestion of the pm

Lords Spiritual

senior bishops of CofE

Backbenchers bill

a piece of legislation proposed by a peer or MP who is not a minister

Government bill

A bill put forward by a member of government

A party whip

A party whip is an MP or peer appointed by a political party who enforces party discipline ensuring members attend votes and align with the parties policies and values

Money bills

only the house of commons has the power to amend or make laws to do with taxes and the economy, the house of lords can not interfere with finances

The Lords, representation

The Lords are non-representative members of parliament as they are unelected, they do not represent anyone

The commons MPs, representation

mps must behave in the best interest of their constituency to represent the electorate

What is EVEL?

English votes for English laws, was a procedure from 2015-2021 which allowed only english mps to vote for laws affecting england

Secondary legislation

legislation made by ministers which is enabled by an existing act of parliament then parliament itself

Burkean theory

Edmund Burkean believed that elected officials are just representatives of their voters. once elected they should be allowed to use their own judgement in decision making and not just echo their constituents.

Delegate theory

opposite to Burkean theory, Mps act as messengers of what their constituencies want

Mandate theory

mps are elected to carry out their party’s manifesto and policies

Parliamentary privilege

legal immunity given to mps allowing them to speak freely during debates without worry of repercussions, only in parliament

Select committees

scrutinise the work of govt and scrutinise bills, they also influence laws and policies

When can emergency debates occur?

can occur if the speaker accepts, the matter must be specific, important and urgent