UK EXECUTIVE PART 1-THE STRUCTURE AND ROLE OF PARLIAMENT

Who is the Prime Minister?

The leader of the largest single party in parliament and the head of the executive branch

How do they become Prime Minister?

By being the leader of the party who won the most seats in the General Election and so for the most part they always command a majority of seats in the Commons

How can the prime minister demonstrate his power?

-Through their use of whips to coheres their party’s MPs

-They appoint the ministers( POWER OF THE PATRONAGE)

Give an example to show the power of the whips?

-Sarah Wollaston was unable to be part of the public bill committee for a Health and Social Care bill in 2011

-Around transferring commissioning to GPS

-As she wouldn’t commit to the whips that she would stick to the government agenda especially around her disagreement with transferring these rights to GPs without broader NHS oversight

Who is the speaker?

They are the chair of the House of Commons and the Lords attempting to try and keep order ensuring as many MPs as possible from the range of parties can speak in debate

What are their roles?

-Enforce the rules for debate and they can suspend MPs who break these rules for varying periods of time

-To maintain impartiality and remove party allegiances

-Represents the House of Commons in its dealings with the monarch, the House of Lords, and outside bodies

Give an example of the speaker maintaining order in debates?

-During the Commons session in 2016, Labour MP Dennis Skinner accused David Cameron of dodgy dealings regarding his late father’s offshore investment fund (Blairmore Holdings),

- This had been revealed in the Panama Papers leak.

-He called him ‘Dodgy Dave’ a statement which John Bercow told him to retract but when he refused he was suspended from the House for a day under Standing Order 43.

Give an example of where the Speaker perhaps is not impartial?

-In 2019, Bercow refused to allow a third vote on Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement unless it was "substantially different" from the previous two( Erskine May)

-This was based on a 1604 convention, which had rarely been enforced. Critics said Bercow was bending obscure rules to frustrate Brexit.

Give an example of when the speaker represented Parliament

-In 2022 When Queen Elizabeth II died, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle represented the House of Commons

-This was at the Accession Council where King Charles III was formally proclaimed as the new monarch.

-The Speaker was present alongside the Prime Minister Liz Truss , senior judges, and other key figures, marking Parliament's role in the constitutional transition.

Who are the Whips?

These are the people in charge of discipline and ensuring that the party’s MPs stay loyal and vote they way the government want them to normally through gentle persuasion techniques

What is a three line whip?

This is when the prime minister indicates he wants all this MPs to vote a certain way

Give an example of when the whip is removed from an MP

-In 2019, 21 Conservative MPs defied the government by voting in favour of a bill to block a no-deal Brexit (the Benn Act).

-This bill aimed to force Boris Johnson to request a Brexit extension if no deal was reached with the EU to .

-As a result, the Conservative whip was withdrawn from all 21 MPs(including Churchill’s relative)

Give an example of when the whip intimidates voters?

Under Liz Truss there was a Commons vote on a Labour motion to ban fracking in October 2022. The Conservative deputy chief whip, Craig Whittaker, issued a “100% hard three‑line whip” telling Tory MPs they must vote against the motion , with their even being accusations of physical pressure in the lobby

Give an example of when MPs do still rebel against legislation despite whips

-In 2019 Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement was brought to the House of Commons for a third time. The Conservative government issued a three-line whip — the strongest instruction for MPs to vote in favour of the deal.

-But despite this, 34 Conservative MPs rebelled and voted against the deal, contributing to its third defeat.

Why was Theresa May’s ( The executive) power limited in this case?

-In the 2017 general election, May lost the Conservative majority she inherited from David Cameron

-DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) through a confidence and supply agreement. In addition to the divisions in her party with the hard Brexiteers and Remainers.

Who is the leader of the House of Commons?

This is a position appointed to individuals by the PM and their job is to see that the executive’s perspective of the commons runs smoothly and that bills are properly timetabled

Who are the people included in the frontbench MPs/ Gov payroll?

The Cabinet-These are the most senior decision makers who head major departments like Health, education etc and the PM , chancellor exchequer and home secretary etc

Minister of state- Senior ministers just below Cabinet level eg. Minister of State for Schools

Parliamentary Under Secretaries- Junior ministers responsible for more specific areas within a department. eg.Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Sport.

Extras- Parliamentary Private secretaries/ Trade Envoys and Special Mission Advisors = 176 people

How are the frontbenchers held to account?

-All ministers have to public endorse a policy the cabinet has voted for or resign( Collective ministerial responsibility) or individual ministerial responsibility

-Have to stay loyal to PM who appointed them( power of patronage)

-They are scrutinised by select committees

WHAT IS COLLECTIVE MINISTERIAL RESPONSIBLITY?

ALL GOVERNMENT MINISTERS SUPPORT A POLICY EVEN IF SOME DISAGREE TO MAINTAIN A UNITED FRONT. IF THEY DISAGREE THEY LEAVE

WHAT IS INDIVIDUAL MINISTERIAL RESPONSIBILITY?

GOVERNMENT MINSTERS SHOULD BE HELD TO ACCOUNT BY PARLIAMENT FOR FAILURES OF THEIR DEPARTMENTS AND THEIR OWN CONDUCT

Give an example of collective ministerial responsibility

-In 2018 Boris Johnson resigned as Theresa May’s home secretary as he couldn’t agree with Theresa May’s chequers plan

-This proposed a softer Brexit which kept the UK closely aligned with the EU on matters of goods ,he believed this betrayed the referendum result and turned the UK into a vassal state

Who are Backbench MPs?

MPs elected by the people who are not ministers

What are the limits on backbench MP power?

They could have the whip removed if they don’t tow the party line and they have no real control of the agenda

Who are the peers?

-These are the members of the House of lords which is broken down into three groups: Hereditary Peers( limited to 92)

-Lord Spirituals

-Life peers who are appointed by the PM there =829 members of the HOL right now

Why is the governments power limited in the HOL?

Majority of peers are are appointed for life, so they don’t have to worry about elections, public opinion, or party loyalty to keep their position.

-This gives them freedom to speak their mind and vote based on conscience or expertise, not party pressure.

How many bills did Blair and Brown lose in the commons compared to the Lords?

-They lost only 7 times in the commons between 1997 and 2010 compared to 400 times in the House of Lords

What needs to happen for a bill to become law in the UK?

Passes though both houses and then receives royal assent

What is the official opposition?

This is the largest opposition in the House of Commons that is not the government with shadows of the official gov eg. shadow cabinet etc

What powers do the opposition have?

-They can amend legislation that is introduced to the house

-They can vote against bills

-Opposition Days

-Can be in select committees to scrutinise the executive

What are the three ways in which the executive can assert dominance over parliament?

-Controlling government agender

-Ease of passing legislation via majority

-Use of skeletal bills to avoid scrutiny

What do they mean by controlling government agender?

The executive dominates most of the parliamentary timetable, meaning it decides which issues are debated and when.

Give an example of when the executive can control the government agender

THE 2017 WITHDRAWAL BILL DOMINATED COMMONS BUSINESS THROUGH 2017-18 WITH EXTENSIVE TIME ALLOCATED TO THE DIFFERENT STAGES . ALTHOUGH THE GOVERNMENT SUFFERED SEVERAL AMMENDMENT DEFEATS PARLIAMENT WAS STILL PRIMARILY DEBATING LEGISLATION DISCUSSED BY THE EXECUTIVE ITSELF.

Give an example of how large majority helps with passing legislation?

-After the 2019 general election, Boris Johnson’s Conservative government gained a large 80-seat majority.

-This allowed him to pass the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 to enable the UK to leave the EU on the 31 January swiftly.

-They left little opportunity for MPs to amend it with the large majority meaning that the government could avoid concessions to other parties or rebel MPs

What are skeletal bills in relation to secondary legislation?

Skeletal bills are a mechanism via which parliament can pass broad laws , thus leaving certain parts of the bills up for definition through secondary legislation( usually statutory instruments) which can increase their power.

Give an example of where skeletal bills are used?

-In 2020 the government passed the Coronavirus Act 2020 which passed through all stages in just 7 days

-The act granted broad powers around and things like social distancing and restricting movement

-These statutory instruments were further expanded to the Public Order Act 1986 to allow lockdowns

WHAT ARE THREE WAYS THE OFFICIAL OPPOSITION CAN SCRUTINISE THE GOVERNMENT?

-PMQS

-SELECT COMMITTEES

-PRESENT ALTERNATIVE POLICIES

Give me an example of how PMQs can scrutinise the government?

-During PMQs session between 2020 and 2021 Starmer directly criticised the governments handling of the PPE crisis

-He raised concerns about shortages of protective equipment for NHS nurses and the over 100 nurses who had died by 2020 mainly due to lack of PPE equipment .

-He also directly questioned the governments transparency, including delays in publishing scientific evidence behind lockdown decisions.

What is the counter?

PMQs is used for poltical point scoring rather than adequate scrutiny

eg. In a 2017 Ipsos Mori Poll 67% of correspondents claimed there was too much political scoring

What is a binding vote?

What are the limitations?

-A parliamentary vote whose outcome legally or politically obliges the government or Parliament to take a specific action

-The government controls what bills get timetabled for debate and so can ensure unpopular bills don’t go down to binding votes

How often are the opposition days?

20 days per parliamentary session known as Opposition Days for official opposition and 17 for other parties

Give an example of the use of opposition days

-In 2022, Labour used an Opposition Day to call for a binding vote

-This forced the government to publish documents relating to Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget, which had caused economic chaos.

-Though the government initially resisted, the pressure added to Truss’s collapse in credibility and contributed to her resignation just weeks later on the 20th October 2022

What is the counter ?

Opposition day motions are often voted down due to gov majorities. eg. the government (331 conservative MPS) voted down the motion calling for NHS workers to be given daily Covid-19 tests

Give an example of the use of select committees by the Opposition party?

Amber Rudd Resignation via the Home Affairs Committee which was chaired by labour Mp Yvete Cooper

Give an example of when the opposition voted against the government

-In 2019, the Labour-led Opposition voted against Theresa May’s first addition of the Withdrawal agreement,

- This contributed to its historic defeat by 230 votes—the biggest government loss in Commons history.

-This forced May to go back to the EU for changes especially around changes to the controversial Irish Backstop which along with 2nd and third failures of the bill led to her subsequent resignation

What are three ways in which backbench MPs can influence the legislative process?

-They can introduce new legislation via a Ten Minute Rue Bill

-They can vote against the passage of a bill

-They can control parliamentary agenda in some cases

What is a Ten Minute Rue Bill?

These are Private Member Bills introduced in the Commons which allow a backbench MP to make their case for a new bill in a speech lasting up to ten minutes

Give an example of the Ten minute Rue Bill being used

-The Holocaust(return of cultural objects ) Act 2019

-Allows UK institutions to return cultural objects looted during the Nazi era to rightful owners or their heirs, even if they would otherwise be unable to do so under older legal restrictions.

-It received assent and became law

How many Ten Minute Rue bills have become law?

2500 have been introduced between 2010-24 but only 110 have received royal assent

Why do Ten Minute Rue bills not hold as much weight

They are introduced by backbench MPs who are not supported by the government because they are not part of the executive — meaning they don’t help run government departments or set the official legislative agenda and so the things they may support are bound to not be given time.

What does it mean for backbench MPs to vote against the passage of a bill?

If enough backbench MPs unite they can stop the government from passing bills or even at the very least add certain amendments that fall in line with their interests

Give an example of backbench MPs voting against the passage of a bill

-In 2019 Theresa May wanted to pass her European Withdrawal Agreement through parliament in 2019 having negotiated it with the European Union

-She suffered the heaviest defeat of a British PM in the democratic era, losing by a majority of 230

- 115 conservative backbench MPs voted against it

Why may this not work all the time?

-All MPs are whipped to vote a certain way( Boris Johnson removed the whip from 21 of the MPs including Nicholas Soames( a Churchill relative) when they tried to prevent a no deal Brexit)

-Most governments have a majority so voting against will have no effect(Tony Blair had a 179 seat majority in 1979 which allowed him to not lose a vote for 8 years

What is the parliamentary agenda?

Refers to the list of topics, bills, that are set to be discussed and debated etc

What is the backbench Business Committee ?

A Committee created to give backbench MPs control over the parliamentary agender

-It schedules around 35 days per year of debating time exclusively for issues proposed by backbench MPs

Give an example of the Backbench MPs controlling parliamentary agenda

-In October 2010 the Backbench Business committee scheduled a debate on the release of documents relating to the Hillsborough disaster where 96 Liverpool fans died

-The motion passed without division hence leading to the Hillsborough Independent panel report 2012

What is the main counter to this?

BACKBENCH MOTIONS ARE NON BINDING

EG. DESPITE THE BACKBENCH BUSINESS COMMITTEE DEBATE IN THE COMMONS IN 2023 DEBATING THE FUTURE OF THE NHS BY OUTLINING SHORTAGES IN INVESTMENT ETC THERE WAS NO CHANGE

What are three powers of the HOL?

-Expertise and revision Role

-Voting power

-Scrutinising the executive

What does Expertise and revision role mean?

Given the lords expertise they can shape legislation beyond partisan politics

Give an example

LADY KIDRON WHO IS AN EXPERT IN DATA USE WAS ABLE TO AMEND THE DATA USE AND ACCESS ACT 2025 IN THE LORDS TO PROTECT COPYRIGHT LAW MORE EFFECTIVELY

Give an example of the voting power of the Lords

-In 2015 George Osborne proposed 5 billion pound major cuts to working tax credits which would have reduced income for many low paid families.

-Though the commons passed the cuts via a statutory instrument the Lords voted it down in a 307-277 vote to delay cuts until the government responded with a proper full impact assessment

- Osborne later dropped the cuts entirely

Why wasn’t parliament able to override the Lords Vote?

Then why don’t the lords reject more of these bills if they are used so much?

-Normally with a typical bill the government can just use the parliamentary acts after a year of delay but with secondary legislation this is not possible

-Via convention the lords rarely blocks legislation with them having only done so 7 or 8 times since 1945

What does it mean to scrutinise the executive?

HOLD THEM TO ACCOUNT VIA INVESTIGATIONS ,COMMITTEES AND DEBATES

Give an example of the Lords Scrutinising the executive?

-THE SECONDARY LEGISLATION SELECT COMMITTEE IN THE LORDS PUBLISHED A REPORT CALLED ‘GOVERNMENT BY DIKTAT’ IN 2021 HIGHLIGHTING THE EXCESSIVE USE OF STATUATORY INSTRUMENTS BY THE GOVERNMENT

WHAT IS THE COUNTER?

DEPSITE THE PUBLISHING OF THE REPORT IN 2021 THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE CHANGE TO GOVERNMENT POLICY SINCE

What are three limitations of the House of Lords?

-Parliamentary Sovereignty

-Parliamentary Acts

-Secondary Legislation

Give an example of this in practice

-In the Safety of Rwanda Bill 2024 the Lords made 10 amendments focusing on protecting individuals eg. minors and safety from human trafficking

-But these were all rejected by the House of Commons

-Even with the parliamentary ping-pong that occurred with the Lord’s even reinstating the amendments 3 more times, they eventually passed the Act unamended.

Why do the parliamentary Acts limit the Lords?

The lords is an unelected body of power which gives it limited power to veto legislation as shown by the Parliamentary Acts of 1911 and 1949 they can only block legislation for a year which gives the government increased confidence against lords opposition

Give an example of when the commons used the parliamentary acts to pass legislation

-In 2004 the Hunting Act was introduced which banned the hunting of wild mammals with dogs in the UK .

-Between 2001 and 2004 the House of Lords rejected the bill 3 times with stalemate continuing until the government used the 1911 and 1949 Acts to bypass the Lords for only the fourth time in History

What will be the example for skeletal Bills?

COVID -19

‘THE LORDS IS IN DESPERATE NEED OF REFORM’ WHAT ARE THE PREMISES

-THE APPOINTMENT PROCESS IS NO LONGER LEADING TO COMPETENT INDVIDIDUALS BEING PUT IN

-SCRUTINY IS NO LONGER ADEQUATE

WHAT EVIDENCE ARE WE USING FOR THE POINT AND COUNTER FOR APPOINTMENTS?

-LADY KIDRON

-EVGENGY LEBVEDEV ONLY ATTENDED 7 OUT OF 625 SESSIONS OF THE LORDS FROM 2022-2025 WHICH ONLY JUST MEETS THE THRESHOLD FOR REQUIRED SITTINGS FROM LORDS MEMBERS.

WHY IS SCRUTINY POSSIBLE IN THE LORDS?

MANY HOL MEMBERS ARE CROSSBENCHES SO THEY DON’T HAVE A PARTY AND THEY ALSO CANNOT BE REMOVED FOR SCRUTINY DECISIONS

WHAT ABOUT FOR SCRUTINY?

-DURING THE LORDS STAGES OF THE SAFETY OF RWANDA BILL THE LORDS PASSED 7 AMENDMENTS TO THE BILL SAYING THAT MINISTERS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO SAY RWANDA IS NOT SAFE COUNTRY

-COUNTER IS THAT ALL TEN AMMENDMENTS WERE REJCTED BY PARLIAMENT

WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE TO SHOW THE HOUSE OF LORDS IS REPRESENTATIVE?

AS OF 2026 THERE ARE 259 FEMALE MEMBERS OF THE LORDS( 32%) UP FROM 24 % IN 2015

WHAT IS THE COUNTER?

BY 2018 ONLY 6% OF THE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS WERE FROM ETHNIC MINORITY BACKGROUNDS COMPARED TO 16% OF THE UK POP

WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE HOL REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE?

-IN 2020 THEY VOTED WITH A MARGIN OF 268 TO DEFEAT THE GOV ON THE INTERNAL MARKETS BILL OVER CLAUSES ALLOWING THE GOV TO OVVERIDE THE NORTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL( PART OF THE WITHDRAWAL AGREEMENT) .

WHAT IS THE COUNTER?

EVEN THOUGH THE TERMINALLY ILL BILLHAS PASSED IN THE COMMONS WITH 75% PUBLIC SUPPORT THE LORDS HAVE ADDED OVER 1200 AMENDMENTS WHICH MAY RESULT IN THE BILL FAILING WITH ONLY 3 SESSIONS LEFT IN 2026