relationship between Parliament and the Executive

the relationship between parliament and the executive is quite unequal-executive is more dominant

what two factors shape the legislative-executive relations?

• government’s parliamentary majority

• the extent of party unity

why is FPTP good for govt’ majorities?

it often delivers a working majority for the party that wins most votes in a general election

why is it important for a govt to have a large majority?

• they can be in commanding position

  • able to push legislation through parliament by using the whip system and controlling parliamentary agenda

• less likely that the Commons will be able to defeat/ amend govt bills

• able to absorb dissent from its own party (e.g Blair)

example of govt w a large majority

BLAIR (with a majority of 167 in 2001,but 179 in 1997)- was able to absorb huge backbench rebellions over 2003 Iraq war

other issues included foundation hospitals and tuition fees

what is a hung parliament?

occurs when no single party commands an absolute majority of seats in the House of Commons

what is a minority government?

party with the largest number of seats governs alone

how might minority governments use smaller parties to pass legislation?

it may be ale to persuade a smaller party to not vote against it on key measures- as a ‘confidence and supply’ deal

which PM ran the minority govt in 1974?

Harold Wilson- won a majority of 3 seats

who ran the minority government from 1976-79?

James Callaghan

1977-78 Lib-Lab Pact- Liberals supported the government on key votes in the Commons

who ran the minority govt from 1996-97

John Major

it was supported by Ulster Unionists on some divisions but there was no formal deal

what is a coalition government?

when two+ parties form the government, having reached a formal agreement on a legislative programme and cabinet posts

what was the majority of the Con-Lib coalition?

79- allowed them to get much legislation through the Commons

why have backbench rebellions become increasingly common?

ever since ideological divisions within the Labour and Conservative parties became more pronounced

what rebellions were seen during Major’s government?

• on the Maastricht Treaty(1992-93)

• gun control

• VAT on domestic fuel

what did MPs rebel over during the Blair government?(1997-2007)

• 2003 invasion of Iraq-rebelled by 139 Labour MPs

  • largest rebellion in modern British politics

• 2003 foundation hospitals- by more than 60 MPs

• 2005- Uni tuition fees

what did MPs rebel over during the Brown government (2007-10)?

• 2005-regarding 90 day detention of terrorist suspects

• 2006- the Racial religious Hatred Bill

• 2009- the right of Gurkhas to live in the UK

how many defeats where there during the coalition government (2010-15)?

• coalition MPs rebelled on 35% of voted in the Commons from 2010-15

  • most rebellious part of the postwar era

what topics conservatives usually rebel on?

constituional and European Union votes

how many MPs opposed the House of Lords Bill in 2012?

91 Conservatives

what did Lib Dems most frequently rebel on?

welfare and social policy

most significant coalition government defeat

2013 motion on military action in Syria (30 Conservatives and 9 Lib Dems rebelled the air strikes)

how many defeats did Blair suffer throughout his govenrment?

4 defeats

how many defeats did Thatcher suffer?

4 defeats

how many defeats did Cameron (2015-16) suffer?

3 defeats