house of commons

the speaker

ROLE

• resides over the House's debates, determining which members may speak and which amendments are selected for consideration.

RESPONSIBILTY

• Performs administrative and procedural functions. Must become an independent MP to be impartial. 

• The speaker is responsible for maintaining order during debate, and may punish members who break the rules of the House. 

• Most vote in favour of status quo in a tiebreak

WHO? (as of 2025)

• Lindsay Hoyle

MOMENTS OF NOTE

• Reprimanded Rachel Reeves for giving interviews to reporters in the US about her upcoming Budget.

• Parliamentary rules say major government announcements should be made to MPs in the Commons, ahead of journalists.

the whips

ROLE

• Appointed by each party in parliament to help organise their party's contribution to parliamentary business

RESPONSIBILITY

• Making sure that the maximum number of their party members vote, and vote the way their party wants. 

• The party's "enforcers". They work to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being expelled from the party. 

WHO? (as of 2025)

• Sir Alan Campbell (LABOUR)

• The Lord Kennedy of Southwark (CONSERVATIVE)

MOMENTS OF NOTE

• Labour suspends seven MPs for six months who defied government in two-child benefit cap vote.

frontbenchers

ROLE

• The government frontbench on the right hand side, is occupied by Government ministers (including the Cabinet).

• The opposition frontbench is occupied by shadow ministers, the most senior form the Shadow Cabinet

RESPONSIBILITY

• If part of Cabinet, they have their own respective responsibilities depending on their role. (e.g. Education Secretary)

WHO?

• Labour frontbench / cabinet → Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner, Rachel Reeves, David Lammy, John Healey, Yvette Cooper, Wes Streeting

backbenchers

ROLE

• an MP who occupies no governmental office

RESPONSIBILITY

• Can scrutinise PM's legislations through questions at PMQs.

• Represent their constituency 

• Vote with your party

WHO?

• Nigel Farage -> Reform UK leader representing Clacton

• Max Wilkinson -> Liberal Democrat representing Cheltenham

MOMENTS OF NOTE

• Backbench rebellions when multiple backbenchers don’t vote with party

the opposition

 

• The party with the second largest number of seats in the HoC becomes The Opposition.

• Their role is to scrutinise and hold the government accountable.

• They have shadow ministers to individually scrutinise each action of the Cabinet and offer alternative policies. 

• The Leader of the Opposition is often viewed as an alternative or shadow prime minister, and is appointed to the Privy Council. They lead an Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet, which scrutinises the actions of the Cabinet and offers alternative policies.

• currently Kemi Badenoch of conservative party (2024-)

are MPs representative?

• the commons is unrepresentative of minority groups

  • 263 women in 2024

  • 87 BAME MPs

  • MPs still overwhelmingly middle aged, middle class white males

• labour occupational background - academics, public sector professionals, lawyers, unions and ex-staffers

• conservatives - business, finance, media, law, PR, politics, over half been to a fee-paying school

• 90% MPs attended university. 30% of those attended oxford or cambridge

• average age of an MP currently 50

why are MPs unrepresentative

• politics is traditionally the preserve of white men

• increasing tendency to select from university graduates instead of MPs who in the past came from traditional TUs

• FPTP encourages parties to play safe in candidate selection and voters are said to prefer white males

• women find parliamentary politics difficult to combine w/ children especially if the family live far from Westminster

  • in 2021, Stella Creasy was blocked from bringing her 3 month old baby into the HoC

• black candidates tend to have a higher chance of selection from constituencies w/ a sizeable black electorate

• some argue that there should be more representation of women and minority groups to encourage wider participation and more social balance but others dismiss positive discrimination as tokenism

HOUSE OF COMMONS REFORM

Blair’s HoC reforms

Prime Minister’s Questions 1997

• Questioning PM on policies, party affairs etc

• Used to be two 15 minute sessions a week

• Reform condensed one 30 minute slot on a Wednesday

  • PM receives less scrutiny

  • Decreases accountability

  • Gives PM more time to prepare for PMQs as they have very busy schedules

• Makes parliament more effective - governing party held to account

• Holds executive to account - to some extent

Liaison committee 2002

• Committees that scrutinise each cabinet office (education, justice etc)

• Committees made up of MPs across parties. People who care about that department and scrutinise it to improve it

• Liaison committee - all the chairs of each cabinet office. Get to question the PM twice a year on each department

• Makes parliament more effective

• Holds executive to account

Brown’s HoC reforms

Foreign affairs reform 2007-2010

• Establishes the convention that parliament will get the chance to vote on England going to war, bombing people etc

• Prerogative powers still present - PM deciding to bypass parliament and do things anyways. Erodes parl sov

  • David cameron bombing syria 2015

  • Rishi sunak bombing yemen 2023

• Makes parliament more effective

• Doesn’t hold executive to account

independent parliamentary standards authority 2009

• In correlation to MP expenses scandal

• Set up to scrutinise MPs/public servants

• Separate body from parliament, completely independent

• IPSA can refer cases to the court

• Makes parliament more effective

• Holds executive to account

2010 coalition and Cameron’s HoC reforms

fixed terms parliaments act

• If 2/3 of MPs vote in favour for another general election then there is one - snap election

• Makes parliament less effective

• Holds executive to account

reducing number of MPs

• David Cameron proposed this.

• Currently 650 MPs, proposed to reduce to 600. argued it would remove the issue of un-representation.

• Would reduce constituencies in Wales, Scotland and the North. Would reduce the representation of those in the constituencies

• Makes parliament less effective

• Doesn’t hold executive to account

right of recall

• If 10% of a constituency sign a petition of recall (there has to be a re-election in that constituency), MP could lose their seat.

• This is a by-election.

• Makes parliament more effective

• Holds executive to account but not really, unlikely that PM will lose their seat

• Happens if a right of recall happens or if the MP dies or chooses to resign. Takes parl sov and gives power to the people. Democracy at peak

parliamentary privileges committee

• Set up in response to MPs expense scandal

• Set up to investigate MPs that abuse their parliamentary privilege

• Cross bench committee (not just the main government party. Unbiased)

• Have they abused their privilege of being an MP? Something not criminal but something inappropriate for a person in power

• Makes parliament more effective

• Holds executive to account

later conservative reforms

dissolution and calling of parliament act

• Parliament can't vote for elections anymore

• Elections can only happen if 5 years have passed, or if the PM asks the monarch for another general election. Giving power to the PM

• Makes parliament less effective

• Doesn’t hold executive to account

use of statutory instruments

• Amending a law that already exists.

  • Dangerous Dogs Act, adding XL Bullies without changing the whole law. Kind of adding an asterisk. But this asterisk hasn’t gone through scrutiny in parliament

• Because they don’t require scrutiny they can be abused by the government.

• Before 2020 UK had only 17 statutory instruments. In 2020 alone 1618 were used due to covid and Brexit

• Using statutory instruments opposed to making new laws are a way to bypass parliament on voting for new laws

• Makes parliament less effective

• Doesn’t hold executive to account

role of the speaker

• John Bercow was speaker at the time of Brexit. Allowed a bunch of urgent questions about Brexit to be asked even though it wasn't the most appropriate time to ask them

• Speaker can choose who asks questions

• Criticised for stalling Brexit negotiations

• 2019 Boris Johnson decided to prorogue (shut down) parliament so they could no longer have these questions

• Makes parliament less effective

• Doesn’t hold executive to account