parliament evidence

big commons defeat for govt

In 2005, backbench mps defeated tony blair’s plans to increase detention for terrorist suspects to 90 days - first commons defeat since 1997

coalition commons defeats

The 2010 - 2015 parliament was the most rebellious in the post war era, with coalition MPs rebelling in 35% of votes. The largest lib dem rebellion was on tuition fees - 21 out of 57 rebelled

Theresa may commons defeats

Theresa May's minority government was defeated regularly as it only had a working majority of 13. one of the heaviest parliamentary defeats of a party in the democratic era was under her - 432 to 202, with 118 tories rebelling, over her Brexit deal.

lords defeats

The lords have become more confident in challenging the govt since reforms in 1999 - in the 2017 to 2019 parliament there were 69 defeats inflicted by the lords

how does parliament scrutinise bills

Public bill committees scrutinise legislation in the commons and can make amendments and listen to evidence. The whole Lords scrutinises bills.

how can bills be created, apart from the government 

Parliament sometimes passes private members bills, often on non-partisan issues. For example, in 2009 MPs supported Cheryl Gillian's autism act, which ensures the needs of autistic adults are met.

Tony Blair parliamentary defeats

tony blair was not defeated from 1997 to 2005

gordon brown parliamentary defeats

The brown government was only defeated 3 times.

coalition government parliamentary defeats

The coalition government was only defeated 7 times in 5 years, unusual for a coalition government

how are the lords limited in their legislative function

The power of the lords is limited. The parliament act 1911 means they cant block money bills and the parliament act 1945 means they can only delay legislation for up to a year. The salisbury convention also means they don't oppose government legislation

how are mps limited in legislative function

MPs are whipped in votes

how are public bill committees not the best at creating good legislation

Public bill committees are whipped and the Committee of Selection is dominated by party whips, who sometimes choose members based on their loyalty to their party rather than their expertise

example of public bill committees failing in legislative function

the MP Sarah Wollaston was excluded from the Health and Social Care Bill Committee, despite the fact that she applied to be on the committee and had relevant experience from working as a GP, as she was not prepared to promise the party whips that she would support the Bill.

how many women in the hoc

263, 40%

how many ethnic minority mps

90, 14%

how many lgbtq+ mps

71, 11%

what percentage of the hoc is privately educated

23% (7% nationally)

what percentage of the hoc is oxbridge educated

20% (less than 1% nationally)

how have some mps represented their constituents

Some mps have chosen to follow the delegate model of representation and represent their constituents views on brexit, rather than voting based on their own views - lisa nandy (labour)’s constituency voted 63% to leave, so despite campaigning to remain she supported brexit legislation and stuff.

how do the lords sometimes represent minorities

The lords sometimes focus on issues that aren't electorally popular but represent the interests of the country - asylum and human rights, such as delaying the Rwanda bill

how is parliament unrepresentative

fptp means that vote share is not proportional to seat share - labour won 33.7% of the votes in 2024 but 411 out of 650 seats - parliament doesn't do a good job of representing the public's views

how doesn’t parliament represent constituents views

Many mps follow the doctrine of the mandate or trustee models of representation rather than delegate, and vote based on their own views or the party’s views rather than the views of their constituents

how can mps represent their constituents issues

People can email or call their mps to raise concerns, and mps hold surgeries and attend local events. Mps work to address their issues, helping them deal with government departments and representing their problems in parliament

how is parliament unrepresentative on issues

The opinions of parliament don't always align with the opinions of the public on specific important issues. For example in 2016 75% of MPs supported remaining in the EU, but 52% of people voted to leave.

how is the lords unrepresentative

The house of lords, which usually has to approve legislation before it is passed, is not elected, so there is little push for them to represent the views of the public and no punishment if they dont.

how has the commons become more representative

In the past, the house of commons was much more dominated by men, white people, privately and oxbridge educated people and cishet people. In 2010, for example, there were only 142 female MPs and 26 ethnic minorities

how is the lords unrepresentative

69% men, 6% BAME, median age 71

how are women systemically kept out of the lords

hereditary peerages automatically pass on to the first born son, and 26 positions are reserved for lords spiritual, and the first female lord spiritual wasn't appointed until 2014.

when have mps represented their constituencies in issues

many of the 44 MPs who rebelled against the London to Birmingham hs2 link were from constituencies that would be directly impacted.

how do the lords have expertise from experience

baroness lawrence specialises on institutional racism and baroness altman speaks on behalf of pensioners as former director general of saga

how do the lords have expertise in different fields

lord patel is former president of royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologists. Lord Walton is former president of bma.

how has the commons acted in the interest of the public

the government’s bill to make pip harder to receive received strong opposition, as it was not in the interests of disabled people, and had to be changed significantly to be passed. 42 mps said in a letter to the guardian that their proposed cuts to pip and uc had caused a significant amount of distress for disabled people and their families. 120 labour MPs openly opposed them at one point, including Diane Abbott and Nadia Whittome

how has the commons not acted in the interest of the public - asylum

the house of commons, before 2024, was in favour of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was not in the interests of asylum seekers as the safety of Rwanda was not assessed well.

how has the commons not acted in the interests of students

Tuition fees were introduced by parliament in 1998 and have been raised several times since then. This was not in the interest of students. 

how has parliament not acted in the interest of the public - economy

They passed austerity measures under the coalition government to reduce public spending, such as the Welfare Reform Act 2012 that cut child benefits, housing benefits and disability living allowance.

how are pms questioned

pmqs - every wednesday the prime minister is asked questions by the leader of the opposition, the leader of the third largest party, and 15 backbench mps.

what have pms said about questioning

Many prime ministers have said pmqs were the part of the week they dreaded the most

older example of tory using pmqs effectively

In david camerons first pmqs as opposition leader said about blair “i want to talk about the future. He was the future once.”

labour guy using pmqs effectively

Jeremy Corbyn used them in 2017 to get the government to make calls to the universal credit helpline free.

scrutiny of boris johnson in parliament

In 2019, Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi demanded an apology from Boris Johnson for racist comments he had made about Muslim women. Later, in 2022, he faced calls for him to resign from backbenchers from all parties during PMQs. 

how are ministers questioned, example

Ministers questions - ministers need to keep up to date with the department. Yvette Cooper, the chair of the home affairs select committee, successfully questioned amber rudd in 2018, which led to concern over the home office's use of deportation targets and her eventual resignation.

how else can the govt be questioned on important matters

Urgent questions - mps can apply to ask ministers urgent qs, speaker decides if they are urgent enough - big increase recently.

when have urgent questions been used

As a member of the shadow cabinet angela rayner asked an urgent question about the tories giving ppe contracts to their friends and making money from it - tory peer michelle mone received £29m this way

how can ministers be questioned outside of parliament

Mps can write to ministers on behalf of constituents, ministers have to respond

how are pmqs less effective

pmqs - pm has parliamentary private secretaries to help prepare for pmqs, they also plant backbenchers on their side to talk about how their constituents have been helped - tory andrew percy once shared an email sent to tory backbenchers with suggested questions about govts long term economic plans

issue with pmqs for backbenchers scrutiny

Encourages backbenchers to ingratiate themselves with leader, especially when the government has a large majority and lots of newer mps want to advance their careers

how can questioning be unprofessional

Mps engage in playground bullying behaviour - barking, clucking and roaring. David cameron called ed miliband alex salmonds poodle and tories barked

how is legislation effectively scrutinised

public bill committees - mps scrutinise bills clause by clause. Strengthened 2007. Less media attention. Around ⅗ have specialist expertise

how are departments scrutinised

Select committees - scrutinise departments. Wright reforms have strengthened them - chairs are elected by parliament. Most stay in the same roles for the duration of a parliament so gain confidence and expertise. Mps take the job seriously. Can request people and info

how have select committees been effective eg - health

Jeremy hunt became head of health committee in 2019 - former health secretary, gravitas, expertise.

how is the liaison committee not always effective

Liaison committee is not covered by wright reforms - 2020 government appointed bernard jenkins as chair - tory, not chair of select committee

how are select and liaison committees weak?

Select committees and liaison committees dont have power to actually change anything

how have debates become better for scrutiny

in 2010, the Backbench Business Committee was introduced, giving backbenchers control over parliamentary business for 35 days each week. The committee decides what to debate on behalf of backbenchers. Any backbencher can submit a topic to be considered, and e-petitions with more than 100,000 signatures are automatically added to the list to be considered

successful e petition example

A petition started in 2014 to remove vat on period products received over 300,000 signatures, was debated in parliament, and led to the uk pressuring the eu to remove the mandatory vat on period products and then removing the vat in 2021.

backbench debate success

Backbenchers now have more time to discuss important issues. For example a debate on wild animals in circuses in 2011 led to wild animals in travelling circuses being banned in 2019

parliament debates on military action

Parliament has become more involved in debating military action - in 2014 david cameron recalled parliament from recess to debate a motion on using airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq, which was unsuccessful. In 2015 a 10 hour debate was held on the issue of airstrikes in Syria, which was also successful.

parliament influence through voting

Rebelling in votes - 2019, backbenchers were able to take over the Brexit agenda after defeating Theresa May’s Brexit deal three times and voting to reject a no deal Brexit

parliament rebellion - Blair

In 2005 49 Labour MPs disobeyed a 3 line whip, which led to the Blair government abandoning proposals to allow terrorist suspects to be held for 90 days without charge.

limits to parliament scrutiny on military action

The prime minister isn’t obliged to hold debates on military action and are less likely to if they think parliament will oppose them - in 2018, Theresa May did not consult parliament over the UK joining airstrikes against Syria

limits to backbench rebellions

Governments with larger majorities can survive backbench rebellions - the Blair government survived the largest ever backbench rebellion in 2003, when 139 Labour MPs voted against the Iraq war

select committee scrutiny - finance

The public accounts committee (select committee) is always chaired by a member of the opposition, and looks at use of public money. For example, in 2015 the Public Accounts Committee reported that the Department of Business and Trade hadn’t done enough to ensure that everyone who was entitled to it had received compensation for the post office scandal

how does fptp make it hard for the opposition to scrutinise

Fptp often creates a disproportionate result, so the opposition has less ability to scrutinise than they should through committees, as they have less chairs than they should. For example in 2024 labour won 34% of the vote but 79% of seats, the tories won 24% of votes but 19% of seats. For other opposition parties the difference is often more extreme

how does the opposition present itself as an alternative

the official opposition has a shadow cabinet, with MPs taking on shadow roles reflecting the roles in the cabinet. Shadow ministers specialise in those policy areas and counter the ministers for the area. They also help to develop policy proposals for the opposition

example of shadow minster doing something good

in 2020 Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, Vicky foxcroft, promised to listen to disabled people and ensure labour’s policies met their needs, and criticised the tory government for not meeting the needs of disabled people in the pandemic, including not providing enough PPE and the number of deaths in care homes.

how is the opposition helped in policy

The opposition receives short money to help with their expenses as the official opposition, including research and policy development.

how is the opposition able to debate and question

They are able to criticise the government and present themselves as an alternative through debate. The opposition gets 20 days in parliament a year, with 17 allocated to the official opposition. 

2 examples of effective oppositions

The blair opposition was effective in highlighting the weaknesses of the blair government from 1992 to 1997, and won the next election. The cameron opposition was effective in highlighting the weaknesses of the blair and brown governments from 2005 to 2010, and won the next election.

when have govts been able to ignore opposition

the blair government was able to effectively ignore their opposition from 1997 to 2005

when have govts had weak opposition

jeremy corbyn’s opposition was criticised for being ineffective and his party was divided, leading to them losing the 2019 election.

how are lords good at unbiased scrutiny

around 23% of lords are crossbenchers and there isn’t a government majority - legislation cannot pass through the lords as easily as the commons

how are lords good at independence

Life peerages mean that they are less influenced by the whips and more independent.

when have the lords forced change - devolution

The lords can change the government’s legislation - dec 2020 the lords forced the government to u turn on the internal markets bill to protect the rights of devolved parliaments

when have the lords forced change - nature

The public bodies bill of 2010 originally allowed the sale of land managed by the forestry commission (dubbed privatising our forests) but lib dem and conservative lords fought it, leading to the forestry clauses being removed.

how have the lords been unable to influence policy - international

In 2018 the government lost 14 of 16 divisions on amendments to the eu withdrawal bill in the lords, but all of these defeats were overturned in the commons

how have the lords been unable to influence policy - health

The lords defeated the government on the health and social care bill 2012 that would reform the nhs, but most of the lords amendments were overturned in the commons

how are lords better at scrutiny of legislation

in the lords, bills are scrutinised by the whole house, while in the commons they are scrutinised by public bill committees. This arguably improves the quality of their scrutiny, as public bill committees are chosen by the Committee of Selection which is dominated by party whips, who sometimes choose members based on their loyalty to their party rather than their expertise.

lords special kind of committee

The lords also has select committees - formed to look at particular issues rather than govt departments. They have the same powers as commons select committees, incl to send for persons, papers and records. There are permanent committees for science, economy and technology, allowing the lords to specialise greatly in one area. The delegated powers and regulatory reform committee reports on whether legislation gives too much power to ministers that cant be easily scrutinised by parliament. The constitution committee examines the constitutional impact of public bills and keeps under review the operation of the constitution.

how are lords less able to directly scrutinise the govt

no pmqs or mqs (and pmqs are reportedly the thing pms dread most in their week)

how are lords not much better than commons at scrutiny and expertise

No departmental select committees. They now match the expertise of the lords, as their members tend to serve for a full term of parliament and their chairs are elected by backbenchers rather than whips

what other weaknesses are there of the lords scrutiny

No liaison committee - an important opportunity for MPs to scrutinise the actions of a pm and govt. The government does not have to listen to the advice of hol select committees

why are most lords not experts

Many lords are political appointments, chosen by prime ministers, so they don't have any specific expertise. Since 2010, only 19 members have been appointed based on recommendation by holac, with the rest appointed by pms, hereditary peers or lords spiritual