The role of the Executive + Legislature

Role of the Executive

  • responsible for the daily running of the country

  • administering the law

  • makes + implements public policy

  • people + institutions involved

    • prime minister

    • cabinet

    • non-cabinet ministers

    • central + local government

    • the monarch

maximum number of paid ministers = 109 (including prime minister) - set put in in Ministerial and other Salaries act 1975, more ministers can be appointed (unpaid)

Most legislation is introduced to parliament by the executive

Royal prerogative powers - powers vested in the monarch (theory) largely exercised by prime minister (practical use / convention) (non-statutory powers of the crown)

  • powers to deploy army

  • grant honours

  • prorogue parliament (end a session for usually 1 week in preparation for the next

    • HoC + HoL cannot meet to debate / pass bills but the current government remains in power

    • to achieve this the prime minister has to advise the monarch - always followed due to convention

Powers are deemed controversial as there are limited checks on their use

Conventions + prerogative are closely linked

The monarch con only act on advice from their ministers - they have no say in who is awarded an honour

Government does not have gain parliament’s approval before taking military action - e.g. Blair used prerogative powers in 2003 to commit troops to join the invasion of Iraq (controversial)

A-G v De Keyser’s Royal Hotel [1920] AC 508

  • example of courts prevent prerogative powers from being misused

  • claimants owned a hotel in London

    • requisitioned under statutory powers (Defence act 1842) during WW1 to house aircrew

  • claimed compensation + government used royal prerogative to mean they have no obligation of compensation (duty to defend the realm)

  • HoL held that owners should receive compensation as per Defence act 1842 - statute took precedence over the prerogative

R v Secretary of State ex parte Fire Brigades Union [1995] 2 All ER 244, HL

  • example of courts intervening when a minister is abusing prerogative powers

  • victims of violent crime were being represented

  • case was about the 1988 Criminal justice act (injuries + compensation) - despite receiving royal assent it still was not in force as it could only come into affect on the day appointed by secretary of state (no date specified at the time)

  • government later introduced a new (less generous) tariff based compensation scheme under royal prerogative - judicial review was requested on this decision

  • HoL found the secretary of state acted unlawfully (exceeded his powers with new scheme) + breached his duty by not setting a date for the act

Benefits of using prerogative powers

  • speed from avoiding parliamentary scrutiny

  • less transparency with public

R. (on the application of Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2017] UKSC 5

  • Article 50 of the Treaty of the European union says a member state can withdraw as long as a notice is served of it doing so

    • government wanted to provide this by using prerogative powers + not being authorised through parliament

      • UKSC said it had to be triggered with an act of parliament - it could use prerogative powers to enter into treaties they, could not use them to change domestic law

R (Miller) v The Prime Minister; Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland [2019] UKSC 41 (Miller II)

  • prime minister advised the monarch to prorogue parliament for 5 weeks instead of the usual 1 - to allow time for a new Queen’s speech

  • the claimant argued that parliament was prorogued for this length of time to silence it - majority opposed the prime minister’s policy on Brexit

  • it was held that the lawfulness of the prime minister’s advice was capable of review by the courts

  • it would be unlawful to prorogue parliament without reasonable justification to prevent its ability to carry out its constitutional functions

    • this was found to be the case

    • all 11 supreme court justices held unanimously that the advice had been unlawful

‘The prime minister has assumed the power of a president, using the royal prerogatives … his huge parliamentary majority  … to be sure that he always gets his way’: Tony Benn, 1999. - said about Tony Blair

Factors that can make a prime minister powerful

  • a large government majority in HoC

    • granted greater authority as its easier to defeat internal rebellions

  • flexibility in the definition of the prime minister’s role + powers

    • no clear legal definition

    • assists dominant leaders

Parliamentary checks on government

  • parliamentary questions

    • allows MPs + peers to question government ministers on their work, policies + activities in different departments

    • no limits on the question topics

    • the government is not required to answer despite free speech

    • prime minister’s specific time for Qs is Wednesday 15:00 - 15:30

    • other ministers typically answer questions once every 5 weeks (subject to departmental rota) + speaker determines who can ask a question

    • weakened as main aim is gaining political points

  • parliamentary debates

    • daily adjournment debate - 30 mins at the end of HoC

    • a random MP is chosen by ballot to raise a topic

    • opposition day debates - 20 days in each session

    • private members’ bill debates - 13 Fridays + 4 other ½ days

  • select committees

    • can contain both MPs + Lords (joint committees)

    • examine specific policies / legislation in detail

    • HoL main areas - Europe, science, economics, communications + constitution

    • HoC main areas - government work in each department, 3 key aspects: spending, policies + administration with a minimum of 11 members

    • balance of select committee membership should reflect party size in HoC (all serve a national interest)

    • can decide their own agendas, call witnesses, appoint special advisers, gather evidence + publish reports with their findings

    • good example of a check despite lack of legislative powers (utilise publicity) + party whips can still influence

  • other committees

  • HoL

THE LEGISLATURE

The HoC

  • elected chamber composed of 650 MPs

  • adversarial layout

  • speaker chairs debates + remains politically impartial

The HoL

  • Peers are appointed (unelected)

  • less power than elected HoC

Royal assent turns a bill into an act of parliament - then it becomes law

Monarch opens + dissolves parliament

They inform parliament of the government’s plans for new legislation in a speech in HoL - contents written by government

Parliament act 1911 - the maximum term is 5 years from the day on which it first met

Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 - repealed fixed-term parliaments act 2011 + allows prime minister to request dissolution from monarch + if granted they can call a general election whenever they want

Key functions of parliament

  • government formation

  • financial procedures

    • government cannot raise new taxes / spend public money without approval from parliament - Congreve v Home Office [1976] 1 QB 629

  • enactment of legislation

  • scrutiny of government

private members bills - introduced by MPs who are not government ministers (ballot system allows 20 successful ones to be introduced per session) typically fail without government support + have less allocated time, usually impact social + moral issues

Public Bills

  • stages

    • start in HoC

    • title is read out during 1st reading

    • followed by an order for it to be printed out + then published as a HoC paper

    • 2nd reading = opportunity for bill to be debated in HoC

    • committee stage - every clause is evaluated usually by public bill committee (16 - 50 MPs with a government majority) then dealt with by a committee of the whole house, at this stage if its amended it has to return to the HoC for the report stage

    • report stage - allows more amendments to be considered

    • 3rd reading - final stage in HoC includes whole house debate (usually short) + amendments cannot be made

    • then bill goes to HoL or vice versa if it started there for the same process

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

members of HoC + HoL must take on oath of allegiance to the crown so they can take their seats - explains why 7 Sinn Fein MPs refuse to take their seats

Nationality requirement of being an MP

  • UK citizenship

  • Citizenship of commonwealth country / Republic of Ireland

  • EU citizenships

    • only from Cyprus + Malta (also commonwealth)

Categories for disqualification from becoming an MP

  • judges

  • civil servants

  • members of armed forces

  • full time members of any police force

  • members of the legislatures of non-commonwealth countries

  • due to a conflict of constitutional duties

  • sentenced to more than 1 year in prison

  •  Representation of the People Act 1983 - disqualifies those convicted of corrupt / illegal electoral practice for 3 - 5 years

Hereditary peers can renounce their titles and become MPs - e. g. Tony Benn in 1963

R v Chaytor and others [2010] UKSC 52

  • example of parliamentary privilege not being a defence for criminal offences

  • 3 MPs charged with false accounting in relation to their parliamentary expenses + tried to use parliamentary privilege to argue against being put on trial

    • UKSC unanimously rejected this

  • all 3 convicted at trial + imprisoned for 16 - 18 months

THE HOUSE OF LORDS

House of Lord’s legislative function

  • help make law

  • examine bills before they are enacted

HoL’s Scrutiny function

  • questions to ministers in HoL

  • debates

  • votes on bills

  • select committees

    • do not shadow government departments (HoC)

    • investigate specialist subjects (expertise of members)

Members of HoL

  • all unelected

  • life peers

    • life peerages act 1958 - title not passed down, reward for service to country

    • appointed by monarch (based on advice from prime minister)

    • some non-party-political members recommended by an independent body in HoL appointments commission

  • lord spiritual

    • 26 most senior CofE bishops

    • can vote but do not belong to any political party

    • no other equivalent group

  • hereditary peers

    • 92

    • reforms to reduce from 700 to current number - House of Lords act 1999

    • debates on a bill to remove remainder peers

Salisbury convention - HoL will not reject a government bill that seeks to implement a manifesto commitment (special form of democratic legitimacy as they have been voted for by the electorate)

money bills - bills dealing with taxation / government spending

If a ‘money’ Bill passed by the HoC is not passed without amendment
by the HoL within 1 month of having been sent to the HoL, it can be
enacted anyway + cannot veto them

HoL can only delay non-money bills for 1 year (no veto either)

Criticisms of HoL

  • undemocratic

  • socially unrepresenative

    • 32% female

    • less than 6% racial minorities

    • very few under 40 years old

  • poor attendance + contrubution

    • can claim up to £300 for attendance alone

    • 10% of peers make ½ of all contributions Guardian 2025

    • 15 peers claimed £585k while not speaking in a single debate

  • too many members + prime minister’s powers to appoint are too great

    • boris appointed 86 in 3 years including his brother in 2020

  • Transparency International found that 2013 - 2023 1/5 appointees were political donors (patronage)

  • no official age of retirement

Examples for reforms to HoL

  • abolition with no replacement

    • lessens checks on the executive

    • inconsistent with international practices

  • becomes fully appointed

    • quotas for minorities

    • reward for loyal service

    • least democratic option

    • how long would it last

  • becomes fully elected

    • most democratic option

    • could lead to government being held account more

    • how would they be elected, when + for how long?

    • who would be more powerful, HoC or HoL?

  • part appointed, part elected

    • idealistic balance - PM appoints + public elects

    • what % on either side