commons

Parliament meets or "sits" in the Palace of Westminster, which is situated between Westminster Abbey and the River Thames.

iv. it ratifies international treaties and agreements to which the United Kingdom becomes a party

For a Parliamentary Bill to become an Act of Parliament and then be entered into the Statutes as a Law of the Land, it must first pass through both Houses of Parliament and then receive the approval of the monarch.

Representatives of these political parties are elected to the House of Commons by the adult citizens of the United Kingdom.

The majority party, that is, the party who has won the most seats at a General Election, has the right to form the Government.

On the formation of the Government, the leader of the majority party becomes the Prime Minister.

The minority party or parties, that is, that party or those parties which do not win the majority of seats at a General Election, form the Opposition.

The minority party or parties accept the right of the majority party to run the country.

In return, the majority party accepts the right of the minority party or parties to criticise its proposals in open debate.

This understanding between Government and Opposition enables the British parliamentary system to function.

It is said that traditionally the British parliamentary system is a "two-party system".

It is true that, for many decades now, the House of Commons has been filled by representatives of the two main political parties, the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

Other parties, for example, the Liberal Democrat Party, have been represented but with fewer seats.

Before proceeding further, it is necessary to look carefully at the House of Commons as a building and a meeting place.

There are five rows of benches, without divisions, on each side of the House of Commons, facing each other.

The Public Gallery is situated on the same level and directly opposite the Press Gallery, facing the Speaker’s Chair.

Since ? , television cameras have been given access to the House of Commons so that parliamentary debates can be televised.

For many years, parts of parliamentary debates have been broadcast on the radio.

All texts of parliamentary debates are published by Hansard and are available to the general public from Her Majesty’s Stationary Office (HMSO).

The Government and Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) sit facing each other across the "floor" of the House of Commons.

The seating arrangement differs from most debating chambers of other European parliaments which are usually semi-circular in shape, for example, Las Cortes in Madrid and the debating chamber of the Generalitat in Barcelona.

Winston Churchill, Prime Minister at the time, was against changing the rectangular configuration.

Winston Churchill was convinced that to change the design of the House of Commons would bring about a change in the very nature of the institution.

The rectangular shape of the House of Commons, whereby Government and Opposition MPs sit facing each other across a narrow space, would appear to underline and reinforce the "two-party" system.

During debates, when an MP is invited to speak, s/he stands up and is conscious at all times of the physical presence of the MPs seated opposite him/her.

Physical presence is greatly enhanced by the close proximity of speaker and listeners, and eye-contact is easily achieved with adversaries.

Although there are 635 MPs who have a right to a seat in the House of Commons, the chamber has seating for only 370 persons.

This means that on the occasion of important debates when most MPs attend, the chamber becomes extremely crowded and people are required to squeeze up uncomfortably on the benches.

However, at most times the chamber provides a cosy environment in which people can talk to each other without the aid of microphones and without raising their voices.

In short, the rectangular chamber provides an ideal context for frank, in-depth debate.

It is argued that the semi-circular arrangements in other parliaments is not so well-suited to debate.

Speakers must leave their seats and come to the front of the semi-circle in order to present their arguments, often in the form of a written speech.

This tends to slow down the proceedings and make the debate more formal and less lively.

Spontaneous interjections from members in other parts of the semi-circle are made more difficult and are, therefore, less frequent.

Also, if after deep consideration, an MP in the House of Commons finds it necessary to switch his/her political allegiance and move to another political party, s/he must "cross the floor", that is, physically walk across the floor of the House of Commons in full view of all MPs present and take up his/her seat on the opposite side of the chamber.

MPs think very carefully before making such a public statement of their political (dis)loyalty.

However, Winston Churchill did it twice and considered it to be one of the most difficult things he had ever done.

More recently, several Conservative MPs have abandoned their party which was in government at the time and have "crossed the floor" to join the Liberal Democrat Party MPs in opposition.

With the semi-circular distribution, it is not necessary to "cross the floor", but rather to move further around the semi-circle in one direction or the other.

The semi-circular arrangement allows for the distribution of members in a configuration running smoothly through all shades of the political spectrum, from dark red (Communist) to deep blue (Fascist).

All MPs are democratically elected to their "seats" in the House of Commons either in a General Election or a By-election.

A By-election is held to elect an MP to replace another MP who has died or resigned his/her "seat".

Each MP is the candidate of the party which gained the majority of votes in a constituency in either a General Election or a By-election.

There are 635 constituencies of approximately 60,000 voters in the United Kingdom

The configuration of the constituencies reflects population shifts within the United Kingdom.

In the run-up to a General Election, at least three of the major parties - Labour, Conservative and Liberal Alliance - put up a candidate in each constituency for election.

In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, candidates are presented for election by the corresponding nationalist parties.

The British Communist Party and the right-wing National Front have not won any "seats" in the House of Commons to date.

The local parties are generally responsible for the selection of their party's candidate for the corresponding constituency in a General Election.

However, the central party office can influence the selection of a candidate at the local constituency level.

Candidates presented for election are not required to live or have lived in the constituency they will represent if elected.

Constituencies in which candidates of one particular political party traditionally win are called "safe seats".

For example, a constituency can be a Tory (Conservative Party) "safe seat" or a Labour "safe seat".

If an important political figure loses his/her "seat" at a General Election, his/her party's central office can choose this person as candidate for a "safe seat" in the next General Election or a By-election so that he/she is returned to a "seat" in the House of Commons.

Any man or woman over 21 can be a candidate at a General Election or a By-election, with the following exceptions: peers and peeresses (that is, persons who have a "seat" of their own in the Houses of Parliament), lunatics, criminals, persons who have committed electoral offences, clergymen of the Church of England (who are represented by the Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords), undischarged bankrupts and those persons "holding offices of profit under the Crown" e.g. members serving in Her Majesty's armed forces.

Voters must be 18 or over, but the following persons cannot vote: peers and peeresses, "persons of unsound mind" and felons (that is, persons serving a criminal sentence of more than 12 months).

Since the Representation of the People Act (1948), the principle of "one man, one vote" has been upheld.

The system of vote-management: "winner-takes-all" vs. proportional representation

Candidates are elected to their "seats" in the House of Commons on a "winner-takes-all" basis.

Members of most European country parliaments are elected on a basis of "proportional representation" or "PR".

The difference is a question of vote-management, that is, how the way in which votes are quantified in order to ascertain the winners.

Voters place the list of candidates presented by the political party of his/her choice into the ballot box.

The lists are added up at a national level and a percentage of the national vote is calculated for each party.

The party’s national percentages are applied to the lists of candidates in each electoral district.

Candidates included within the percentage margins of their respective political party are thereby elected to office.

Thus, the number of "seats" in parliament won by each party at a national level is calculated on the basis of the proportion of the votes cast for the corresponding party across the country.

The number of votes cast for a party nationwide determines the number of "seats" it occupies in the national parliament.

The distribution of votes at the national level is reflected proportionally by the distribution of "seats" in parliament.

The "winner-takes-all" system is used in the United Kingdom and Israel, and a mixed system is used in Italy.

The "winner-takes-all" system is somtimes referred to as the "first past the post" system.

The basis of the "winner-takes-all" system is the constituency, a region used exclusively for the purposes of democratic elections.

Under the system of "winner-takes-all", at a General Election or By-election voters of a constituency select the candidate of the political party whom they believe will best represent their interests at a national level.

The candidate who wins a majority of the votes cast in a constituency wins the right to represent the whole constituency and becomes the Member of Parliament (MP) for that constituency.

Thus, the candidate who wins the majority of the votes cast in a constituency, no matter how small that majority, becomes the elected representative of that constituency and takes up his/her "seat" in the House of Commons.

Thus, although the Liberal Alliance party has won 24.53% of the nationwide vote, it has not won a "seat" in the House of Commons and although the Conservative Party candidates have only a small percentage more votes than the Labour Party candidates, it has more than twice the number of "seats" in the House of Commons.

Proportional Representation achieves a more diverse and representative membership of the national parliament.

Proportional Representation makes it possible for candidates of small minority political parties to win a "seat" in the national chamber.

However, Proportional Representation causes the fragmentation of parliament into numerous small interest groups stretching from the far right to the far left of the political spectrum.

This means that usually no single party has an overall majority of "seats" in parliament and that, in order to form a government, the largest party is forced to enter into a coalition with smaller parties.

Also, coalition governments tend constantly to be forced into compromise agreements with the other parties in order for legislation to be passed through parliament.

The Proportional Representation system of vote management leads to a type of government which is based on consensus, not confrontation.

On the other hand, the "winner-takes-all" system enables a single party to obtain a majority of "seats" in parliament.

In the United Kingdom, the extensive middle-ground of the political spectrum is usually dominated by one of the two major parties, Conservative or Labour.

The "winner-takes-all" system of vote-management generates a "two-party system" of government.

Since voters do not like to "waste their vote" by voting for a minority party whose candidate has no chance of winning, the popular vote is polarised and concentrated on two or three large political parties.

This leads to a stronger government party which does not usually need to form a coalition with any other party in order to pass legislation through the House of Commons.

The "winner-takes-all" system is perceived as providing greater political stability.

However, the "winner-takes-all" system of vote-management which leads to a "two-party system" results in less consensus than in parliaments elected using Proportional Representation and more confrontation.

The "winner-takes-all" system leads to a confrontational style of democratic politics.

British voting habits are based very much on the personalities of the candidates.

The party candidates must not only demonstrate to the electorate that they hold certain political views and promise certain political objectives; they must show themselves to be persons to be trusted and of integrity, sincerity and honesty.

When a person votes in a General Election or By-election, he/she selects an individual - a named, sole representative in the constituency of a specific political party.

For example, in any one constituency voters may have a choice of voting for: Mr. Bill Smith (Labour), Mrs. Betty Craddock (Conservative), Mrs. Ethel Williams (Liberal Alliance), Mr. Ted Shallow (National Front), Mrs. Nelly McBride (Scottish National Party) etc.

Of these, the voter will choose one person to represent him/her in the House of Commons.

The individual who obtains the majority of votes cast in the constituency becomes that constituency's Member of Parliament (MP).

This means that there is a strong human, personal factor in United Kingdom elections.

The person elected is not one of a list of candidates, many of whom are unknown to most voters, as in the Proportional Representation system.

With the Winner-takes-all system, voters have a good opportunity to get to know the person they vote for.

For this reason, when a candidate presents him/herself for election, it is very important that he/she makes every effort to become known personally to as many voters in the constituency as possible.

All candidates must make an effort to win votes through direct personal communication.

Sometimes the candidate is already a well-known person in the constituency, but this is not always the case.

Any person over the age of 21 can be nominated as the candidate of a political party in any constituency of the United Kingdom.

A candidate does not have to live or have lived in a specific constituency in order to be a candidate for that constituency in a General Election.

This makes it possible for the central office of a political party to nominate a former MP who has lost his/her seat in the House of Commons to stand at a General Election for a "safe seat".

For this reason, some candidates will have never had close associations with the members of the constituency he/she is nominated to represent.

The incumbant Prime Minister has the right to call a General Election which must be held within five years of his/her winning the previous General Election.

The Prime Minister announbces the date of the General Election and the election campaign starts.

During this period, political parties try to win over as many voters as they can on a national level.

In individual constituencies, it is up to the nominated candidates to win the hearts and minds of voters in his/her constituency.

When a candiadte canvasses for votes he/she goes from door to door in all the constituency neighbourhoods asking the adults of each household to vote for him/her.

Candidates also hold public meetings in Church Halls, Civic Centres and other public venues at which they speak on their political policies with regard to national and local matters and allow themselves to be questioned by the audience.

Candidates also go on "walkabouts" which consists of walking through crowded streets or marketplaces and handing out party political propaganda and talking to people about their preoccupations and concerns and promising to solve their problems.

Candidates must also use the mass media to full advantage; they must appear in interviews and debates on local TV shows and speak on local radio stations.

Once a person is elected to a seat in the House of Commons, that MP becomes the parlaimentary representative of all the voters of his/her constituency, regardless of party affiliation.

Once an MP for a constituency, the elected representative will maintain close contact with the members of his/her constituency.

It is usual for an MP of a constituency to make him/herself available for consultation by his/her constituency residents on at least one day per week.

If any voter in the United Kingdom wishes to have a matter discussed, an opinion expressed or a question asked at the highest level of government, normally in the House of Commons, he/she can achieve this by speaking to his/her MP.

Many people in the United Kingdom use this method - one of personal contact with one's parliamentary representative.

It is probable that, while both countries are democracies, most citizens of the United Kingdom feel closer to the House of Commons than the average Spanish person feels towards the Spanish parliament.

With the system of Proportional Representation, the channels of communication are less personalised and little opportunity is provided for individuals to have their opinions expressed in Parliament.

Both Spain and the United Kingdom are democracies, but the differing systems of vote-management cause the type, style and quality of democratic life in each country to vary.

Differing systems of vote-management cause day-to-day life in the United Kingdom to be different from that in the rest of European countries.

Following a General Election, the political party which has won the largest number of constituencies in the United Kingdom and therefore the majority of seats in the House of Commons has the right to form the new government.

For example, if the Conservative Party candidates win the majority of the votes in 350 constituencies, they win 350 of the 635 seats in the House of Commons and therefore hold the balance of political power in the United Kingdom.

The party which wins the second largest number of seats in the House of Commons has the right to form the Opposition.

After General Election is known, the monarch asks the leader of the majority party to form a government.

This takes place immediately the final election result is known; there is no delay.

The leader of the majority party goes to Buckingham Palace and is automatically appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by the monarch.

The Prime Minister and his family immediately move into the Prime Minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street which is located between Whitehall and the Houses of Parliament.

The first task of the Prime Minister is to select and appoint government ministers to form the new Cabinet.

A Prime Minister can choose to increase or decrease the number of Ministers forming the Cabinet.

1. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for the economy and finance of the United Kingdom.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer's residence is 12 Downing Street, next door to the Prime Minister's official home.

The most important time for the Chancellor is Budget Day, the day on which the Chancellor presents to the House of Commons and the general public his/her plans for financing the country during the next twelve months.

The Chancellor is traditionally photographed outside 12 Downing Street holding up a small, red briefcase which contains the economic and financial plans for the coming year.

National budgets will announce increases and decreases in direct and indirect taxation.

For example, percentage increases on tabacco, alcoholic drinks and income tax etc.

The Home Secretary must work to ensure state security and all matters relating to policing, prisons etc.

3. The Secretary of State for the Foreign Office, usually referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is responsible for relations with other countries and for the welfare of British citizens outside the United Kingdom.

5. The Secretary of State for Education and Science is responsible for education, state financed and private, at all levels.

There are also Ministers who represent Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who are called the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Secretary of State for Wales and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

The Ministers for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have become increasingly important in recent years as devolution provides these areas of the United Kingdom with greater powers of autonomy and as a new political configuration develops.

A Prime Minister usually selects his/her Ministers from among his/her party's MPs in the House of Commons.

The Prime Minister chooses members from all sections - left, right and centre - of his/her party in order to achieve maximum representation of political opinion within the party.

Ultimately, any Prime Minister depends on the support of the members of his/her party for his/her survival as Prime Minister.

Not all members of the Cabinet must necessarily be selected from the House of Commons.

Members of the House of Lords may be selected by the Prime Minister as was, for example, Lord Carrington who became a well-known and highly-respected Foreign Secretary.

One member of the House of Lords, the Lord Chancellor, who is the Chairman of the House of Lords and the first Law Lord, becomes a member of the Cabinet automatically.

A Prime Minister can elicit help and advice from a large number of experts from all parts of the country.

However, final political decisions are taken in the House of Commons, not the Cabinet.

The Cabinet's task is to create ideas and policies and to debate them prior to their presentation to the members of the House of Commons.

However, most members of the Cabinet are active MPs - members of the House of Commons.

The Prime Minister and his/her ministers sit in the front government bench in the House of Commons.

Junior Ministers work in specific ministries in Whitehall, the administrative centre of the government, and collaborate and support specific ministers.

Often, if a minister resigns, a Junior Minister will substitute a Minister temporarily.

On the announcement of the ministerial appointments, the government Ministers are received by the Monarch at Buckingham Palace.

The leader of the Opposition appoints "shadow Ministers", one for each government Minister appointed, who must follow in detail the plans, policies and decisions of his/her opposite number.

The Cabinet meets every Wednesday morning in the Cabinet Room in 10 Downing Street.

The minutes of Cabinet meetings are published after a delay of a period of 30 years.

The British system is highly secretive, generally more so than other democracies, for example, the United States of America.

The Cabinet is the body responsible for discussing, not debating, and deciding government policy.

The Cabinet creates proposals for presentation to the House of Commons as the government's proposals for legislation.

Discussion at the meetings is free, with no established order of speaking or intervening.

The aim of the discussion is to arrive at a proposal of policy which is acceptable to all the members of the Cabinet without exception.

When the Cabinet proposes a motion or a policy decision to the House of Commons, it is understood that that policy decision has been taken by and is totally acceptable to all Cabinet members.

The opinions expressed by Ministers at Cabinet meetings are their own personal opinions.

At Cabinet meetings, the views expressed by a Minister are not perceived as expressing the opinion of the voters in his/her constituency.

Once a certain course of action has been approved by all Cabinet members as government policy, all members of the Cabinet must accept responsibility for it.

The concept of Cabinet unanimity and collective responsibility is fundamental to the functioning and credibility of the Cabinet.

Any Minister who cannot accept responsibility taken for a decision taken at a Cabinet meeting has no alternative but to resign his/her post.

Margaret Thatcher, Conservative Prime Minister, wanted Westland, a helicopter manufacturer, to link up with Sikorski, a helicopter manufacturer in the United States, in order to achieve financial survival.

Michael Heseltine, Defence Secretary, wanted Westland to join an Italian helicopter manufacturer believing that Britain, as a member of the European Economic Community, would do better to strengthen its links with a European company rather than with the United States.

After a discussion in Cabinet, Michael Heseltine walked angrily out of 10, Downing Street and resigned his position.

In order for a Cabinet proposal or any other proposal to become law, it must pass through certain stages in the House of Commons and the same stages in the House of Lords.

When a proposal is made, it is presented in text-form which is called a "Bill of Parliament".

Public Bills are those which affect the whole community, that is, all members of the society.

Public Bills can be introduced into the House of Commons by the Government or by the Opposition.

For example, in 1997 a Bill was introduced by an MP to ban fox-hunting in the United Kingdom and was defeated by a narrow majority.

Private Bills are introduced by a Local Authority, by a company or by an individual.

Once the Government has decided to introduce a specific Bill, one Minister is made responsible for its passage into law.

The Minister made responsible will be in charge of the Ministry or Department whic handles those matters to which the Bill relates.

The text of each Bill is prepared by Civil Servants of the department of the Minister responsible and the Members of the Parliamentary Counsel.

The Members of the Parliamentary Counsel are experts in legal text creation and expression.

Once a text has been prepared, the Minister responsible will give notice of its introduction.

During the First Reading, the Minister responsible announces the date of the Second Reading.

The printed text is circulated amongst all MPs so that they can study it in detail.

At the Second Reading the Minister responsible first outlines the objectives of the Bill and explains why it has been introduced.

After this brief introduction, the Minister proposes that "the Bill be read for a second time".

Once the Minister responsible has explained the purpose of the Bill, it is customary for the first reply to come from the leading Opposition spokesperson, usually the shadow Minister.

For example, if the Minister of Energy is the Minister responsible, the first reply will come from the shadow Minister of Energy.

The Opposition has the right to the first reply in the debate, and vice versa in the event that a shadow Minister is the Minister responsible.

First, only "frontbenchers" - members seated on the front benches, that is, Ministers or shadow Ministers - are permitted to use notes when speaking.

Other MPs, that is, the "backbenchers", must speak spontaneously, with the use of notes.

MPs are permitted to speak only at the express invitation of the Speaker of the House.

MPs are never addressed by name, nor can they use the names of other MPs when speaking.

All MPs are addressed by fellow MPs and by the Speaker as: "The Honourable Member for ... " followed by the name of the constituency they represent.

Barristers, that is, lawyers who work as prosecuting or defence councils in courts of law, are addressed as: "The Learned and Honourable member for ..." followed by the name of the constituency they represent.

Retired members of the armed forces are addressed: "The Honourable and Gallant Member for... " .

Members of the Privy Council, a selected group of MPs whom the Prime Minister can consult on matters of state, are addressed as: "The Right Honourable Member for ... " followed by the name of the constituency they represent.

One of the advantages of this system is that the persons speaking or addressed are constantly reminded that they are the elected representatives of their electorate, the members of their respective constituencies.

Another advantage is that all MPs who participate in the debates are constantly reminded of which individual MPs represent which constituencies.

For example, attending several debates, any new MP will soon learn which of his/her colleagues represent specific constituencies.

One other advantage is that personal antagonisms are made difficult to express during the debate since no MP can be referred to by his/her name.

Individuals are not addressed; the democratically-elected representatives of specific constituencies are addressed.

In spite of the rule that each MP can speak no longer than ten minutes, with 635 MPs in the debating chamber, debates can be long, continuing on into the early hours of the morning.

By the guillotine tactic, those MPs opposed to the Bill insist on speaking for the maximum amount of time permitted with the result that the sitting ends before the debate and the debate has to be continued on the following day.

However, due to timtabling constraints, the debate of a Bill can be postponed indefinitely and the Bill is never granted more time for its passage through the House.

When asked to vote by the Speaker, those MPs in favour of the motion - the proposed Bill - say "Aye" (Yes) and those MPs against the motion say "No".

The Speaker judges the result of the vote from his/her perception of the relative strength of the oral response, that is, if the Speaker feels that the Ayes are louder than the Noes, the motion is passed and vice versa.

When "Division" is announced in the debating chamber of the House of Commons, bells are rung all over the Palace of Westminster, in some of the public houses in the vicinity and even in the private apartments of MPs who live nearby.

As soon as an MP hears the "Division" bells, he/she must rush immediately to the House of Commons.

The doors of the debating chamber are shut six minutes after the "Division" bells have rung.

In order to vote, MPs must be physically present in the chamber; there is no voting by proxy or by post.

Once in the chamber, MPs must walk along the corridors behind the backbencehs on either side of the chamber.

MPs wishing to vote in favour of the motion, that is, "Aye", must walk down the lobby behind the Government backbenches, that is, on the Speaker's right.

MPs wishing to vote against the motion, that is, "No", must walk down the lobby behind the Opposition backbenches, that is, on the Speaker's left.

Once all the MPs present in the chamber have passed before the tellers and have been counted, the tellers come into the chamber and stand facing the Speaker.

At the Speaker's invitation, each teller then reports to the Speaker the number of bodies they have counted.

However, in practice, on most occasions when called on to vote in the House of Commons, MPs must "follow the party line", that is, vote according to the instruction they receive from their respective party's leadership.

For example, Government MPs will clearly be expected to vote in favour of Bills presented by the Cabinet and, in the same way, Opposition MPs will be expecetd to vote against such proposals by their party's leadership.

If an MP votes against his/her own party's line, then he/she will get into trouble with his/her party's "Whips".

Each party has a Chief Whip who is assisted in his/her task by several Assistant Whips.

The Government Chief Whip is also Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, giving him/her considerable power over the government MPs.

Whips, and especially the Chief Whips, enjoy considerable power within their respective political parties.

Politically, Whips act as middlemen or intermediaries, bridging the gap between backbencher opinion and the frontbenchers, that is, the government Ministers or shadow Ministers.

The Government Chief Whip is not a member of the Cabinet, but he/she is permitted to attend Cabinet meetings; he/she is allowed to listen but not to speak.

Party Whips have access to information about Cabinet discussions more than any other group and they also keep well informed about opinions, concerns and feelings of individual MPs within their own parties.

A Whip can build up considerable power for him-/herself by gaining the confidence of both frontbenchers and backbenchers.

In short, a Whip can be a kind of institutionalised spy, a focus of secret or confidential information which he/she can make use of at his/her discretion for whatever purposes he/she feels to be expedient.

MPs can grow to fear Whips because whips have sufficient information of a confidential nature in order to be able to manipulate MPs.

The most important formal duty of the Whips' Office is to ensure that sufficient of their respective party's MPs are available in the debating chamber of the House of Commons to ensure a majority whenever voting takes place or when there is "Division".

First,the Whips must ensure that there is a quorum in the debating chamber for each debate.

The quorum for a debate in the House of Commons is no fewerthan forty MPs in the chamber.

If a debate is extremely important for the proposing party, then the title of the debate is underlined three times in the House of Commons agenda or programme.

Any MP who goes against his/her party’s Whips’ instructions and does not attend a"three-line Whip" is perceived as defying the party’s leadership.

If an MP is expelled from his/her party, he/she remains an MP but as an independent, that is, not affiliated to any party.

Whipping is employed in the passage through the House of Commons of 90% of all Bills.

During the Committee Stage, the text of the Bill is taken apart and each clause is discussed in detail by legal and parliamentary experts.

The final text of the Bill will include any amendments which have been made and accepted by the members of the House of Commons during the Second Reading.

Once the final text of the Bill is agreed on, the Bill returns to the House of Commons for its Third Reading.

At the Third Reading, the final text of the Bill is submitted to the members of the House of Commons for their approval.

Once a Bill has passed the Third Reading in the House of Commons, it is passed on to the House of Lords.

In the House of Lords, the Bill goes through exactly the same stages as in the House of Commons, that is, the First, Second and Third Readings.

If a Bill is initiated in the House of Lords, once it has passed through the three Readings in the House of Lords, it must then be passed through an identical process in the House of Commons.

Once a Bill has passed successfully through both Houses, it is passed on to the Monarch for Royal Assent.

The Royal Assent given a Bill of Parliament is usually announced in what are called "Letters Patent".

Once given, the Royal Assent is announced by the Speakers of both Houses to their respective members, that is, MPs in the House of Commons and peers in the House of Lords.

Once this has been performed, the Bill of Parliament becomes an Act of Parliament.

The Act of Parliament is then entered into the statutory law of the United Kingdom.

		House of Commons
Bill of Parliament	First Reading	Second Reading	Committee Stage	Third Reading
		Debate (Division)

		House of Lords
	First Reading	Second Reading	Committee Stage	Third Reading
		Debate (Division)

		Monarch
Act of Parliament	Royal Assent (Letters Patent)		Announcement by Speakers to members of both Houses	Act of Parliament written into Statutory law of UK

It is a fixed period in the daily timetable of the House of Commons which reinforces democratic principles.

During Question Time an MP can ask a Minister or any other MP specific questions on any point of policy.

In order to ask a question, an MP must give two days’ notice of the question he/she intends to ask and the name(s) of the person(s) to whom the question is to be addressed.

Most questions are answered in writing, but an MP can insist that the question is asked and answered orally during Question Time.

When a question has been asked and answered orally, the Speaker will permit supplementary questions from other MPs on the same subject or topic.

By asking typical questions , MPs can keep a check or control over members of the Cabinet and other MPs.

During Question Time, all Ministers, especially the Prime Minister, are liable or likely to be questioned frequently by members of all sections of the House of Commons, including members of their own party.

A Prime Minister must perform well at Question Time in order for members of his/her party to retain faith in his ability.

The Prime Minister’s answers must be lucid, well-informed and accurate, delivered in a fluent, spontaneous manner.

If the Prime Minister shows hesitation or an inability to answer convincingly, he/she will immediately lose the confidence of all members of the House of Commons and of the public at large.

In general, to be a successful MP and a member of the Cabinet in particular, it is necessary to be a capable public speaker.

Sometimes, seemingly harmless questions can provoke a careless answer from a Minister which may cause the Minister to have to resign.

In this sense, Question Time is a daily test for the political leaders of the United Kingdom.

Open debate is the bedrock of parliamentary democracy in the United Kingdom and a person’s performance at Question Time reveals in full view of the public just how proficient a speaker is in the art of debate.

Some Prime Ministers, like Margaret Thatcher, have used Question Time to their own personal advantage by performing extremely well.

Tony Blair has introduced some changes in Question Time procedure since New Labour won the General Election in the summer of 1997.

In terms of the political spectrum, the Conservative Party is right wing (blue).

The ConservativeParty places a strong emphasis on individual rights, merit, freedom of thought.

The Conservative Party traditionally supports the nuclear family, the Monarchy (a "model family?"), the concept of nation and the Commonwealth.

Conservative political philosophy strives for minimum state interference in the lives of the citizens of the state and reduce state demands on the individual.

Conservative Party economic policy favours privatization rather than nationalisation.

In recent years the UK economy under a Conservative government has adopted monetarism as a strategy for achieving growth in the economy.

Applying monetarist principles, inflation has been reduced to a minimum by using a control of the money supply in conjunction with interest rate adjustments.

The Conservative Party encourages investment in shares by members of all sections of the community.

Conservative Parties usually prefer a very finely adjusted bureaucracy for administration.

There is a fear in Conservative governments of a monster bureaucracy which is perceived in some European countries, the most extreme being the Communist bureaucracy in the former Soviet Union.

In terms of foreign policy, Conservative governments are strongly nationalist and, in recent decades, one of the objectives of the Conservative Prime Ministers, especially Margaret Thatcher, has been to reestablish Britain’s importance in the world following the demise of its colonial power after World War 2.

The Conservative Party is financed by contributions from the business sector and members of the Conservative Party are often wealthy business people.

When the Conservatives are in power, the currency (the pound sterling) is generally strong and attracts foreign investment.

The Conservative Party indirectly supports the class system in the United Kingdom and encourages the co-existence of state and private education at all levels.

The Labour Party embraces a Socialist ideology and is internationalist in its outlook.

The Labour Party places emphasis on the State and government of State institutions through the State bureaucracy.

Socialism, and the Labour Party, works for greater social and economic equality.

For this reason, the Labour Party gives strong support to the concept of the Welfare State and the State-funded services that it provides: health care and assistance, housing, counselling etc. to all those in need.

The Labour Party supports the concepts of pensions for senior citizens and National Assistance for all those who require it, so that nobody is left without food and/or accommodation.

The main contributor to Labour Party finances are the Trades Union which in the United Kingdom are large and specialised.

In terms of foreign affairs, the Labour Party is internationalist, forming part of a world-wide network of like-minded parties, and strives for equality of opportunity and a generalised quality of life for all members of the community, irrespective of class.

From the end of World War 2 (1946) up until 1979, the United Kingdom was becoming more and more socialist, politically-speaking, especially with the consolidation of the Welfare State and the public’s generalised dependence on the Social Services.

The Welfare State was still perceived as a form of compensation for the sacrifice made by the British people during World War 2.

However, when the Conservative Party won the General Election and Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979, the socialisation of the United Kingdom stopped.

Margaret Thatcher’s government reinforced the United Kingdom’s national identity within the context of Europe and reduced the power of the Trades Union.

In 1997, the General Election brought the Labour Party, now known as "New Labour", to power.

Since its election victory, the Labour Party has had little choice but to operate within the limits of the centre of the political spectrum.

Constituency	Political party candidate	Votes cast for candidates	Winner MP (political party)
A	Conservative Labour Liberal Alliance	30,000 20,000 10,000	Conservative

B	Conservative Labour Liberal Alliance	20,000 30,000 10,000	Labour

C	Conservative Labour Liberal Alliance	30,000 20,000 10,000	Conservative

D	Conservative Labour Liberal Alliance	20,999 19,111 19,890	Conservative

Summary:
	Political party	Total votes for party	Percentage of total votes cast nationwide

	Conservative	91,999 240,000	38.33%

	Labour	89,111 240,000	37.12%

	Liberal Alliance	58,890 240,000	24.53%

"winner-takes-all"	two-party system	confrontation politics	rectangular debating chamber
proportional representation	multi-party system	consensus politics	semi-circular debating chamber

Extreme left	Left wing	Centre	Right wing	Extreme right
Communist Party	Labour Party	Liberal Alliance	Conservative Party	National Front