UK PARLIAMENT
1.1. Functions of Parliament
Parliament has two main duties. In the first place, it legislates – it makes the laws of the land. In the
second place, it debates matters of urgent public importance. In this way the public are given the
chance to know what is happening, and what our leaders think about it.
1.2. Elections
There are two 'Houses of Parliament'. These are the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The
House of Commons is the chief source of UK laws. The United Kingdom, consisting of England,
Scotland, Wales, and Northern ireland, is divided u pinto 646 geographical parts, or constituencies.
At least once every five years a General Election is held, in which everyone who live sin a
constituency and who is over the age of 18 and entitled to vote, has the opportunity to elect his or
her MP. Those who wish to stand for Parliament are called candidates, and whichever candidate gets
the most votes in a constituency is elected to become its MP. Almost every MP who is elected
belongs to one of the political parties, and is voted into Parliament generally as a Conservative or
Labour or Liberal Democrat MP. Each political party will canvass for election on the basis of its
manifesto – a document setting out its aims, and the policies it proposes to implement to achieve
them. The party with an overall majority of MPs will be asked by the Queen to form the next
Government. Some candidates, however, stand as independents, because they are independent of
any political party.
Candidates are voted for as individuals. Therefore, if e.g. a Labour MP resigns or dies while he is in
office, another Labour candidate will not automatically take over. There must be a new election in his
constituency. This is called a by-election, and voters may choose to elect as their new MP any person
who supports a different party from the last one.
In the House of Commons leadership must be provided by the Government. This is formed by the
political party which has the majority of MPs. The leaders of the Government are the Prime Minister,
and the other Ministers, the most senior ones being members of the Cabinet. MPs hold Ministers to
account by asking questions in Parliament. The Prime Minister comes to Parliament to answer
questions once a week at 'Prime Minister's Question Time'.
The Cabinet is the senior committee of Government Ministers. The Prime Minister's headquarters is
10 Downing Street, where the Cabinet meets. The Government (executive) directs policy and
proposes new laws , and is therefore immensely powerful; but it is Parliament as a whole which
decides whether to pass new laws or not.
1.3. Composition of Parliament
The House of Commons is presided over by the Speaker, whose job is to keep order in the House and
ensure that its rules are obeyed.
The House of Lords is made up of the Peers of the Realm. There are two main groups of Peers: the
Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are the Archbishops of Canterbury and
York, and a number of other leading Bishops. They are all representatives of the Established Church,
the Church of England. There are 26 in total. The Lords Temporal are made up of two types of peer,
Hereditary Peers and Life Peers.
Hereditary peers are those whose titles are passed down from generation to generation. They are
known as 'peers by succession', because they have 'succeeded' to their titles of their ancestors.
Following the House of Lords Act 1999, hereditary peers lost the right to sit and vote in the House of
Lords, although under a compromise 92 hereditary peers were allowed to remain in the House for a
transitional period. Also, a small number of hereditary peers have accepted an invitation to continue
to sit and vote in the Lords, and have been made Life Peers.
Life peers are made peers for their lifetime only. They cannot pass their titles on to their children.
They are usually persons who have had distinguished careers in such fields as politics, edication
business, medicine, and the law. Leading figure sin the arts, and a variety of other walks of life, have
been made peers.
The members of the House of Lords have a duty to examine the laws proposed by the House of
Commons, and to suggest amendmendments if they think they are necessary. They halso have the
power to delay a new bill of which they disapprove, but this power is very limited. The Lords are no
table to change or delay any laws (known as 'Money Bills') which relate to finance and taxation. They
only have the power to hold up legislation of which they disapprove for a certaib period of time.
1.4. The Law-Making Procedure
The laws passed by Parliament are called Acts of Parliament or Statutes. Before a bill becomes a
statute it has to pass through a number of stages of debate in both Houses.
1. Introduction and first reading
First the bill is presented to the House of Commons. MPs are informed about the proposed
legislation, and a date is given for the next stage. Thie Bill is then printed.
2. Second reading
3. The Bill is debate din the House of Commons and a vote is take as to whether it is in principle
a law of which MPs approve, or whether it should go o further.
4. Committee stage
The bill is now examined line by line, or 'clause by clause', in great detail by a small
committee of MPs. They may be chosen to serve on the committee because they have a
special interest and experience in the subject. At this stage the committee may agree to
receive suggestions for and against the proposed new bill. It may also hear evidence and take
the advice of experts. Alterations to the Bill known as amendments, made at the Committee
stage, will be passed if a majority of the committee members vote for them.
5. Report stage
6. A report is made to the House of Commons on what has happened at the Committee stage,
and all MPs are gven the chance to discuss the changes that have been made by the
committee. Even at this stage it is possible to make amendments to a bill.
7. Third reading
At this stage little is done. Iti s a final debate, frequently held immediately after the Report
stage. A vote is taken on whether the Bill, as amended in the Committee and Report stages,
should proceed or not. If the vote is for proceeding, the Bill is officially passed from the
House of Commos o to the House of Lords.
8. Passage through the other House
The House of Lords then cosiders the Bill in much the same way as the House of Commons.
Not all Bills begin their live sin the House of Commons; many (usually less controversial Bills)
are introduced in the House of Lords.
9. The Royal assent
After a Bill has passed through all its stages in Parliament, it is sent to the monarch. It does not
become law until the Queen has 'assented' or agreed to it. This is Royal Assent. The Queen always
signs her assent to laws passed by Parliament. This is her constitutional duty.
Parliament has enormous powers. It can, in practice, pass any law it wishes – even an unfair one
(although we should reall that the Human Rights Act 1988 affects this power). Anyone who reaks a
law passed by Parliament will be taken to court.
(Adapted from: Rivlin, Geoffrey, Understanding the Law, Oxford University Press: 2006, p. 51-63)