Conservative MP for Southampton Itchen. Aeronautical engineer, who also served in the RAF. Former leader of Southampton City Council. Awarded the George Medal for bravery following his role in apprehending a man following a 2011 shooting tragedy.Read More

Labour MP for Lancaster & Fleetwood. Former researcher to Jeremy Corbyn before becoming an MP. Sits on the Labour left. Christian who is strongly pro choice on abortion. Republican.Read More

Stephen Gethins, SNP MP for North East Fife Read More

Specialist Schools are state secondary schools that aim to be local centres of excellence in their chosen specialism, and which to that end, benefitted from public funding under the "Specialist Schools Programme" and from private sector sponsorship.Read More

In the UK, people commonly smoke cigarettes, cigars and pipes. Read More

Starred questions are questions for oral answer by Ministers in the House of Lords. They are called 'Starred Questions' because they appear next to a star on the order paper.Read More

There are two types of House of Commons Select Committee - departmental and non-departmental. Select Committees invite their witnesses to attend. If that is not forthcoming, a Committee can potentially issue a summons for people to attend.Read More

Debates in the House of Commons take place on a motion to which amendments may be tabled. One special kind of substantive motion is one tabled by the Government to seek approval for expenditure.Read More

Statutory instruments are known as Secondary legislation   They make changes to the law under powers that have been specified in a previous Act of Parliament.Read More

Standing Committees are like miniature versions of the Commons itself. A new Standing Committee is set up for each Bill, although there are normally no more than eight at one time. Within the Standing Committee, a Bill is debated clause-by-clause.Read More

A debate on the Second Reading of a Bill is a debate on its general principles. It is normally held at least two weeks after the introduction of the Bill at First Reading.Read More

By convention, Parliament expects to be the first to be informed of important issues, including new government policy announcements and updates on developing situations.Read More

Scottish parliament committees are deliberative, coming up with proposals for new bills, taking evidence on current affairs and reporting on issues affecting Scotland. They resemble those from the European parliament more than those at Westminster.Read More

A statutory instrument’s passage through parliament is limited to 40 days from the day on which it was laid. During this period a lead committee and the subordinate legislation committee report to parliament on any issues raised by the instrument and MSPs approve or reject it. They may also debate an instrument. Most statutory instruments...Read More

The Scottish Executive is held accountable to the Scottish Parliament through Parliamentary Questions. These involve oral question sessions once a week, First Minister's Questions at noon on Thursday, and written answers for those questions not answered orally.Read More

Fridays are normally set aside for constituency business. The parliament meets in plenary on Wednesday afternoons and all-day Thursday. Committees meet on Mondays, Tuesdays and on Wednesday mornings. Rarely, parliament will meet in plenary all day on a Wednesday. The following is a guide to normal recess dates: Summer – normally eight weeks from end...Read More

Special advisers are temporary civil servants, employed for the duration of an administration to provide a political dimension to the non-partisan work of the general civil service. The number of Special Advisors who later go on to become Members of Parliament is considerable. Read More

Senedd Cymru is the name given to the Welsh Parliament.  It changed its name from the National Assembly of Wales in 2020. An overview of its powers, membership, session times, and operations.Read More