House of Commons – guide

House of Commons

“BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:”  –  preamble to all acts of parliament

It is the settled constitutional position of the United Kingdom that sovereignty rests with parliament. This means that, except in certain circumstances, its laws cannot be challenged and its authority cannot be undermined. In practice, power is exercised by the executive (the government) with the approval of parliament.

Technically, Britain is ruled by the Crown in parliament. This means that laws and decisions are made by the monarch as represented and advised by her government with the support of both Houses of Parliament. The centre of power in this relationship has shifted over the centuries from the monarch to the House of Lords to the House of Commons.

The House of Commons is now the focus of power and authority in the United Kingdom and, by convention, an MP is chosen by the monarch to be prime minister and exercise her authority. The dominance of the House of Commons is derived from its position as the only elected element of parliament. As such, it can claim popular sovereignty as well as the right to rule.

More theoretically, the absolute sovereignty of the Crown in parliament in tempered by the willingness of the people to obey the laws it passes and the decisions it makes. In recent years, membership of the European Union and human rights legislation has suborned its power inasmuch as it must comply with EU treaties and directives and with the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights.

There is no codified constitution for the United Kingdom but that does not mean that its constitution is unwritten. Documents from the Magna Carta right up to the 1998 Human Rights, Scotland and Government of Wales Acts express powers and rights that define the shape of British politics and the actions of government.

Similarly, there is no codification of the procedures of parliament, although certain publications are cited as authorities. Parliament’s functioning is characterised by historic convention and the ‘sedimentation’ of hundreds of years of practice, although recent efforts to modernise have changed this somewhat.

Housed in the Palace of Westminster, the UK parliament is a bicameral legislature, deliberative body and chief scrutineer of the government.

House of Commons

The House of Commons is the first chamber of parliament and is also called the lower House. It is probably the institution most associated with the idea of parliament in the mind of the British public. It is the pre-eminent of the two chambers. The leader of the largest party in the Commons is traditionally asked by the monarch to be prime minister and to form the government. Most ministers are chosen from among MPs and the majority of legislation is introduced there.

MPs and political parties

Members of the House of Commons hold, in effect, a triple mandate. They represent all the people of their constituency, their party and the interests of the country. It is a tenet of representative democracy that MPs are not delegates for their constituents. This means that, while the views of constituents are frequently considered, the actions of MPs are governed by their determination of the best interests of their constituency, their party and the country as a whole.

Nevertheless, MPs are increasingly expected to spend considerable time both in their constituencies and at Westminster dealing with the grievances of constituents. Most MPs hold weekly surgeries in order to meet people and listen to their concerns. All MPs maintain offices in their constituency and at Westminster to deal with correspondence from constituents. People tend to see MPs as their last resort in disputes with government departments and agencies.

MPs are normally members of political parties without whose discipline and organisation the House could not function. Individual MPs are subject to strict control in respect of voting and what they can say. Loyal MPs are rewarded with higher officer within the party, while the disobedient may be marginalised, expelled or suffer another fate at the hands of the whips.

Given the dominance of parties, independent MPs are rare, though not unknown. But just as it is parties that fund, fight and win elections, it is parties that form governments.

Most political parties have back-bench committees with varying powers over members. The Conservatives’ is the 1922 committee, while Labour’s is called simply the parliamentary Labour party or PLP.

Elections

The Commons is made up of 650 elected members of parliament, known as MPs. They are elected by the first-past-the-post system, which is also known as the plural majority system. Elections must be held at least every five years.

Anyone over 18 who is a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen can stand except peers, bishops, undischarged bankrupts, prisoners and certain officeholders including judges, services personnel, police officers and other civil servants (persons holding offices of profit under the Crown). People convicted of certain corruption offences and members of non-Commonwealth legislatures may not stand. It is widely held that ‘idiots’ and ‘lunatics’ may not stand.

There are certain rules governing the timetable for elections. The session of parliament is prorogued on the day scheduled and dissolution normally follows on the same day, although it does not have to. It is normally accompanied by the proclamation calling a new parliament. The election must normally take place 17 days after this proclamation (not including weekends and public or bank holidays). Election campaigns – the time between dissolution and the election – normally last about three or four weeks.

For the general election, the United Kingdom is split into 650 geographical single-member constituencies. By area, the largest constituency currently is approximately 12,000 sq km and the smallest is 735 hectares. Anyone who is over 18 and on the electoral roll can vote. Each voter casts one vote for an individual candidate of a registered political party or for an independent. The candidate with the most votes is returned as the MP for that constituency.

If an MP resigns or dies, then a by-election is held. The date for the by-election is chosen by the government but it is announced by the Speaker.

The word ‘parliament’ is used to refer to the time between two general elections. It is made up of sessions, which normally last about a year from November to October. A session runs from the state opening of parliament (the Queen’s speech) until prorogation or dissolution. After an election, the Queen opens parliament in the normal way. The first session after an election is normally longer than a year, running to the following October.

All party groups

Numerous all-party groups (APGs) are set up in parliament, each having its own terms of reference. They allow for MPs to promote the interests of certain subjects or countries (eg motorcycling or the USA) and have ad hoc cross-party membership. APGs are registered and regulated by House authorities.

Register of Interests and Code of Conduct

All MPs are expected to uphold the highest standards of probity and conduct. To this end they must declare their financial interests in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests (formerly known as the Register of Members’ Interests), which is published shortly after the beginning of a new Parliament under the authority of the Committee on Standards and Privileges.

The Register is updated annually and is available for public inspection in the Search Room of the Parliamentary Archives.

MPs must also abide by the Code of Conduct which provides guidance on the standards and conduct expected of all Members when discharging their parliamentary duties. The Code is backed up by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and the Committee on Standards and Privileges.