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Lecture 2. Parliament

Vocabulary you should know before the lecture:

Provision – Disposition

Snap election – Election surprise/ anticipée

Outline of the lecture:

1. Introduction and a little history
2. How do you get a seat in Parliament?

1. The House of Commons
2. The House of Lords.

1. How Parliament works

1. Who presides over the House of Commons and the House of Lords?
2. What Parliament does

1. The scrutinising of legislation

• Types of bills
• The legislative process
• Parliamentary ping-pong
• The House of Lords’ limited power to block legislation
• How the House of Commons became more powerful

1. Holding the government to account
2. Holding debates

1. Political parties in Parliament

1. The main national political parties
2. Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish parties
3. How political parties operate in the House of Commons

What you need to know after the lecture:

1. Introduction and a little history

• What are the two houses of Parliament?
• What was the ancestor of Parliament called?
• What precedent did Simon de Montfort set in 1265? Why was this significant?
• What happened in Parliament in 1332?

1. How do you get a seat in Parliament?

• How many constituencies are there in the UK?
• What is the electoral system used in the UK general election? How does it work?
• Why has the first past the post system been criticised?
• What are the advantages of the FPTP system?
• When, according to the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, are general elections to be held? What exceptions exist to this provision?
• Who has the right to vote in UK general elections?
• What are the different types of peers in the House of Lords?
• How are political appointments of life peers made? What are political peers also called?
• How are non-political appointments of life peers made? What are non-political peers also called?
• How did the House of Lords Reform Act (1999) change the composition of the upper house?

1. How Parliament works
   

• Who presides over the House of Commons? What are his duties? What must he do in the event of a tied vote?
• Who presides over the House of Lords?
• What are Parliament’s three main roles?
• What are the main characteristics of a public bill?
• What are the main characteristics of a private member’s bill?
• What are the five stages of the legislative process?
• What happens during the second reading and the committee stage?
• How many public bills do not pass the House of Commons?
• When does parliamentary ping-pong occur?
• Why is some compromise generally found between the two chambers at the end of parliamentary ping-pong?
• What happens if no compromise is found between the two chambers?
• What are the two main reasons which explain why the HL have limited power to block legislation?
• What is a constitutional convention?
• What was the immediate cause of the constitutional crisis of 1909?
• What was the immediate consequence of the crisis?
• How did the 1949 Parliament Act change the 1911 act?

1. Political parties in Parliament

• What are the four main national political parties? Who is the leader of each party? Are they left-wing, right-wing or centrist?
• What are the four main other parties in the House of Commons? What are their main policy objectives?
• What is particular about Sinn Féin?
• Why are there rarely surprises in the way MPs vote?

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