P arliament

The House of Commons

The House of Lords

• an elected chamber (is elected every 5 years)

• non elcted chamber (members are appointed), it does not represent constituencies and is not involved in matters of taxation; it is a revising chamber

• Sessions lasts 175 days

• Sessions lasts 140 days

• members are known as MPs (members of Parliament), they represent constituencies:

6 46 MPs

516 72 40 18

England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland

• Members are known as peers

~ 1000 peers

26 12 the rest

Lords Spiritual Law Lords Lords Temporal

• The Labour Party – the leading party  the majority of seats;

• The Conservative Party – the 2^nd leading party  forms official opposition;

• Chief officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker (elected by the House every 5 years). He is “forcefully dragged to his saet” (in the past being the Speaker had to pass the decisions of the Commons to the monarch and was subject to unpredictable consequences (range of the monarch, etc.).

The Speaker has two main functions:

To present the House of Commons to the Crown, the House of Lords and other authorities;

To preside over the House of Commons and enforce the observation of all rules (when speaking the MPs address him rather then an opponent  the Speaker acts as mediator)

• Voting in the House of Commons:

The vote is taken by means of division – the MPs go out into the lobby through 2 doors – “Aye” and “No” – and 4 clerks record the number of those who voted for and against;

In the even of a tied vote (equal number of votes) the Speaker give a decisive vote.

• Lords Spiritual – the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of Durham, London and Winchester + 21 other bishops (they decide on religious matters);

Law Lords – form the final court of appeal, are employed full-time and take part in judicial proceedings;

Lords Temporal – only 92 of them are hereditary, the others are former MPs or people outside who have been recognized for their distinguished service in politics or other spheres of public life (industry, trade, education, science, art, local government, etc) and have been granted the peerage; 17 are office holders and have ceremonial offices; 2/3 of the Lords Temporal align themselves with a political party (traditionally there is a large number of Conservative peers);

• Chief officer of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor. He sits on the Woolsack (a seat stuffed with wool – introduced by Edward III as a symbol of national wealth and prosperity) and his main functions are:

To preside over the House of Lords and control the work of the chamber;

To maintain order.