Class notes
Lecture notes Law (LLb)
- Course
- Institution
everything you will need in detail to cover the parliament module in public law
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
berfinkizilboga
Content preview
Parliament- Elections and fixed-term parliaments act 2011
- The “life” of a parliament
- The house of commons
- The house of lords
- Primary legislative procedure – when the commons & lords disagree; EVEL
- Delegated legislation
- Scrutinising government
1. Fixed- term parliaments act 2011
- Legally, parliament is not a permanent institution
- Until 5th November, this was the 57th parliament of the united kingdom
- Parliament is summoned by the monarch; and exists until it is dissolved according to the fixed-
term parliaments act 2011
- It is dissolution which triggers elections
- When parliament is dissolved, all seats are vacant.
- It means that currently there are no mps
1.2 dissolution
- used to be a prerogative power, exercised by the queen on advice of the PM
- fixed term parliament act 2011; s1(2) set that the date of the next election after the passing of
the act was 7th may 2015
- s1(3) later elections are the first Thursday in may in the 5th calendar year following that in which
the previous general election was held.- next election would have been due on 7th may 2020
- s2(1)- (2): 66% method happened- when at least 66% of MPs by number of seats (434) vote in
favour of the motion- “ that there shall be an early parliamentary general election”. – Theresa
may used this method in 2017.
- In 2019: johnson tried three times
- Early parliamentary general election act 2019.- s1(1) “an early parliamentary general election is
to take place on 12 december 2019 in consequence of the passing of this act” – s2(2) “that day is
to be treated as a polling day appointed under section 2(7) of the fixed- term parliaments act
2011”
- Ironically passed by more than 66% of MPs but could be passed by a simple majority of MPs
- FTPA 2011- no confidence method
- S2(3)-(5): no confidence method – MPs passes the motion; “that this house has no confidence in
her majestys government”. – 14 days pass without the common passing the motion. “that this
house has confidence in her majestys government”
- What happens during those 14 days? Cabinet manual
- Boarder effect on confidence? – if the government kept losing in the commons, it could request a
dissolution. – if the opposition thought it would win an election, it would table a motion of no
confidence.
Summary
- Default: parliament is dissolved every five years
- Unless- 66% of MPs vote for an early election – no confidence method is used or an act of
parliament is passed.
- Reform? Conservative 2017 general election manifesto
General election
- UK split up into 650 constituencies, each returns 1 MP at the election. Candidates stand in a
constituency. Candidates with the most votes in that constituency wins. Candidates may (usually)
represent a particular political party.
Appointment of the prime minister
- Personal power of the royal prerogative
- The prime minister is appointed by the queen
, - The convention is that the government must be able to ‘command the confidence’ of the house
of commons
- the prime minister “holds office unless and until they resign”
- the prime minister on resigning should usually recommend who the queen should appoint as
their successor
- election… if they government retains an overall majority, they continue in government
- if the government has lost their majority and another party has an overall majority – the prime
minister in office will resign and the leader of the party will be invited to ‘form a government’.
- They then start to assemble a cabinet
- The prime minister remains in office, until they resign.
- The prime minister can in theory wait until parliament meets, and test the confidence of the
commons on a no confidence motion. But the prime minister is expected to resign when they are
unlikely to be able to command the confidence of the commons.
- The political parties can start negotiations between themselves. – the queen does not get
involved
- In these situations, there are essentially three questions
- 1. A single- party minority government, who tries reach agreement with other parties on specific
issues.
- 2. A single- party minority government, supported by a single party agreement. Conservative-
DUP agreement in 2017.- “confidence and supply”
- 3. A formal coalition, with ministers from more than one party, and will usually have a majority in
the house of commons.
If the prime minister resigns
- The party will hold a leadership election according to the rules of that party
- The outgoing prime minister will remain unitil the leadership election has completed. – this can
be several weeks
- The outgoing prime minister resigns, and the queen sends for the winner of the leadership
contest.
2. The life of a parliament
The new parliament
- When parliament is dissolved, the queen will make a royal proclamation setting the date when
the new parliament will meet. All MPs take the oath, and the house of commons the speaker is
elected.
- State opening of parliament shortly afterwards; only occasion when all three elements of
parliament meets; commons, lords, monarch
The queens speech
- The centrepiece of the state opening of parliament is the queens speech. (loyal address)
- The government sets out their legislative priorities for the following year or so.
- There is then several days of debate and a vote approving the queens speech. – this is first test
to see whether the government has the confidence of the house of commons
Sessions and prorogation
- Parliaments last a maximum of five years. This period is split into series of sessions.
- The power to end a session of parliament is known as prorogation, and is a royal prerogative
power.
- A bill will need to have completed its passage through parliament by the end of session;
otherwise it is lost.
- Each new session is open with another state opening of parliament and a queens speech.
3. House of commons
The speaker
- Arguably the most important member of the house of commons
- Maintain order during debates
- Ensuring that procedural rules are complied with
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller berfinkizilboga. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $9.78. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
67232 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now