A Level UK Government and Politics: Comprehensive Study Guide
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Course
Unit 2 - Governing the UK (9PL0)
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
These A* Level UK Government and Politics notes offer a thorough and well-organized overview of all essential topics. They cover the structure and functions of the UK political system, including Parliament, the Prime Minister, and the judiciary, as well as the ideologies and dynamics of major polit...
● Although the powers of Parliament are shared between the two houses, the Commons is
undoubtedly the more powerful house
● The Commons has the exclusive right to give consent to taxation and public spending
● The Lords can debate ‘money bills’ but not amend or delay them
● The Commons is also more powerful because the government must command a majority
there
● If no party has a majority and does not form a coalition this can give more influence to
minor parties
● For example, between 2017 and 2019 the Democratic Unionist Party had a confidence
and supply agreement with the Conservatives in exchange for funding for Northern
Ireland
Power of the lords and parliamentary ping-pong
● The House of Commons also usually gets its own way
● It can reject amendments suggested by the House of Lords
● Sometimes bills go back and forth between the two houses – this is called
‘Parliamentary ping-pong’ with the Lords sending it back to the Commons and the
Commons sending it back to the Lords
● The Lords usually backs down eventually after making its point
● For example, in January 2020 the Lords made amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill
but when MPs rejected these the Lords passed the bill
● Very occasionally, the Government will use the Parliament Act to force a law through
even if the Lords does not approve it
THE HOUSE OF LORDS
● The House of Lords is described as the upper house of Parliament
● The main power of the Lords is to delay bills becoming laws
● If the Lords defeats a bill – then it can still become law if the Commons passes it again
the following year
● However, the delay can force the government to think again about a bill and possibly
make changes to it
● The Lords can also make proposed amendments to bills and send them back to the
Commons for approval
● So the Lords can be described as a revising chamber – it proposes amendments to
laws which the government can accept or reject
Constraints in the house of Lords
, ● The Lords may not delay money bills (e.g. the Budget)
● The Lords may only delay other bills for a maximum of one year
● The Salisbury Convention – this is an unwritten rule whereby the Lords do not delay or
block legislation that was included in a government’s election manifesto
Membership of the house of Lords ( types )
● There are currently around 800 peers (lords) in the House of Lords
● Life Peers (appointed)
● Hereditary Peers
● Lords Spiritual (Church of England Bishops)
● As of June 2022, there are 654 life peers eligible to vote in the House of Lords.
● This includes 242 Conservative,
● 182 Labour,
● 84 Liberal Democrat
● 187 crossbench peers.
Is parliament truly representative
● 10% are ethnic minorities in commons
● 45 where LGBT
● 26% of peers were women
● 6% of peers were ethnic minorities
● the average age is 69 for peers and 51 for commons
Current reforms
● There has been debate for many years about the unelected nature of the House of Lords
● In 1999 the Blair government removed over 600 hereditary peers from the House of
Lords.
● 92 hereditary peers were allowed to remain as a temporary measure.
● However – reform stalled and the situation has not changed since.
Options for reform
● Why is reform still necessary?
● The House of Lords is still undemocratic and lacks authority
● Possible options?
● An All Elected Chamber
● An All Appointed Chamber
● Partly Appointed-Partly Elected Chamber
Elected chamber
, ● More democratic and accountable
● It could provide a balance against the power of the government
● However… if elected it could claim legitimacy and challenge the House of Commons,
creating deadlock
● Would be dominated by party politicians
● senate?
Appointed chamber
● More experts, independents and people who would not normally stand for election can
be involved in Parliament
● Potentially more representative of society than an elected chamber
● However… the public would have no say and those responsible for appointing peers
would have too much influence
Partly elected chamber
● Those who argue for this option claim that it would combine the advantages of the two
systems.
● Those who argue against it state that it would only be a compromise - the system would
be only partially democratic and it would preserve the power of patronage.
● create two class of members
No change
● Those who advocate no change argue that the House of Lords has proved to be
effective as it is - it would be unwise to make reforms which may have unknown
consequences.
● Those who argue against this point to the fact that the HoL is unrepresentative,
unelected and undemocratic
Abolish the house
● It would be possible to remove the HoL altogether and to have a Unicameral system as
they do in Denmark and in New Zealand.
● There would be no check on the power of the House of Commons
● The House of Commons has already voted against a Unicameral system
Coalition reforms
● In 2012 Deputy PM Nick Clegg introduced a Bill to reform the House of Lords
● Would have meant that most peers would be elected by the public at the same time as a
General Election
● All hereditary peers, some of the bishops and most appointed peers would be removed
in stages
● This proposal was abandoned due to opposition from Conservative backbenchers
, ● So HOL reform is once again on hold!
THE OPPOSITION
● The second largest party in the House of Commons usually takes the role of Her
Majesty’s Loyal Opposition
● The job of the Opposition is to hold the Government to account and to provide an
alternative to the current government
● The Opposition will have a Shadow Cabinet of frontbenchers who will speak in
Parliament and in the media for their party on major issues
● E.g. Yvette Cooper MP is currently the Shadow Home Secretary
● The Opposition has the right to respond to the Government’s Queen’s Speech and to the
Budget
● They can also propose subjects for debate on up to 20 days of the year
PMQs
● Ministers have to regularly answer questions from MPs in the House of Commons
● The most high profile example of this is Prime Minister’s Questions which is held every
Wednesday
● This is a ‘set-piece’ occasion where the Leader of the Opposition attempts to score
points off the Prime Minister
● Other MPs will also ask questions of the PM during this session
● It is debatable how effective PMQs is as a method of holding the Government to account
– it has been criticized as being a piece of Parliamentary ‘theater’.
PARLIAMENTARY PROCESS
● Preparatory stages (White / Green Paper)
● First reading
● Second reading
● Committee stage
● Report stage
● Third reading
● Then the whole process is repeated in the other house
● Royal Assent
Preparatory stages
● Before bills are passed, their provisions may have been outlined in a White Paper or a
Green Paper.
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