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A summary of the functions of Parliament. This video explores the overarching role and function of Parliament, and the specific duties it carries out as necessities of those functions.
This video discusses the history of Parliament and of the wider UK political system of government, and shows how this history has molded it into its contemporary form.
A summary of the principles of Parliament. This documentary covers the basics of our parliamentary principle and the functions that drive the House of Commons.
Our short history of the mother of parliaments. This documentary covers the basics of our parliamentary history, its past conflicts, and the forces that have molded into its current form.
One of the key reasons why MPs – particularly backbenchers – like the current system is that it requires Ministers to be physically present in the voting lobby each day. This gives backbenchers a valuable opportunity to talk to them, in private, about constituency or policy issues. However, 650 MPs voting personally in the lobby does take up a lot of time and can be disruptive to Ministers’ diaries during the day.
The Speaker’s Digital Democracy Commission calculated that if 3 minutes per vote had been saved in the 2010-12 session, it would have saved each MP 27 hours of time. It has recommended that in future smart identity cards should be used by MPs to record their votes electronically. This would enable the votes to be recorded and published more quickly – but the card readers would be placed only in the voting lobbies to ensure that MPs have to be present thereby retaining the advantage of the present system. You can read more about this in the Commission’s report, ‘Open up!‘.
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Image: House of Commons Division Lobby (UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor)
The Speaker has three deputies. The principal deputy speaker is known by the title of Chairman of Ways and Means and the other two as the First and Second Deputy Chairs of Ways and Means. Even during normal business weeks at Westminster the Speaker does not spend all his time in the chamber so the deputys preside over proceedings on a rota basis. In the event that the Speaker was ill or otherwise indisposed, the deputies would cover all the duties.
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Image: Speaker’s Procession (UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor)
Watch Parliament in 30 Minutes – our short insight into the workings of the mother of parliaments. This documentary covers the basics of our parliamentary system; how our institutions work, how laws are made, and what our representatives do.