Category: Politics

Unlike members of the House of Lords, those in the House of Commons are elected by the public and they are referred to as Members of Parliament (MPs). After the provisions of Magna Carta Libertatum, an early form of Parliament was set up, with the first elected representatives arriving by 1254. They were called ‘knights of the shire’ at that time, a term which conveys the expectation of honour and fairness from those deemed worthy enough to hold the title.

In today’s Parliament (2019-24), 650 MPs debate and vote on all sorts of issues, in contrast to those first ‘knights’, who dealt mainly with taxation. The demands on an MP vary according to whether they are given additional responsibilities at Ministry level, but every MP must have an understanding of national and local current affairs, the law, society and culture. They must be adept public speakers, be able to think on their feet, look professional and present well on media outlets.

Experience of debating may be gained by involvement in student politics or by becoming a local Councillor. There is no doubt that being able to inject pithy humour whilst making a point is a valuable asset to any MP.

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Thomas Curson Hansard (1776-1833) was in the right place at the right time when he was able to buy out William Cobbett’s shares in a parliamentary reporting business in 1812. Not only did he continue the successful format of ‘Cobbett’s Parliamentary Debates’, eventually re-naming it ‘Hansard‘ in 1829, but he also inherited Cobbett’s parliamentary archive dating as far back as 1066. The business remained in the Hansard family until 1888.

Newspapers such as The Times sent reporters to make shorthand notes on what MPs said and Hansard collated these publications, checked them against each other and against copies of speeches supplied to them by the MPs. Not until 1878 did Hansard have its own reporters. At no time did it claim to be a word-for-word account, but it became highly respected as the most comprehensive, impartial, edited record of debates in both parliamentary Houses.

In 1909 Parliament decided to employ its own reporting staff and Hansard became ‘the Official Report’. Today, a team of sixteen reporters take it in turns to occupy two seats above the clock behind the Speaker for 5-10 minutes each in a relay system. Audio recordings and their own observations are then typed up and are available on the Hansard website within hours.

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The Conservative Party is the oldest political party in existence today. Emerging in the late 1670s, it took a moderate line against the ruling Whig Party and initially came to power in the early 1700s. It suffered a setback during the reigns of Kings George I and II but reclaimed power in 1783 under King George III, though in 1801 he vehemently disagreed with them over the emancipation of Roman Catholics.

The Conservatives have been the majority party for over half of the time since 1802, including the World War years when they formed coalition governments. Their continued success is due to their policies chiming with enduring British values, far from radicalism. For example, they support the Church of England, the monarchy, the institutions of marriage and family, freedom of speech, the work ethic, a free market economy and entrepreneurship.

‘Conservative’ is an apt description of the party outlook and this name was adopted in 1830. ‘Tory’, initially a slur used by opponents, has remained as a nickname. As the party is pro-United Kingdom, the official name was changed to the ‘Conservative and Unionist Party‘ in 1909. It is closely associated with British patriotism and received a great deal of support throughout both World Wars.

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One-third of the world’s population live in a member state of The Commonwealth of Nations, previously known as the British Commonwealth. These states are:

All of these have ties to the UK in one way or another; most of them were part of the British Empire. The Commonwealth was established in 1926 with the aim of maintaining friendships, democratic standards, consular service and developmental assistance.

Membership of the Commonwealth network is voluntary, but there are criteria that must be met. These cover a shared set of values: democracy, the rule of law, human rights, free trade, liberty, equality and peace-seeking. A nation can be suspended for violating these. The head of the Commonwealth is the British monarch and the official language is English.

(Image: Commonwealth Secretariat at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC 2.0)

‘Parliamentary privilege‘ sets the boundaries for mutual non-interference between Parliament and the courts. It was laid down in the Bill of Rights of 1689 but had already been a committee responsibility prior to that. It hinges on MPs and Lords having integrity and knowing when and when not to speak out on sensitive matters in the course of parliamentary proceedings. Judges, in turn, only examine Hansard in a few specific circumstances.

It effectively cocoons the Palace of Westminster as regards civil matters such as defamation, as it gives immunity from legal action, thereby ensuring its own form of ‘freedom of speech’. It also gives it regulation of its own affairs. However, the business conducted in public committee rooms and both Houses is transmitted live by television and recorded for posterity by Hansard, so this immunity must be used carefully.

Members are allowed to use handheld communication devices while they are in proceedings, but parliamentary privilege does not cover what they may ‘tweet’, only what they contribute to the debate. Occasionally, someone abuses the privilege and ‘names and shames’ a person for some supposed wrongdoing. If this is sub judice, it can seriously affect the court case and even render it pointless.

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For UK General Elections and local councils in England and Wales we have always used the first-past-the-post voting system, in a metaphorical reference to a horse race where the winner is, of course, the first horse to pass the finishing post. There are many calls for this system to be replaced, but while the people in power continue to be elected by its means, they will be very reluctant to pull the rug from under their own feet.

The system is simple and produces results quickly, in that it only involves counting one vote from each ballot paper. There are no second or third choices to consider and no transfers to calculate. In each of the 650 constituencies, the candidate who receives the most votes, wins. This MP or Councillor is therefore focused solely on their particular area.

However, being based entirely on constituency boundaries rather than looking at the totals for the whole country, it does also produce remarkable unfairness. For example, in the 2015 General Election, the Green Party had 3.8% of the total vote, giving them one MP. UKIP had 12.6% but also just one MP, while the LibDems had only 7.9%, giving them a disproportionate total of eight MPs.

(Top image: Karen Arnold at publicdomainpictures.net / Public domain)

Short for ‘His/Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs’, the position of Foreign Secretary is one of the highest in government. The holder has an official residence in Carlton Gardens, near to the Houses of Parliament, and use of Chevening House, a country mansion in Kent. The Foreign Secretary is a member of the Cabinet, the Privy Council and the National Security Council.

The role previously carried more weight internationally than it has done since the advent of the European Union, but this is bound to change post-Brexit. It carries responsibility for national security and intelligence services, promotion of British exports and foreign investment, and securing trade and resource deals with other countries. It also administers the British Overseas Territories, the provision of consular services, embassies, ambassadors and diplomats, and the arrangements for Brexit and the ‘Global Britain’ initiative.

The Foreign Secretary is head of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. This seeks to gather on-the-ground information from other countries in order to provide government with relevant analysis and foreign policy recommendations. This entails having diplomatic staff abroad who speak the language and know the local customs, thereby building important business and political relationships.

(Image of then UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, in 2017 with Japanise counterparts: UK in Japan – FCO at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

The Most Noble Order of the Garter is the oldest recognition of outstanding service to the nation or the monarch. It was instituted in 1348 by King Edward III (1762-1830) and was part of his establishment of St. George as England’s chivalrous patron saint. Having just twenty-four members plus British and foreign royalty, it is an exclusive club carrying a great deal of prestige.

Their motto is “Honi soit qui mal y pense” and there is a story that relates this to a gallant gentleman returning a dropped garter to its lady owner. Whether or not this is true, it is known that on ceremonial occasions, including Garter Day in June, members wear a blue garter just below the left knee. They also have a George badge and St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle is their church.

Since 1946 the monarch alone has decided who to invite to fill any vacancies that occur among the twenty-four upon death. The men are called Knights Companion of the Garter and have the letters KG, while the women are called Lady Companions and their letters are LG. Owing to the type and extent of life experience required, members tend to be aged from around 70 upwards.

(Image [cropped]: Philip Allfrey at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5)

The Whig Party was active between 1678 and 1868 and emerged as the counter-balance to the dominance of the Tories. At the time of its inception, people’s allegiances to religion, the monarchy and politics were firmly enmeshed. The first Whigs were anti-Catholic and tried to stop King Charles II’s Catholic brother, James II, succeeding him. They failed, but made sure he only reigned for three years before Protestant rule was restored.

Under their sixteen Prime Ministers, of whom Robert Walpole was the first to have that title and did so for a record twenty years, they established the two-party system. They ushered in the increase of Parliament’s powers, the setting up of the Bank of England, the official union with Scotland, the abolition of slavery and the upgrading of the electoral system.

The Whigs initially sacked all Catholics from public office, but by the end of their period of influence they were championing democracy and human rights for all, including Catholics. They began by speaking for the wealthy upper-class, but with industrialisation they also took under their wing the factory owners, merchants and busy middle-class. They came to represent the non-controversial middle way and eventually merged into the Liberal Party.

(Image of Henry Bilson Legge & Robert Walpole: Wikimedia Commons / Public domain)

The Labour Party is a socialist political party and, until recently, has been seen as the main rival to the Conservative Party since the 1930s. It was founded in 1900 under the name ‘the Labour Representation Committee’ and its first leader was Lanarkshire-born Keir Hardie (1856-1915). He came from a poverty-stricken background in which he started work at age eight and never went to school.

Prior to the formation of Labour, the Liberal Party had attracted most of the votes from working-class men, but after WW1 and the granting of voting rights to women, Labour garnered increasing support for its social reform policies. The Party joined forces with the trade unions, which became its major funder.

Including WW2, Labour had three periods of coalition government before winning  power by a majority on three subsequent occasions; in 1945-51, 1964-70 and 1997-2010. The first of these bore most of their society-changing introductions, such as the NHS, the Welfare State and the nationalisation of essential industries. Its membership includes left-wing and right-wing viewpoints and everything in between, which can be problematic for its policy-makers. The Labour Party has evolved from its working-class roots to a point where, since the late twentieth century, its leaders have all been millionaires.

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In a political debate there needs to be someone ‘in the chair’ who organises the agenda, the speakers and adherence to the rules. In the House of Commons this is the Speaker. The House of Lords manages itself and is far more sedate, so has a Lord Speaker in a similar but lesser role. The first Speaker was Peter de la Mare in 1376, while the post of Lord Speaker was not created until 2005.

Both Speakers have the highest authority in their respective Houses and act as ambassadors for them in any dealings with the monarch, the other House and other institutions. The Speaker is an MP and the Lord Speaker is a Lord, and they are elected by their colleagues. There are also Deputy Speakers who share some of the duties.

Speakers “must remain politically impartial at all times” and on election they must immediately cancel their membership of their political party and become ‘independent’. This is one of the abilities on which a Speaker is chosen, along with decisiveness, fairness, knowledge of procedures, self-confidence, wit and charisma. In August 2019, John Bercow became the first Speaker to display his allegiance to one side and work against the opponents.

(Image: UK Parliament at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC 2.0)