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open-block";block.previousSibling.className+=" open-block";}</script><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><section class="mf-section-0" id="mf-section-0"> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">"British House of Commons" redirects here. For the House of Commons from 1707 to 1800, see <a href="/wiki/House_of_Commons_of_Great_Britain" title="House of Commons of Great Britain">House of Commons of Great Britain</a>. For other bodies in British history and abroad, see <a href="/wiki/House_of_Commons" title="House of Commons">House of Commons</a>.</div> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><p>The <b>House of Commons</b><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>e<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> is the <a href="/wiki/Lower_house" title="Lower house">lower house</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Parliament of the United Kingdom">Parliament of the United Kingdom</a>. Like the <a href="/wiki/Upper_house" title="Upper house">upper house</a>, the <a href="/wiki/House_of_Lords" title="House of Lords">House of Lords</a>, it meets in the <a href="/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster" title="Palace of Westminster">Palace of Westminster</a> in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as <a href="/wiki/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)" title="Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)">members of Parliament</a> (MPs), who are elected to represent <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_constituencies" title="United Kingdom constituencies">constituencies</a> by the <a href="/wiki/First-past-the-post_voting" title="First-past-the-post voting">first-past-the-post</a> system and hold their seats until <a href="/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Dissolution of the Parliament of the United Kingdom">Parliament is dissolved</a>. </p><table class="infobox vcard"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size: 125%; border-top: 2px solid #006030; border-bottom: 2px solid #006030"><div style="display:inline" class="fn org">House of Commons</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-subheader"><a href="/wiki/List_of_MPs_elected_in_the_2024_United_Kingdom_general_election" title="List of MPs elected in the 2024 United Kingdom general election">59th Parliament</a></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom_logo_2018.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/da/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom_logo_2018.svg/250px-House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom_logo_2018.svg.png" decoding="async" width="250" height="67" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/da/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom_logo_2018.svg/375px-House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom_logo_2018.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/da/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom_logo_2018.svg/500px-House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom_logo_2018.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="313" data-file-height="84"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Logo of the House of Commons</div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_House_of_Commons.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="Flag of the House of Commons" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Flag_House_of_Commons.svg/200px-Flag_House_of_Commons.svg.png" decoding="async" width="200" height="100" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Flag_House_of_Commons.svg/300px-Flag_House_of_Commons.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Flag_House_of_Commons.svg/400px-Flag_House_of_Commons.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1126" data-file-height="564"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Flag of the House of Commons</div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="border-top: 2px solid #006030; border-bottom: 2px solid #006030">Type</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Type</th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="padding:0.1em 0;line-height:1.3em;"><div style="display:inline" class="category"><a href="/wiki/Lower_house" title="Lower house">Lower house</a></div> of the <a href="/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Parliament of the United Kingdom">Parliament of the United Kingdom</a> </div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="border-top: 2px solid #006030; border-bottom: 2px solid #006030">Leadership</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><a href="/wiki/Speaker_of_the_House_of_Commons_(United_Kingdom)" title="Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)">Speaker</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Lindsay_Hoyle" title="Lindsay Hoyle">Sir Lindsay Hoyle</a> <br>since 4 November 2019 </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Chairman_of_Ways_and_Means" title="Chairman of Ways and Means">Chairman of Ways and Means</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Nus_Ghani" title="Nus Ghani">Nus Ghani</a>, Conservative <br>since 23 July 2024 </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Prime Minister of the United Kingdom">Prime Minister</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Keir_Starmer" title="Keir Starmer">Sir Keir Starmer</a>, Labour <br>since 5 July 2024 </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Leader_of_the_House_of_Commons" title="Leader of the House of Commons">Leader of the House</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Lucy_Powell" title="Lucy Powell">Lucy Powell</a>, Labour <br>since 5 July 2024 </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Chief_Whip_of_the_Labour_Party" title="Chief Whip of the Labour Party">Government Chief Whip</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Alan_Campbell_(politician)" title="Alan Campbell (politician)">Sir Alan Campbell</a>, Labour <br>since 5 July 2024 </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Leader_of_the_Opposition_(United_Kingdom)" title="Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)">Leader of the Opposition</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Kemi_Badenoch" title="Kemi Badenoch">Kemi Badenoch</a>, Conservative <br>since 2 November 2024 </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Shadow_Leader_of_the_House_of_Commons" title="Shadow Leader of the House of Commons">Shadow Leader of the House</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Jesse_Norman" title="Jesse Norman">Jesse Norman</a>, Conservative <br>since 5 November 2024 </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Chief_Whip_of_the_Conservative_Party" title="Chief Whip of the Conservative Party">Opposition Chief Whip</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; line-height:1.3em"><a href="/wiki/Rebecca_Harris" title="Rebecca Harris">Dame Rebecca Harris</a>, Conservative <br>since 3 November 2024 </div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="border-top: 2px solid #006030; border-bottom: 2px solid #006030">Structure</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Seats</th><td class="infobox-data">650</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:House_of_Commons_UK.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/House_of_Commons_UK.svg/300px-House_of_Commons_UK.svg.png" decoding="async" width="300" height="137" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/House_of_Commons_UK.svg/450px-House_of_Commons_UK.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/House_of_Commons_UK.svg/600px-House_of_Commons_UK.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="360" data-file-height="164"></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Political groups</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><b><a href="/wiki/Government_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Government of the United Kingdom">HM Government</a></b><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style><div class="plainlist" style="padding-left:1em;padding-bottom:0.25em;"> <ul><li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#E4003B"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Labour_Party_(UK)" title="Labour Party (UK)">Labour Party</a></span> (402)<sup id="cite_ref-LabCoop_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-LabCoop-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>a<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> </div> <b><a href="/wiki/His_Majesty%27s_Most_Loyal_Opposition" title="His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition">HM Most Loyal Opposition</a></b><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist" style="padding-left:1em;padding-bottom:0.25em;"> <ul><li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#0087DC"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Conservative_Party_(UK)" title="Conservative Party (UK)">Conservative Party</a></span> (121)</li></ul> </div> <b><a href="/wiki/Parliamentary_opposition" title="Parliamentary opposition">Other opposition</a></b><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist" style="padding-left:1em;padding-bottom:0.25em;"> <ul><li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#FAA61A"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Liberal_Democrats_(UK)" title="Liberal Democrats (UK)">Liberal Democrats</a></span> (72)</li> <li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#FDF38E"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Scottish_National_Party" title="Scottish National Party">Scottish National Party</a></span> (9)</li> <li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#D46A4C"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Democratic_Unionist_Party" title="Democratic Unionist Party">Democratic Unionist Party</a></span> (5)</li> <li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:grey"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Independent_Alliance_(UK)" title="Independent Alliance (UK)">Independent Alliance</a></span> (5)</li> <li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#12B6CF"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Reform_UK" title="Reform UK">Reform UK</a></span> (5)</li> <li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#02A95B"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Green_Party_of_England_and_Wales" title="Green Party of England and Wales">Green Party</a></span> (4)<sup id="cite_ref-Greens_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Greens-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>b<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#005B54"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Plaid_Cymru" title="Plaid Cymru">Plaid Cymru</a></span> (4)</li> <li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#2AA82C"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Social_Democratic_and_Labour_Party" title="Social Democratic and Labour Party">Social Democratic and Labour Party</a></span> (2)</li> <li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#F6CB2F"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Alliance_Party_of_Northern_Ireland" title="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland">Alliance Party</a></span> (1)</li> <li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#0C3A6A"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Traditional_Unionist_Voice" title="Traditional Unionist Voice">Traditional Unionist Voice</a></span> (1)</li> <li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#48A5EE"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Ulster_Unionist_Party" title="Ulster Unionist Party">Ulster Unionist Party</a></span> (1)</li> <li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#DCDCDC"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Independent_politician" title="Independent politician">Independents</a></span> (10)<sup id="cite_ref-Independent_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Independent-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>c<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> </div> <b>Presiding officer</b><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist" style="padding-left:1em;padding-bottom:0.25em;"> <ul><li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:black"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Speaker_of_the_House_of_Commons_(United_Kingdom)" title="Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)">Speaker</a></span> (1)</li></ul> </div> <b><a href="/wiki/Abstentionism" title="Abstentionism">Abstentionists</a></b><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist" style="padding-left:1em;padding-bottom:0.25em;"> <ul><li><span class="legend nowrap" style="page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column"><span class="legend-color" style="display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;border:1px solid black;background-color:#326760"> </span> <a href="/wiki/Sinn_F%C3%A9in" title="Sinn Féin">Sinn Féin</a></span> (7)</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Length of term</div></th><td class="infobox-data">Up to five years<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>d<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="border-top: 2px solid #006030; border-bottom: 2px solid #006030">Elections</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><a href="/wiki/Electoral_system" title="Electoral system">Voting system</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/First-past-the-post_voting" title="First-past-the-post voting">First-past-the-post</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Last election</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/2024_United_Kingdom_general_election" title="2024 United Kingdom general election">4 July 2024</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Next election</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Next_United_Kingdom_general_election" title="Next United Kingdom general election">On or before 15 August 2029</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Redistricting</th><td class="infobox-data">Every eight years, proposed by the <a href="/wiki/Boundary_commissions_(United_Kingdom)" title="Boundary commissions (United Kingdom)">boundary commissions</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="border-top: 2px solid #006030; border-bottom: 2px solid #006030">Meeting place</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:House_of_Commons_Chamber_1.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/House_of_Commons_Chamber_1.png/300px-House_of_Commons_Chamber_1.png" decoding="async" width="300" height="169" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/House_of_Commons_Chamber_1.png/450px-House_of_Commons_Chamber_1.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/House_of_Commons_Chamber_1.png/600px-House_of_Commons_Chamber_1.png 2x" data-file-width="1920" data-file-height="1080"></a></span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data label">House of Commons chamber<br><a href="/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster" title="Palace of Westminster">Palace of Westminster</a><br><a href="/wiki/City_of_Westminster" title="City of Westminster">City of Westminster</a><br>London, England<br>United Kingdom</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="border-top: 2px solid #006030; border-bottom: 2px solid #006030">Website</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><span class="url"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/commons/">www<wbr></wbr>.parliament<wbr></wbr>.uk<wbr></wbr>/business<wbr></wbr>/commons<wbr></wbr>/</a></span> <span class="mw-valign-text-top noprint" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11005#P856" title="Edit this at Wikidata"><img alt="Edit this at Wikidata" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/10px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png" decoding="async" width="10" height="10" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/15px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/20px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="20" data-file-height="20"></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd 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0}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-none{float:none;clear:both;margin:0.5em 1em 1em 0}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-outer-title{padding:0 0.4em 0.2em;font-size:125%;line-height:1.2em;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-top-image{padding:0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-top-caption,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-pretitle-with-top-image,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-caption{padding:0.2em 0.4em 0;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-pretitle{padding:0.4em 0.4em 0;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{padding:0.2em 0.8em;font-size:145%;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{padding:0.1em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-image{padding:0.2em 0.4em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-heading{padding:0.1em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-content{padding:0 0.5em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-content-with-subgroup{padding:0.1em 0.4em 0.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-above,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-below{padding:0.3em 0.8em;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-collapse .sidebar-above,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-collapse .sidebar-below{border-top:1px solid #aaa;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-navbar{text-align:right;font-size:115%;padding:0 0.4em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6em;font-size:105%}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title-c{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:center;margin:0 3.3em}@media(max-width:640px){body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .sidebar{width:100%!important;clear:both;float:none!important;margin-left:0!important;margin-right:0!important}}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .sidebar a>img{max-width:none!important}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style> <p>The <a href="/wiki/House_of_Commons_of_England" title="House of Commons of England">House of Commons of England</a> began to evolve in the 13th and 14th centuries. In 1707 it became the <a href="/wiki/House_of_Commons_of_Great_Britain" title="House of Commons of Great Britain">House of Commons of Great Britain</a> after the <a href="/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1707" title="Acts of Union 1707">political union with Scotland</a>, and from 1801 it also became the House of Commons for Ireland after the <a href="/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1800" title="Acts of Union 1800">political union of Great Britain and Ireland</a>. In 1922, the body became the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the independence of the <a href="/wiki/Irish_Free_State" title="Irish Free State">Irish Free State</a>. Under the <a href="/wiki/Parliament_Acts_1911_and_1949" title="Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949">Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949</a>, the Lords' power to reject legislation was reduced to a delaying power. The government is solely responsible to the House of Commons and the <a href="/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Prime Minister of the United Kingdom">prime minister</a> stays in office only as long as they retain the confidence of a majority of the Commons. </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none"><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Roles"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Roles</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="#Relationship_with_the_government"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Relationship with the government</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="#Peers_as_ministers"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">Peers as ministers</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="#Scrutiny_of_the_government"><span class="tocnumber">1.3</span> <span class="toctext">Scrutiny of the government</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="#Legislative_functions"><span class="tocnumber">1.4</span> <span class="toctext">Legislative functions</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="#History"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">History</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="#Layout_and_design"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Layout and design</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="#19th_century"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">19th century</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="#20th_century"><span class="tocnumber">2.3</span> <span class="toctext">20th century</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="#21st_century"><span class="tocnumber">2.4</span> <span class="toctext">21st century</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><a href="#Members_and_elections"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Members and elections</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12"><a href="#Qualifications"><span class="tocnumber">3.1</span> <span class="toctext">Qualifications</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13"><a href="#Officers"><span class="tocnumber">3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Officers</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14"><a href="#Procedure"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Procedure</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15"><a href="#Committees"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Committees</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-16"><a href="#Commons_symbol"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">Commons symbol</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17"><a href="#In_film_and_television"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">In film and television</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-19"><a href="#Procedure_2"><span class="tocnumber">8.1</span> <span class="toctext">Procedure</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-20"><a href="#Counterparts"><span class="tocnumber">8.2</span> <span class="toctext">Counterparts</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-21"><a href="#Other"><span class="tocnumber">8.3</span> <span class="toctext">Other</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-22"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">9</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-23"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">10</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-24"><a href="#Bibliography"><span class="tocnumber">11</span> <span class="toctext">Bibliography</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-25"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">12</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(1)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="Roles">Roles</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Roles" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-1 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-1"> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Relationship_with_the_government">Relationship with the government</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Relationship with the government" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <p>Although the House of Commons does not formally elect the prime minister, by convention and in practice, the prime minister is answerable to the House, and therefore must maintain its support. In this way, the position of the parties in the House is an overriding importance. Thus, whenever the office of prime minister falls vacant, the monarch appoints the person who has the support of the house, or who is most likely to command the support of the house—normally the leader of the largest party in the house—while the leader of the second-largest party becomes the <a href="/wiki/Leader_of_the_Opposition_(United_Kingdom)" title="Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)">leader of the Opposition</a>. </p><p>The Commons may indicate its lack of support for the government by rejecting a <a href="/wiki/Confidence_motions_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="Confidence motions in the United Kingdom">motion of confidence</a> or by passing a motion of no confidence. Confidence and no confidence motions are phrased explicitly: for instance, "That this House has no confidence in His Majesty's Government." Many other motions were until recent decades considered confidence issues, even though not explicitly phrased as such: in particular, important bills that were part of the government's agenda. The annual Budget is still considered a matter of confidence. When a government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons, the prime minister is expected either to resign, making way for another MP who can command confidence, or request the monarch to dissolve Parliament, thereby precipitating a general election. </p><p>Since the <a href="/wiki/Dissolution_and_Calling_of_Parliament_Act_2022" title="Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022">Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022</a> Parliament sits for up to five years. This is a maximum: prime ministers can choose to dissolve parliament at earlier times, with the permission of the monarch, and often have. This was a return to the historic system that had been replaced by the <a href="/wiki/Fixed-term_Parliaments_Act_2011" title="Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011">Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011</a>, which fixed the term at five years. As of 9 July 2024, five of the twelve last prime ministers have attained office as the immediate result of a general election; the others have gained office upon the resignation of a prime minister of their own party.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>A prime minister will resign after party defeat at an election, if unable to form a <a href="/wiki/Coalition" title="Coalition">coalition</a>, or obtain a <a href="/wiki/Confidence_and_supply" title="Confidence and supply">confidence and supply</a> arrangement, and may be forced to resign after a successful <a href="/wiki/Motion_of_no_confidence" title="Motion of no confidence">motion of no confidence</a> (either from the House as a whole, or from their own <a href="/wiki/Parliamentary_party" class="mw-redirect" title="Parliamentary party">parliamentary party</a>). In such cases, the premiership goes to whomever can command a majority in the House, unless there is a <a href="/wiki/Hung_parliament" title="Hung parliament">hung parliament</a> and a coalition is formed; the new prime minister will by convention be the new leader of the outgoing premier's party. It has become the practice to write the constitutions of major UK political parties to provide a set way to appoint a new party leader.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Peers_as_ministers">Peers as ministers</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Peers as ministers" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <p>By convention, ministers are members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords. A handful have been appointed from outside Parliament, but in most cases they then entered Parliament in a by-election or by receiving a <a href="/wiki/Peerages_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="Peerages in the United Kingdom">peerage</a> (being made a peer). Since 1902, all but one prime ministers have been members of the Commons at time of appointment; the sole exception was during the long summer recess in 1963: <a href="/wiki/Alec_Douglas-Home" title="Alec Douglas-Home">Alec Douglas-Home</a>, then the 14th Earl of Home, disclaimed his peerage (under a new mechanism which remains in force) three days after becoming prime minister. The new session of Parliament was delayed to await the outcome of his by-election, which happened to be already under way due to a recent death. As anticipated, he won that election, which was for the highest-majority seat in Scotland among his party; otherwise he would have been constitutionally obliged to resign.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2024)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>Since 1990, almost all cabinet ministers, save for three whose offices are an intrinsic part of the House of Lords, have belonged to the Commons. </p><p>Few major <a href="/wiki/Cabinet_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Cabinet of the United Kingdom">cabinet</a> positions (except <a href="/wiki/Lord_Privy_Seal" title="Lord Privy Seal">Lord Privy Seal</a>, <a href="/wiki/Lord_Chancellor" title="Lord Chancellor">Lord Chancellor</a> and <a href="/wiki/Leader_of_the_House_of_Lords" title="Leader of the House of Lords">Leader of the House of Lords</a>) have been filled by a peer in recent times. Notable exceptions are <a href="/wiki/Alec_Douglas-Home" title="Alec Douglas-Home">Sir Alec Douglas-Home</a>; who served as Foreign Secretary from 1960 to 1963; <a href="/wiki/Peter_Carington,_6th_Baron_Carrington" title="Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington">Peter Carington, 6th Lord Carrington</a>, who also served as Foreign Secretary from 1979 to 1982; <a href="/wiki/Baron_Cameron_of_Chipping_Norton" class="mw-redirect" title="Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton">David Cameron</a>, former Prime Minister who served as Foreign Secretary from 2023 to 2024; <a href="/wiki/David_Young,_Baron_Young_of_Graffham" title="David Young, Baron Young of Graffham">David Young, Lord Young of Graffham</a>, who was appointed Employment Secretary in 1985; <a href="/wiki/Peter_Mandelson" title="Peter Mandelson">Lord Mandelson</a>, who served as Business Secretary; Lord Adonis, who served as Transport Secretary; Baroness Amos, who served as International Development Secretary; <a href="/wiki/Nicky_Morgan" title="Nicky Morgan">Baroness Morgan of Cotes</a>, who served as <a href="/wiki/Secretary_of_State_for_Culture,_Media_and_Sport" title="Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport">Culture Secretary</a>; and <a href="/wiki/Zac_Goldsmith" title="Zac Goldsmith">Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park</a>, who served as <a href="/wiki/Department_for_Environment,_Food_and_Rural_Affairs" title="Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs">Minister of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs</a> and <a href="/wiki/Department_for_International_Development" title="Department for International Development">Minister of State for International Development</a>. The elected status of members of the Commons (as opposed to the unelected Lords) and their direct accountability to that House, together with empowerment and transparency, ensures ministerial accountability. <a href="/wiki/Responsible_government" title="Responsible government">Responsible government</a> is an international constitutional paradigm. The prime minister chooses the ministers, and may decide to remove them at any time, although the appointments and dismissals are formally made by the Sovereign, acting on the prime minister's advice. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Scrutiny_of_the_government">Scrutiny of the government</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Scrutiny of the government" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-More_citations_needed plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>needs additional citations for <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verification</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Special:EditPage/House of Commons of the United Kingdom">improve this article</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a> in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.<br><small><span class="plainlinks"><i>Find sources:</i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?as_eq=wikipedia&q=%22House+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom%22">"House of Commons of the United Kingdom"</a> – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbm=nws&q=%22House+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom%22+-wikipedia&tbs=ar:1">news</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22House+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom%22&tbs=bkt:s&tbm=bks">newspapers</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks:1&q=%22House+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom%22+-wikipedia">books</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22House+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom%22">scholar</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=%22House+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom%22&acc=on&wc=on">JSTOR</a></span></small></span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">February 2021</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The House of Commons formally scrutinises the Government through its Committees and <a href="/wiki/Prime_Minister%27s_Questions" title="Prime Minister's Questions">Prime Minister's Questions</a>, when members ask questions of the prime minister; the house gives other opportunities to question other cabinet ministers. Prime Minister's Questions occur weekly, normally for half an hour each Wednesday. Questions must relate to the responding minister's official government activities, not to their activities as a party leader or as a private Member of Parliament. Customarily, members of the Government party/coalition and members of the Opposition alternate when asking questions. Members may also make inquiries in writing. </p><p>In practice, this scrutiny can be fairly weak. Since the first-past-the-post electoral system is employed, the governing party often enjoys a large majority in the Commons, and ministers and departments practise defensive government, outsourcing key work to third parties. If the government has a large majority, it has no need or incentive to compromise with other parties.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="margin-left:0.1em; white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify" title="Wikipedia:Please clarify"><span title="The text near this tag may need clarification or removal of jargon. (July 2019)">clarification needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>Major modern British political parties tend to be so tightly orchestrated that their MPs often have little scope for free action. A large minority of ruling party MPs are paid members of the Government. Since 1900 the Government has lost confidence motions thrice—twice in 1924, and once in 1979. However, the threat of rebellions by their own party's <a href="/wiki/Backbencher" title="Backbencher">backbench MPs</a> often forces governments to make concessions (under the <a href="/wiki/Cameron%E2%80%93Clegg_coalition" title="Cameron–Clegg coalition">Cameron–Clegg coalition</a>, over <a href="/wiki/Foundation_hospitals" class="mw-redirect" title="Foundation hospitals">foundation hospitals</a> and under Labour over <a href="/wiki/Top-up_fees" class="mw-redirect" title="Top-up fees">top-up fees</a> and compensation for <a href="/wiki/Ros_Altmann#Pensions_theft_campaign" class="mw-redirect" title="Ros Altmann">failed company pension schemes</a>). Occasionally <a href="/wiki/List_of_Government_defeats_in_the_House_of_Commons_(1945-)" class="mw-redirect" title="List of Government defeats in the House of Commons (1945-)">Government bills are defeated</a> by backbench rebellions (<a href="/wiki/Terrorism_Act_2006" title="Terrorism Act 2006">Terrorism Act 2006</a>). However, the scrutiny provided by the <a href="/wiki/Select_committee_(United_Kingdom)" title="Select committee (United Kingdom)">Select committees</a> is more serious. </p><p>The House of Commons technically retains the power to <a href="/wiki/Impeachment_(British_politics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Impeachment (British politics)">impeach Ministers of the Crown</a> (or any other subject, even if not a public officer) for their crimes. Impeachments are tried by the House of Lords, where a simple majority is necessary to convict. This power has fallen into disuse, however; the House of Commons exercises its checks on the government through other means, such as no confidence motions; the last impeachment was that of <a href="/wiki/Henry_Dundas,_1st_Viscount_Melville" title="Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville">Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville</a> in 1806. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Legislative_functions">Legislative functions</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Legislative functions" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Act_of_Parliament_(UK)" class="mw-redirect" title="Act of Parliament (UK)">Act of Parliament (UK)</a></div> <p>Bills may be introduced in either house, though bills of importance generally originate in the House of Commons. The supremacy of the Commons in legislative matters is assured by the <a href="/wiki/Parliament_Acts_1911_and_1949" title="Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949">Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949</a>, under which certain types of bills may be presented to the sovereign for <a href="/wiki/Royal_assent" title="Royal assent">royal assent</a> without the consent of the House of Lords. The Lords may not delay a money bill (a bill that, in the view of the Speaker of the House of Commons, solely concerns national taxation or public funds) for more than one month. Moreover, the Lords may not delay most other public bills for more than two parliamentary sessions, or one calendar year. These provisions, however, only apply to public bills that originate in the House of Commons. Moreover, a bill that seeks to extend a parliamentary term beyond five years requires the consent of the House of Lords. </p><p>By a custom that prevailed even before the Parliament Acts, only the House of Commons may originate bills concerning taxation or <a href="/wiki/Government_budget" title="Government budget">supply</a>. Furthermore, supply bills passed by the House of Commons are immune to amendments in the House of Lords. In addition, the House of Lords is barred from amending a bill so as to insert a taxation or supply-related provision, but the House of Commons often waives its privileges and allows the Lords to make amendments with financial implications. Under a separate convention, known as the <a href="/wiki/Salisbury_Convention" title="Salisbury Convention">Salisbury Convention</a>, the House of Lords does not seek to oppose legislation promised in the government's election <a href="/wiki/Manifesto" title="Manifesto">manifesto</a>. Hence, as the power of the House of Lords has been severely curtailed by statute and by practice, the House of Commons is clearly the more powerful chamber of Parliament. </p> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(2)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="History">History</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: History" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-2 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-2"> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/House_of_Commons_of_England" title="House of Commons of England">House of Commons of England</a>, <a href="/wiki/House_of_Commons_of_Great_Britain" title="House of Commons of Great Britain">House of Commons of Great Britain</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Unreformed_House_of_Commons" title="Unreformed House of Commons">Unreformed House of Commons</a></div> <p>The British parliament of today largely descends, in practice, from the <a href="/wiki/Parliament_of_England" title="Parliament of England">Parliament of England</a>, although the 1706 <a href="/wiki/Treaty_of_Union" title="Treaty of Union">Treaty of Union</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1707" title="Acts of Union 1707">Acts of Union</a> that ratified the Treaty, created a new <a href="/wiki/Parliament_of_Great_Britain" title="Parliament of Great Britain">Parliament of Great Britain</a> to replace the Parliament of England and the <a href="/wiki/Parliament_of_Scotland" title="Parliament of Scotland">Parliament of Scotland</a>, with the addition of 45 MPs and sixteen <a href="/wiki/List_of_Scottish_representative_peers" title="List of Scottish representative peers">Scottish representative peers</a>. Later still the <a href="/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1800" title="Acts of Union 1800">Acts of Union 1800</a> brought about the abolition of the <a href="/wiki/Parliament_of_Ireland" title="Parliament of Ireland">Parliament of Ireland</a> and enlarged the Commons at Westminster with 100 Irish members, creating the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Middle_English" title="Middle English">Middle English</a> word <i>common</i> or <i>commune</i>, which is derived from the <a href="/wiki/Anglo-Norman_language" title="Anglo-Norman language">Anglo-Norman</a> <i>commune</i>, meant "of general, public, or non-private nature" as an adjective and, as a substantive, "the common body of the people of any place; the community or commonalty" in the singular; "the common people, the commonalty; the lower order, as distinguished from those of noble or knight or gentle rank", or "the burgers of a town; the body of free citizens, bearing common burdens, and exercising common rights; (hence) the third estate in the English constitution; the body of people, not ennobled, and represented by the Lower House of Parliament" in the plural.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The word has survived to this day in the original Anglo-Norman phrase <i>soit baillé aux communes</i>, with which a bill is transmitted from the House of Lords to the House of Commons.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The historian <a href="/wiki/Albert_Pollard" title="Albert Pollard">Albert Pollard</a> held a somewhat different view on the word's origins in 1920. He agreed that <i>commons</i> could be derived from Anglo-Norman <i>communes</i>, but that it referred to "civil associations" or "the counties".<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, the <i><a href="/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary" title="Oxford English Dictionary">Oxford English Dictionary</a></i>, the historical dictionary of the English language, can only attest to the word meaning advocated by Pollard from the 19th and 20th centuries onwards, whereas sources for the meaning given in the previous section date from the late Middle Ages, i.e. the time of the establishment of the House of Commons.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Layout_and_design">Layout and design</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Layout and design" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster#Commons_Chamber" title="Palace of Westminster">Palace of Westminster § Commons Chamber</a></div> <p>The current Commons' <a href="/wiki/Debate_chamber" title="Debate chamber">layout</a> is influenced by the use of the original <a href="/wiki/St_Stephen%27s_Chapel" title="St Stephen's Chapel">St. Stephen's Chapel</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster" title="Palace of Westminster">Palace of Westminster</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The rectangular shape is derived from the shape of the chapel. Benches were arranged using the configuration of the chapel's choir stalls whereby they were facing across from one another. This arrangement facilitated an adversarial atmosphere representative of the British parliamentary approach.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The distance across the floor of the house between the government and opposition benches is 13 feet (3.96 m), said to be equivalent to two swords' length, though this is likely to be purely symbolic given weapons have been banned in the chamber for hundreds of years.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="19th_century">19th century</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: 19th century" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Reform_Acts" title="Reform Acts">Reform Acts</a></div><figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:The_House_of_Commons_1793-94_by_Karl_Anton_Hickel.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><noscript><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/The_House_of_Commons_1793-94_by_Karl_Anton_Hickel.jpg/250px-The_House_of_Commons_1793-94_by_Karl_Anton_Hickel.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="181" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="2400" data-file-height="1740"></noscript><span class="lazy-image-placeholder" style="width: 250px;height: 181px;" data-src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/The_House_of_Commons_1793-94_by_Karl_Anton_Hickel.jpg/250px-The_House_of_Commons_1793-94_by_Karl_Anton_Hickel.jpg" data-width="250" data-height="181" data-srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/The_House_of_Commons_1793-94_by_Karl_Anton_Hickel.jpg/375px-The_House_of_Commons_1793-94_by_Karl_Anton_Hickel.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/The_House_of_Commons_1793-94_by_Karl_Anton_Hickel.jpg/500px-The_House_of_Commons_1793-94_by_Karl_Anton_Hickel.jpg 2x" data-class="mw-file-element"> </span></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/William_Pitt_the_Younger" title="William Pitt the Younger">William Pitt the Younger</a> addressing the Commons in <i><a href="/wiki/The_House_of_Commons,_1793%E2%80%9394" title="The House of Commons, 1793–94">The House of Commons, 1793–94</a></i> by <a href="/wiki/Anton_Hickel" title="Anton Hickel">Anton Hickel</a>.</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Microcosm_of_London_Plate_021_-_House_of_Commons_(alt).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><noscript><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Microcosm_of_London_Plate_021_-_House_of_Commons_%28alt%29.jpg/250px-Microcosm_of_London_Plate_021_-_House_of_Commons_%28alt%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="184" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="846" data-file-height="622"></noscript><span class="lazy-image-placeholder" style="width: 250px;height: 184px;" data-src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Microcosm_of_London_Plate_021_-_House_of_Commons_%28alt%29.jpg/250px-Microcosm_of_London_Plate_021_-_House_of_Commons_%28alt%29.jpg" data-width="250" data-height="184" data-srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Microcosm_of_London_Plate_021_-_House_of_Commons_%28alt%29.jpg/375px-Microcosm_of_London_Plate_021_-_House_of_Commons_%28alt%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Microcosm_of_London_Plate_021_-_House_of_Commons_%28alt%29.jpg/500px-Microcosm_of_London_Plate_021_-_House_of_Commons_%28alt%29.jpg 2x" data-class="mw-file-element"> </span></a><figcaption>The House of Commons in the early 19th century by <a href="/wiki/Augustus_Charles_Pugin" title="Augustus Charles Pugin">Augustus Pugin</a> and <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Rowlandson" title="Thomas Rowlandson">Thomas Rowlandson</a>.</figcaption></figure> <p>The House of Commons underwent an important period of reform during the 19th century. Over the years, several anomalies had developed in borough representation. The constituency boundaries had not been changed since 1660, so many towns whose importance had declined by the 19th century still retained their ancient right of electing two members, in addition to other boroughs that had never been important, such as <a href="/wiki/Gatton_(UK_Parliament_constituency)" title="Gatton (UK Parliament constituency)">Gatton</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Among the most notorious of these "<a href="/wiki/Rotten_and_pocket_boroughs" title="Rotten and pocket boroughs">rotten boroughs</a>" were <a href="/wiki/Old_Sarum_(UK_Parliament_constituency)" title="Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)">Old Sarum</a>, which had only six voters for two MPs, and <a href="/wiki/Dunwich_(UK_Parliament_constituency)" title="Dunwich (UK Parliament constituency)">Dunwich</a>, which had largely collapsed into the sea from <a href="/wiki/Coastal_erosion" title="Coastal erosion">coastal erosion</a>. At the same time, large cities such as <a href="/wiki/Manchester" title="Manchester">Manchester</a> received no separate representation (although their eligible residents were entitled to vote in the corresponding county seat). Also notable were the <a href="/wiki/Rotten_and_pocket_boroughs" title="Rotten and pocket boroughs">pocket boroughs</a>, small constituencies controlled by wealthy landowners and aristocrats, whose "nominees" were invariably elected.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (January 2018)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>The Commons attempted to address these anomalies by passing a Reform Bill in 1831. At first, the House of Lords proved unwilling to pass the bill, but it was forced to relent when the prime minister, <a href="/wiki/Charles_Grey,_2nd_Earl_Grey" title="Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey">Charles, 2nd Earl Grey</a>, advised <a href="/wiki/William_IV" title="William IV">King William IV</a> to flood the House of Lords by creating pro-Reform peers. To avoid this, the Lords relented and passed the bill in 1832. The <a href="/wiki/Reform_Act_1832" title="Reform Act 1832">Reform Act 1832</a>, also known as the "Great Reform Act", abolished the rotten boroughs, established uniform voting requirements for the boroughs, and granted representation to populous cities, but still retained some anomalies.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In the ensuing years, the Commons grew more assertive, the influence of the House of Lords having been reduced by the Reform Bill crisis, and the power of the patrons reduced. The Lords became more reluctant to reject bills that the Commons had passed with large majorities, and it became an accepted political principle that the confidence of the House of Commons alone was necessary for a government to remain in office.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (January 2018)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>Many more reforms were introduced in the latter half of the 19th century. The <a href="/wiki/Reform_Act_1867" title="Reform Act 1867">Reform Act 1867</a> lowered property requirements for voting in the boroughs, reduced the representation of the less populous boroughs, and granted parliamentary seats to several growing industrial towns. The electorate was further expanded by the <a href="/wiki/Representation_of_the_People_Act_1884" title="Representation of the People Act 1884">Representation of the People Act 1884</a>, under which property qualifications in the counties were lowered. The <a href="/wiki/Redistribution_of_Seats_Act_1885" title="Redistribution of Seats Act 1885">Redistribution of Seats Act</a> of the following year replaced almost all multi-member constituencies with single-member constituencies.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="20th_century">20th century</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: 20th century" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Houseofcommons1851.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><noscript><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Houseofcommons1851.jpg/250px-Houseofcommons1851.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="176" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="633" data-file-height="446"></noscript><span class="lazy-image-placeholder" style="width: 250px;height: 176px;" data-src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Houseofcommons1851.jpg/250px-Houseofcommons1851.jpg" data-width="250" data-height="176" data-srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Houseofcommons1851.jpg/375px-Houseofcommons1851.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Houseofcommons1851.jpg/500px-Houseofcommons1851.jpg 2x" data-class="mw-file-element"> </span></a><figcaption>The old Chamber of the House of Commons built by Sir <a href="/wiki/Charles_Barry" title="Charles Barry">Charles Barry</a> was destroyed by German bombs during the Second World War. The essential features of Barry's design were preserved when the chamber was rebuilt.</figcaption></figure> <p>In 1908, the <a href="/wiki/Liberal_Party_(UK)" title="Liberal Party (UK)">Liberal</a> Government under <a href="/wiki/H._H._Asquith" title="H. H. Asquith">H. H. Asquith</a> introduced a number of <a href="/wiki/Welfare" class="mw-redirect" title="Welfare">social welfare</a> programmes, which, together with an expensive <a href="/wiki/Arms_race" title="Arms race">arms race</a>, forced the Government to seek higher taxes. In 1909, the <a href="/wiki/Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer" title="Chancellor of the Exchequer">Chancellor of the Exchequer</a>, <a href="/wiki/David_Lloyd_George" title="David Lloyd George">David Lloyd George</a>, introduced the "People's Budget", which proposed a new tax targeting wealthy landowners. This measure failed in the heavily Conservative House of Lords, and the government resigned. </p><p>The resulting <a href="/wiki/January_1910_United_Kingdom_general_election" title="January 1910 United Kingdom general election">general election</a> returned a <a href="/wiki/Hung_parliament" title="Hung parliament">hung parliament</a>, but Asquith remained prime minister with the support of the smaller parties. Asquith then proposed that the powers of the Lords be severely curtailed. Following a further <a href="/wiki/December_1910_United_Kingdom_general_election" title="December 1910 United Kingdom general election">election in December 1910</a>, the Asquith Government secured the passage of a bill to curtail the powers of the House of Lords after threatening to flood the house with 500 new Liberal peers to ensure the passage of the bill. </p> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Coat_of_arms_of_the_House_of_Commons_in_a_letter_from_Winston_Churchill_in_the_year_1945..pdf" class="mw-file-description"><noscript><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Coat_of_arms_of_the_House_of_Commons_in_a_letter_from_Winston_Churchill_in_the_year_1945..pdf/page1-220px-Coat_of_arms_of_the_House_of_Commons_in_a_letter_from_Winston_Churchill_in_the_year_1945..pdf.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="311" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="1239" data-file-height="1752"></noscript><span class="lazy-image-placeholder" style="width: 220px;height: 311px;" data-src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Coat_of_arms_of_the_House_of_Commons_in_a_letter_from_Winston_Churchill_in_the_year_1945..pdf/page1-220px-Coat_of_arms_of_the_House_of_Commons_in_a_letter_from_Winston_Churchill_in_the_year_1945..pdf.jpg" data-width="220" data-height="311" data-srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Coat_of_arms_of_the_House_of_Commons_in_a_letter_from_Winston_Churchill_in_the_year_1945..pdf/page1-330px-Coat_of_arms_of_the_House_of_Commons_in_a_letter_from_Winston_Churchill_in_the_year_1945..pdf.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Coat_of_arms_of_the_House_of_Commons_in_a_letter_from_Winston_Churchill_in_the_year_1945..pdf/page1-440px-Coat_of_arms_of_the_House_of_Commons_in_a_letter_from_Winston_Churchill_in_the_year_1945..pdf.jpg 2x" data-class="mw-file-element"> </span></a><figcaption>Symbol, circa 1945.</figcaption></figure> <p>Thus the <a href="/wiki/Parliament_Act_1911" title="Parliament Act 1911">Parliament Act 1911</a> came into effect, destroying the legislative equality of the two Houses of Parliament. The House of Lords was permitted only to delay most legislation, for a maximum of three parliamentary sessions or two calendar years (reduced to two sessions or one year by the <a href="/wiki/Parliament_Act_1949" title="Parliament Act 1949">Parliament Act 1949</a>). Since the passage of these Acts, the House of Commons has become the dominant branch of Parliament. </p><p>Since the 17th century, government ministers were paid, while other MPs were not. Most of the men elected to the Commons had private incomes, while a few relied on financial support from a wealthy patron. Early Labour MPs were often provided with a salary by a trade union, but this was declared illegal by a House of Lords judgement of 1909. Consequently, a resolution was passed in the House of Commons in 1911 introducing salaries for MPs. </p> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Prime_Minister%27s_Questions,_7_February_2024_08.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><noscript><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Prime_Minister%27s_Questions%2C_7_February_2024_08.jpg/220px-Prime_Minister%27s_Questions%2C_7_February_2024_08.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="147" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="6862" data-file-height="4575"></noscript><span class="lazy-image-placeholder" style="width: 220px;height: 147px;" data-src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Prime_Minister%27s_Questions%2C_7_February_2024_08.jpg/220px-Prime_Minister%27s_Questions%2C_7_February_2024_08.jpg" data-width="220" data-height="147" data-srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Prime_Minister%27s_Questions%2C_7_February_2024_08.jpg/330px-Prime_Minister%27s_Questions%2C_7_February_2024_08.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Prime_Minister%27s_Questions%2C_7_February_2024_08.jpg/440px-Prime_Minister%27s_Questions%2C_7_February_2024_08.jpg 2x" data-class="mw-file-element"> </span></a><figcaption>The modern chamber, which opened following post-war reconstruction in 1950.</figcaption></figure> <p>In 1918, women over 30 who owned property were given the right to vote, as were men over 21 who did not own property, quickly followed by the passage of a law enabling <a href="/wiki/Women_in_the_House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Women in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom">women to be eligible for election as members of parliament</a> at the younger age of 21. The only woman to be elected that year was an Irish <a href="/wiki/Sinn_F%C3%A9in" title="Sinn Féin">Sinn Féin</a> candidate, <a href="/wiki/Constance_Markievicz" title="Constance Markievicz">Constance Markievicz</a>, who therefore became the first woman to be an MP. However, owing to Sinn Féin's policy of abstention from Westminster, she never took her seat.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Women were given equal voting status as men in 1928, and with effect from the <a href="/wiki/1950_United_Kingdom_general_election" title="1950 United Kingdom general election">General Election in 1950</a>, various forms of <a href="/wiki/Plural_voting" title="Plural voting">plural voting</a> (i.e. some individuals had the right to vote in more than one constituency in the same election), including <a href="/wiki/University_constituency" title="University constituency">University constituencies</a>, were abolished. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="21st_century">21st century</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: 21st century" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <p>In May and June 2009 <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_parliamentary_expenses_scandal" title="United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal">revelations of MPs' expenses claims</a> caused a major scandal and loss of confidence by the public in the integrity of MPs,<sup id="cite_ref-AllenBirch2015_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-AllenBirch2015-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> as well as causing the first forced <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_parliamentary_expenses_scandal#Resignation_of_the_Speaker" title="United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal">resignation of the Speaker</a> in 300 years.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In 2011, a <a href="/wiki/2011_United_Kingdom_Alternative_Vote_referendum" title="2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum">referendum</a> was held, asking whether to replace the present "<a href="/wiki/First-past-the-post_voting" title="First-past-the-post voting">first-past-the-post</a>" system with the "<a href="/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting" title="Instant-runoff voting">alternative vote</a>" (AV) method. The proposal to introduce AV was rejected by 67.9% of voters on a national turnout of 42%. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Fixed-term_Parliaments_Act_2011" title="Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011">Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011</a> was passed by the <a href="/wiki/Cameron%E2%80%93Clegg_coalition" title="Cameron–Clegg coalition">Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition</a>, transferring the power to call an early election from the Prime Minister to Parliament, and setting out the procedure for this. Under the act, calling an early election required a two-thirds <a href="/wiki/Supermajority" title="Supermajority">supermajority</a> of the house. These provisions were first used by <a href="/wiki/Theresa_May" title="Theresa May">Theresa May</a> to trigger the <a href="/wiki/2017_United_Kingdom_general_election" title="2017 United Kingdom general election">2017 snap election</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Recall_of_MPs_Act_2015" title="Recall of MPs Act 2015">Recall of MPs Act 2015</a> created a mechanism for recalling Members of Parliament. Under the act, proceedings are initiated only if an MP is found guilty of wrongdoing fulfilling certain criteria. A petition is successful if at least one in ten voters in the constituency sign. Successful petitions result in the MP vacating the seat, triggering a by-election. </p><p>In 2019, MPs used "standing order 24" (a parliamentary procedure that triggers emergency debates) as a means of gaining control of the parliamentary order paper for the following day, and passing legislation without the incumbent government's consent. This unusual process was achieved through tabling amendments to the "motion in neutral terms", a non-binding statement released by parliament after the debate.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This new technique was used to pass the <a href="/wiki/European_Union_(Withdrawal)_Act_2019" title="European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2019">European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2019</a> in March, as well as the <a href="/wiki/European_Union_(Withdrawal)_(No._2)_Act_2019" title="European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act 2019">No. 2 Act</a> in September, both relating to <a href="/wiki/Brexit" title="Brexit">Brexit</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 2019 was the year <a href="/wiki/Labour_and_Co-operative_Party" title="Labour and Co-operative Party">Labour and Co-operative</a> MPs became the fourth-largest <a href="/wiki/Parliamentary_group" title="Parliamentary group">political group</a> in the House of Commons. </p><p>In 2020, <a href="/wiki/Virtual_House_of_Commons" title="Virtual House of Commons">new procedures</a> for hybrid proceedings were introduced from 22 April. These mitigated the <a href="/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom">coronavirus pandemic</a> with measures including a limit of 50 MPs in the chamber, <a href="/wiki/Social_distancing" title="Social distancing">physical distancing</a> and remote participation using <a href="/wiki/Videotelephony" title="Videotelephony">video conferencing</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Hybrid proceedings were abolished in August 2021.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Later in December 2020, the Conservative government published a draft Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (Repeal) Bill, later retitled the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill when it was introduced to the Commons in May 2021,<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> which would repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act in its entirety, restore the monarch's prerogative powers to dissolve Parliament at the prime minister's request, and ensure that a parliamentary term automatically ends five years after Parliament's first meeting and polling day being 25 working days later.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The bill was given royal assent on 24 March 2022, becoming the <a href="/wiki/Dissolution_and_Calling_of_Parliament_Act_2022" title="Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022">Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-restored_32-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-restored-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(3)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="Members_and_elections">Members and elections</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Members and elections" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-3 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-3"> <p>Since 1950, every constituency has been represented by a single Member of Parliament. There remains a technical distinction between <a href="/wiki/County_constituency" class="mw-redirect" title="County constituency">county</a> and <a href="/wiki/Borough_constituency" class="mw-redirect" title="Borough constituency">borough constituencies</a>; its only effects are on the amount of money candidates are allowed to spend during campaigns and the rank of the local authority co-opted Returning Officer who presides over the count. Geographic boundaries are determined by four permanent and independent <a href="/wiki/Boundary_commissions_(United_Kingdom)" title="Boundary commissions (United Kingdom)">Boundary Commissions</a>, one each for England, Wales, Scotland, and <a href="/wiki/Northern_Ireland" title="Northern Ireland">Northern Ireland</a>. The commissions conduct general reviews of electoral boundaries once every 8 to 12 years, and interim reviews. In drawing boundaries, they are required to prefer local government boundaries, but may deviate from these to prevent great disparities in electorate; such disparities are given the formal term <a href="/wiki/Malapportionment" class="mw-redirect" title="Malapportionment">malapportionment</a>. The proposals of the Boundary Commissions are subject to parliamentary approval, but may not be amended. After their next Periodic Reviews, the Boundary Commissions will be absorbed into the <a href="/wiki/Electoral_Commission_(United_Kingdom)" title="Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)">Electoral Commission</a>, which was established in 2000. As of 2024, the UK is divided into <a href="/wiki/Constituencies_of_the_Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom">650 constituencies</a>, with 543 in England, 32 in Wales, 57 in Scotland, and 18 in Northern Ireland. </p><p><a href="/wiki/List_of_United_Kingdom_general_elections" title="List of United Kingdom general elections">General elections</a> occur whenever <a href="/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Dissolution of the Parliament of the United Kingdom">Parliament is dissolved</a>, an action which is part of the <a href="/wiki/Royal_prerogative_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="Royal prerogative in the United Kingdom">royal prerogative</a>. By <a href="/wiki/Constitutional_convention_(political_custom)" class="mw-redirect" title="Constitutional convention (political custom)">convention</a> the timing of the dissolution is chosen by the Prime Minister (see <a href="#Relationship_with_His_Majesty's_Government">relationship with the Government</a> above). Under the <a href="/wiki/Dissolution_and_Calling_of_Parliament_Act_2022" title="Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022">Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022</a>, if no early election is called, dissolution is automatic on the fifth year after its first meeting day.<sup id="cite_ref-restored_32-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-restored-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This Act effectively postponed the automatic date of the next election after 2019 by more than half a year, from 2 May 2024 to Tuesday 28 January 2025; but the election was ultimately called for <a href="/wiki/2024_United_Kingdom_general_election" title="2024 United Kingdom general election">4 July 2024</a>. </p><p>The current regime around dissolution is substantially the same as that established by the <a href="/wiki/Septennial_Act_1715" title="Septennial Act 1715">Septennial Act 1715</a> (as amended by the <a href="/wiki/Parliament_Act_1911" title="Parliament Act 1911">Parliament Act 1911</a>), under which that automatic dissolution instead occurred five years after issuance of the writ of summons, a slightly longer period. Between 2011 and 2022, the <a href="/wiki/Fixed-term_Parliaments_Act_2011" title="Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011">Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011</a> was in force, under which control of the timing of elections instead lay with the House of Commons, which could pass a motion of no confidence or (as occurred <a href="/wiki/2017_United_Kingdom_general_election" title="2017 United Kingdom general election">in 2017</a>) of early election with a two-thirds majority; absent such motions, Parliament would automatically dissolve 17 working days (about 4 weeks) before the fixed election date of the first Thursday in May five years after the previous election, which occurred (as a special case) <a href="/wiki/2015_United_Kingdom_general_election" title="2015 United Kingdom general election">on 7 May 2015</a>. As an ordinary Act, it was also possible for parliament to bypass it with <a href="/wiki/Early_Parliamentary_General_Election_Act_2019" title="Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019">a special purpose Act of Parliament</a> passed by simple majorities in both houses, which occurred <a href="/wiki/2019_United_Kingdom_general_election" title="2019 United Kingdom general election">in 2019</a>. </p><p>All general elections in the UK since 1935 have been held on a Thursday. The origins of this convention are unknown but there are a number of theories, including the suggestion that it was to coincide with market day; this would ease voting for those who had to travel into the towns to cast their ballot.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>A candidate for a seat must submit nomination papers signed by ten registered voters from that area, and pay £500, which is refunded if the candidate wins at least five per cent of the vote. Such a <a href="/wiki/Election_deposit" title="Election deposit">deposit</a> seeks to discourage frivolity and very long ballot papers which would cause <a href="/wiki/Vote_splitting" class="mw-redirect" title="Vote splitting">vote splitting</a> (and arguably voter confusion). Each constituency is also called a seat (as it was <a href="/wiki/Redistribution_of_Seats_Act_1885" title="Redistribution of Seats Act 1885">in 1885</a>), as it returns one member, using the <a href="/wiki/First-past-the-post_voting" title="First-past-the-post voting">first-past-the-post</a> electoral system, under which the candidate with a <a href="/wiki/Plurality_(voting)" title="Plurality (voting)">plurality</a> of votes wins, that is greatest number of votes. Minors (that is, anyone under the age of 18), members of the House of Lords, and prisoners are not qualified to become members of the House of Commons. To vote, one must be a UK resident and a citizen of either Britain, a <a href="/wiki/British_Overseas_Territories" title="British Overseas Territories">British overseas territory</a>, <a href="/wiki/Ireland" title="Ireland">Ireland</a>, or a member of the <a href="/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations" title="Commonwealth of Nations">Commonwealth of Nations</a>. British citizens living abroad are allowed to vote for 15 years after leaving. It is a criminal offence for a person to vote in the ballot of more than one seat which is vacant at any election. This has not always been the case: before 1948 <a href="/wiki/Plural_voting" title="Plural voting">plural voting</a> was permitted as voters qualified by home ownership or residence and could vote under both entitlements simultaneously, as well as for a <a href="/wiki/University_constituency" title="University constituency">university constituency</a> if a university graduate. </p><p>Once elected, Members of Parliament normally continue to serve until the next dissolution of Parliament. But if a member dies or ceases to be qualified (see <a href="#Qualifications">qualifications</a> below), their seat falls vacant. It is also possible for the House of Commons to expel a member, a power exercised only in cases of serious misconduct or criminal activity. In each case, the vacancy is filled by a <a href="/wiki/UK_parliamentary_by-elections" title="UK parliamentary by-elections">by-election</a> in the constituency, with the same electoral system as in general elections. </p><p>The term "Member of Parliament" by modern convention means a member of the House of Commons. These members may, and almost invariably do, use the <a href="/wiki/Post-nominal_letters" title="Post-nominal letters">post-nominal letters</a> "MP". The annual salary of each member is £86,584 effective from 1 April 2023.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Members may also receive additional salaries for other offices they hold (for instance, the Speakership). Most members also claim for various office expenses (staff costs, postage, travelling, etc.) and, in the case of members for seats outside London, for the costs of maintaining a home in the capital. </p> <figure typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:BritishHouseofCommonsMaleFemalebarchart.png" class="mw-file-description"><noscript><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/BritishHouseofCommonsMaleFemalebarchart.png/613px-BritishHouseofCommonsMaleFemalebarchart.png" decoding="async" width="613" height="39" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="1441" data-file-height="92"></noscript><span class="lazy-image-placeholder" style="width: 613px;height: 39px;" data-src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/BritishHouseofCommonsMaleFemalebarchart.png/613px-BritishHouseofCommonsMaleFemalebarchart.png" data-width="613" data-height="39" data-srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/BritishHouseofCommonsMaleFemalebarchart.png/920px-BritishHouseofCommonsMaleFemalebarchart.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/BritishHouseofCommonsMaleFemalebarchart.png/1226px-BritishHouseofCommonsMaleFemalebarchart.png 2x" data-class="mw-file-element"> </span></a><figcaption>The gender of the MPs, bar chart</figcaption></figure> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Qualifications">Qualifications</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Qualifications" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:PieChartMPsUKbyGender.png" class="mw-file-description"><noscript><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/PieChartMPsUKbyGender.png/220px-PieChartMPsUKbyGender.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="222" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="234" data-file-height="236"></noscript><span class="lazy-image-placeholder" style="width: 220px;height: 222px;" data-src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/PieChartMPsUKbyGender.png/220px-PieChartMPsUKbyGender.png" data-width="220" data-height="222" data-srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/PieChartMPsUKbyGender.png 1.5x" data-class="mw-file-element"> </span></a><figcaption>Pie chart </figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Old_House_of_Commons.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><noscript><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Old_House_of_Commons.jpg/220px-Old_House_of_Commons.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="317" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="1280" data-file-height="1843"></noscript><span class="lazy-image-placeholder" style="width: 220px;height: 317px;" data-src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Old_House_of_Commons.jpg/220px-Old_House_of_Commons.jpg" data-width="220" data-height="317" data-srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Old_House_of_Commons.jpg/330px-Old_House_of_Commons.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Old_House_of_Commons.jpg/440px-Old_House_of_Commons.jpg 2x" data-class="mw-file-element"> </span></a><figcaption>The old House of Commons chamber, showing dark veneer on the wood, which was purposely made much brighter in the new chamber.</figcaption></figure> <p>There are numerous qualifications that apply to Members of Parliament. One must be aged at least 18 (the minimum age was 21 until s.17 of the <a href="/wiki/Electoral_Administration_Act_2006" title="Electoral Administration Act 2006">Electoral Administration Act 2006</a> came into force), and must be a citizen of the United Kingdom, of a British overseas territory, of the <a href="/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland" title="Republic of Ireland">Republic of Ireland</a>, or of a member state of the <a href="/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations" title="Commonwealth of Nations">Commonwealth of Nations</a>. These restrictions were introduced by the <a href="/wiki/British_Nationality_Act_1981" title="British Nationality Act 1981">British Nationality Act 1981</a>, but were previously far more stringent: under the <a href="/wiki/Act_of_Settlement_1701" title="Act of Settlement 1701">Act of Settlement 1701</a>, only natural-born subjects were qualified. Members of the House of Lords may not serve in the House of Commons, or even vote in parliamentary elections; however, they are permitted to sit in the chamber during debates (unlike the King, who cannot enter the chamber). </p><p>A person may not sit in the Commons if they are the subject of a <a href="/wiki/Bankruptcy_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="Bankruptcy in the United Kingdom">Bankruptcy Restrictions Order</a> (applicable in England and Wales only), or if they are adjudged bankrupt (in Northern Ireland), or if their estate is <a href="/wiki/Sequestration_(law)" title="Sequestration (law)">sequestered</a> (in Scotland). Previously, MPs detained under the <a href="/wiki/Mental_Health_Act_1983" title="Mental Health Act 1983">Mental Health Act 1983</a> for six months or more would have their seat vacated if two specialists reported to the Speaker that the member was suffering from a mental disorder. However, this disqualification was removed by the <a href="/wiki/Mental_Health_(Discrimination)_Act_2013" title="Mental Health (Discrimination) Act 2013">Mental Health (Discrimination) Act 2013</a>. There also exists a <a href="/wiki/Common_law" title="Common law">common law</a> precedent from the 18th century that the <a href="/wiki/Deaf-mute" title="Deaf-mute">deaf-mute</a> are ineligible to sit in the Lower House;<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> this precedent, however, has not been tested in recent years. </p><p>Anyone found guilty of <a href="/wiki/Treason" title="Treason">high treason</a> may not sit in Parliament until she or he has either completed the term of imprisonment or received a full pardon from the Crown. Moreover, anyone serving a prison sentence of one year or more is ineligible, per <a href="/wiki/Representation_of_the_People_Act_1981" title="Representation of the People Act 1981">Representation of the People Act 1981</a>. Finally, members of the <a href="/wiki/Senedd" title="Senedd">Senedd</a> (Welsh Parliament) and <a href="/wiki/Northern_Ireland_Assembly" title="Northern Ireland Assembly">Northern Ireland Assembly</a> are disqualified since 2014. Article 159, Section 2 of the <a href="/wiki/Representation_of_the_People_Act_1983" title="Representation of the People Act 1983">Representation of the People Act 1983</a> formerly disqualified for ten years those found guilty of certain election-related offences, until this section was repealed in 2001. Several other disqualifications are codified in the <a href="/wiki/House_of_Commons_Disqualification_Act_1975" title="House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975">House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975</a>: holders of high <a href="/wiki/Judge" title="Judge">judicial offices</a>, civil servants, members of the regular armed forces, members of foreign legislatures (excluding the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth countries), and holders of several Crown offices. Ministers, even though they are paid officers of the Crown, are not disqualified. </p><p>The rule that precludes certain Crown officers from serving in the House of Commons is used to circumvent a resolution adopted by the House of Commons in 1623, under which members are not permitted to resign their seats. In practice, however, they always can. Should a member wish to <a href="/wiki/Resignation_from_the_House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Resignation from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom">resign from the Commons</a>, she or he may request appointment to one of two ceremonial Crown offices: that of <a href="/wiki/List_of_stewards_of_the_Chiltern_Hundreds" title="List of stewards of the Chiltern Hundreds">Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds</a>, or that of <a href="/wiki/List_of_stewards_of_the_Manor_of_Northstead" title="List of stewards of the Manor of Northstead">Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead</a>. These offices are <a href="/wiki/Sinecure" title="Sinecure">sinecures</a> (that is, they involve no actual duties); they are retained solely to permit the "resignation" of members of the House of Commons. The <a href="/wiki/Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer" title="Chancellor of the Exchequer">Chancellor of the Exchequer</a> is responsible for making the appointment, and, by convention, never refuses to do so when asked by a member who desires to leave the House of Commons.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (December 2023)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Officers">Officers</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Officers" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:British_House_of_Commons_1834.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><noscript><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/British_House_of_Commons_1834.jpg/220px-British_House_of_Commons_1834.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="165" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="1600" data-file-height="1200"></noscript><span class="lazy-image-placeholder" style="width: 220px;height: 165px;" data-src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/British_House_of_Commons_1834.jpg/220px-British_House_of_Commons_1834.jpg" data-width="220" data-height="165" data-srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/British_House_of_Commons_1834.jpg/330px-British_House_of_Commons_1834.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/British_House_of_Commons_1834.jpg/440px-British_House_of_Commons_1834.jpg 2x" data-class="mw-file-element"> </span></a><figcaption>The Speaker presides over debates in the House of Commons, as depicted in the above print commemorating the destruction of the Commons Chamber by fire in 1834.</figcaption></figure> <p>At the beginning of each new parliamentary term, the House of Commons elects one of its members as a presiding officer, known as the Speaker. If the incumbent Speaker seeks a new term, then the house may re-elect them merely by passing a motion; otherwise, a secret ballot is held. A Speaker-elect cannot take office until they have been approved by the Sovereign; the granting of the royal approbation, however, is a formality. The Speaker is assisted by three Deputy Speakers, the most senior of whom holds the title of Chairman of Ways and Means. The two other Deputy Speakers are known as the First and Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means. These titles derive from the Committee of Ways and Means, a body over which the chairman once used to preside; even though the committee was abolished in 1967, the traditional titles of the Deputy Speakers are still retained. The Speaker and the Deputy Speakers are always members of the House of Commons. </p><p>Whilst presiding, the Speaker or Deputy Speaker traditionally wears ceremonial dress. The presiding officer may also wear a wig, but this tradition was abandoned by Speaker <a href="/wiki/Betty_Boothroyd" title="Betty Boothroyd">Betty Boothroyd</a>. Her successor, <a href="/wiki/Michael_Martin,_Baron_Martin_of_Springburn" title="Michael Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn">Michael Martin</a>, also did not wear a wig while in the chamber. His successor, <a href="/wiki/John_Bercow" title="John Bercow">John Bercow</a>, chose to wear a gown over a lounge suit, a decision that sparked much debate and opposition; he also did not wear a wig, and his successor <a href="/wiki/Lindsay_Hoyle" title="Lindsay Hoyle">Lindsay Hoyle</a> has continued this tradition by not wearing a wig. </p><p>The Speaker or deputy presides from a chair at the front of the house. This chair was designed by <a href="/wiki/Augustus_Pugin" title="Augustus Pugin">Augustus Pugin</a>, who initially built a prototype of the chair at <a href="/wiki/King_Edward%27s_School,_Birmingham" title="King Edward's School, Birmingham">King Edward's School, Birmingham</a>: that chair is called Sapientia (Latin for "wisdom") and is where the chief master sits. The Speaker is also chairman of the <a href="/wiki/House_of_Commons_Commission" title="House of Commons Commission">House of Commons Commission</a>, which oversees the running of the house, and controls debates by calling on members to speak. A member who believes that a rule (or Standing Order) has been breached may raise a "point of order", on which the Speaker makes a ruling not subject to any appeal. The Speaker may discipline members who fail to observe the rules of the house. The Speaker also decides which proposed amendments to a motion are to be debated. Thus, the Speaker is far more powerful than their Lords counterpart, the <a href="/wiki/Lord_Speaker" title="Lord Speaker">Lord Speaker</a>, who has no disciplinary powers. Customarily, the Speaker and the deputies are non-partisan; they do not vote (with the notable exception of tied votes, where the Speaker votes in accordance with <a href="/wiki/Speaker_Denison%27s_rule" title="Speaker Denison's rule">Denison's rule</a>), or participate in the affairs of any political party. By convention, a Speaker seeking re-election to parliament is not opposed in their constituency by any of the major parties. The lack of partisanship continues even after the Speaker leaves the House of Commons. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Clerk_of_the_House_of_Commons" title="Clerk of the House of Commons">Clerk of the House of Commons</a> is both the house's chief adviser on matters of procedure and chief executive of the House of Commons. They are a permanent official, not a member of the house itself. The Clerk advises the Speaker on the rules and procedure of the house, signs orders and official communications, and signs and endorses bills. The Clerk also chairs the Board of Management, which consists of the heads of the six departments of the house. The Clerk's deputy is known as the Clerk Assistant. Another officer of the house is the <a href="/wiki/Serjeant-at-arms" title="Serjeant-at-arms">Serjeant-at-arms</a>, whose duties include the maintenance of law, order, and security on the house's premises. The Serjeant-at-Arms carries the <a href="/wiki/Ceremonial_mace" title="Ceremonial mace">ceremonial mace</a>, a symbol of the authority of the Crown and of the House of Commons, into the house each day before the Speaker, and the mace is laid upon the table of the house during sittings. The Librarian is head of the <a href="/wiki/House_of_Commons_Library" title="House of Commons Library">House of Commons Library</a>, the house's research and information arm. </p> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(4)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="Procedure">Procedure</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Procedure" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-4 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-4"> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Acts_of_Parliament_in_the_United_Kingdom#Stages_of_a_bill" class="mw-redirect" title="Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom">Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom § Stages of a bill</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Erskine_May:_Parliamentary_Practice" title="Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice">Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice</a></div> <p>Like the Lords, the Commons meets in the <a href="/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster" title="Palace of Westminster">Palace of Westminster</a> in London. The Commons chamber is small and modestly decorated in green, unlike the large, lavishly furnished red Lords chamber. Benches sit on both sides of the chamber and are divided by a centre aisle. This arrangement reflects the design of <a href="/wiki/St_Stephen%27s_Chapel" title="St Stephen's Chapel">St Stephen's Chapel</a>, which served as the home of the House of Commons until destroyed by fire in 1834. The Speaker's chair is at one end of the chamber; in front of it, is the table of the house, on which the mace rests. The clerks sit at one end of the table, close to the Speaker so that they may advise them on procedure when necessary. </p><p>Members of the Government occupy the benches on the Speaker's right, whilst members of the Opposition occupy the benches on the Speaker's left. In front of each set of benches a red line is drawn, which members are traditionally not allowed to cross during debates. The Prime Minister and the government ministers, as well as the leader of the Opposition and the <a href="/wiki/Shadow_cabinet" title="Shadow cabinet">Shadow cabinet</a> sit on the front rows, and are known as <i>frontbenchers</i>. Other members of parliament, in contrast, are known as <i>backbenchers</i>. Not all Members of Parliament can fit into the chamber at the same time, as it only has space to seat approximately two thirds of the Members. According to <a href="/wiki/Robert_Rogers,_Baron_Lisvane" title="Robert Rogers, Baron Lisvane">Robert Rogers</a>, former Clerk of the House of Commons and Chief Executive, a figure of 427 seats is an average or a finger-in-the-wind estimate.<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Members who arrive late must stand near the entrance of the house if they wish to listen to debates. Sittings in the chamber are held each day from Monday to Thursday, and also on some Fridays. During times of national emergency, the house may also sit at weekends. </p><p>Sittings of the house are open to the public, but the house may at any time vote to sit in private, which has occurred only twice since 1950. Traditionally, a Member who desired that the house sit privately could shout "I spy strangers!" and a vote would automatically follow.<sup id="cite_ref-spy_strangers_37-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-spy_strangers-37"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the past, when relations between the Commons and the Crown were less than cordial, this procedure was used whenever the house wanted to keep its debate private. More often, however, this device was used to delay and disrupt proceedings; as a result, it was abolished in 1998. Now, members seeking that the house sit in private must make a formal motion to that effect. </p><p>Public debates are recorded and archived in <a href="/wiki/Hansard" title="Hansard">Hansard</a>. The post war redesign of the house in 1950 included microphones, and debates were allowed to be broadcast by radio in 1975.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Since 1989, they have also been broadcast on television, which is now handled by <a href="/wiki/BBC_Parliament" title="BBC Parliament">BBC Parliament</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Sessions of the House of Commons have sometimes been disrupted by angry protesters throwing objects into the chamber from the galleries—items thrown include leaflets, manure, flour, and a canister of <a href="/wiki/CS_gas" title="CS gas">chlorobenzylidene malonitrile</a> (tear gas). Even members have been known to disturb proceedings of the house. For instance, in 1976, Conservative MP <a href="/wiki/Michael_Heseltine" title="Michael Heseltine">Michael Heseltine</a> seized and brandished the mace of the house during a heated debate. However, perhaps the most famous disruption of the House of Commons was caused by <a href="/wiki/Charles_I_of_England" title="Charles I of England">Charles I</a>, who entered the Commons Chamber in 1642 with an armed force to arrest <a href="/wiki/Five_members" class="mw-redirect" title="Five members">five members</a> for high treason. This action was deemed a breach of the privilege of the house, and has given rise to the tradition that the monarch does not set foot in the House of Commons. </p><p>Each year, the parliamentary session begins with the <a href="/wiki/State_Opening_of_Parliament" title="State Opening of Parliament">State Opening of Parliament</a>, a ceremony in the Lords Chamber during which the Sovereign, in the presence of Members of both Houses, delivers an address outlining the Government's legislative agenda. The Gentleman or Lady Usher of the <a href="/wiki/Black_Rod" title="Black Rod">Black Rod</a> (a Lords official) is responsible for summoning the Commons to the Lords Chamber. When he arrives to deliver his summons, the doors of the Commons Chamber are traditionally slammed shut in his face, symbolising the right of the Lower House to debate without interference. He then knocks on the door three times with his Black Rod, and only then is granted admittance, where he informs the MPs that the Monarch awaits them, after which they proceed to the House of Lords for the <a href="/wiki/Speech_from_the_throne" title="Speech from the throne">King's Speech</a>. </p><p>During debates, Members may speak only if called upon by the Speaker (or a Deputy Speaker, if the Speaker is not presiding). Traditionally, the presiding officer alternates between calling Members from the Government and Opposition. The Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and other leaders from both sides are normally given priority. All <a href="/wiki/Privy_Council_(United_Kingdom)" title="Privy Council (United Kingdom)">Privy Counsellors</a> used to be granted priority; however, the modernisation of Commons procedure in 1998 led to the abolition of this tradition. </p><p>Speeches are addressed to the presiding officer, using the words "Mr Speaker", "Madam Speaker", "Mr Deputy Speaker", or "Madam Deputy Speaker". Only the presiding officer may be directly addressed in debate; other members must be referred to in the third person. Traditionally, members do not refer to each other by name, but by constituency, using forms such as "the Honourable Member for [constituency]", or, in the case of Privy Counsellors, "the Right Honourable Member for [constituency]". Members of the same party (or allied parties or groups)<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> refer to each other as "my (Right) Honourable friend". A currently serving, or ex-member of the <a href="/wiki/British_Armed_Forces" title="British Armed Forces">Armed Forces</a> is referred to as "the Honourable and Gallant Member" (a <a href="/wiki/Barrister" title="Barrister">barrister</a> used to be called "the Honourable and Learned Member", and a woman "the Honourable Lady the Member".<sup id="cite_ref-International1935_41-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-International1935-41"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>) This may not always be the case during the actual oral delivery, when it might be difficult for a member to remember another member's exact constituency, but it is invariably followed in the transcript entered in the <a href="/wiki/Hansard" title="Hansard">Hansard</a>. The Speaker enforces the rules of the house and may warn and punish members who deviate from them. Disregarding the Speaker's instructions is considered a breach of the rules of the House and may result in the suspension of the offender from the house. In the case of <a href="/wiki/List_of_incidents_of_grave_disorder_in_the_British_House_of_Commons" title="List of incidents of grave disorder in the British House of Commons">grave disorder</a>, the Speaker may adjourn the house without taking a vote. </p><p>The Standing Orders of the House of Commons do not establish any formal time limits for debates. The Speaker may, however, order a member who persists in making a tediously repetitive or irrelevant speech to stop speaking. The time set aside for debate on a particular motion is, however, often limited by informal agreements between the parties. Debate may also be restricted by the passage of "allocation of time motions", which are more commonly known as "<a href="/wiki/Cloture" title="Cloture">guillotine motions</a>". Alternatively, the house may put an immediate end to debate by passing a motion to invoke <a href="/wiki/Cloture" title="Cloture">closure</a>. The Speaker is allowed to deny the motion if she or he believes that it infringes upon the rights of the minority. Today, bills are scheduled according to a timetable motion, which the whole house agrees in advance, negating the use of a guillotine. </p><p>When the debate concludes, or when the closure is invoked, the motion is put to a vote. The house first votes by voice vote; the Speaker or Deputy Speaker puts the question, and Members respond either "Aye!" (in favour of the motion) or "No!" (against the motion). The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote, but if their assessment is challenged by any member or the voice vote is unclear, a recorded vote known as a <a href="/wiki/Division_of_the_assembly" title="Division of the assembly">division</a> follows. The presiding officer, if she or he believes that the result of the voice vote is clear, may reject the challenge. When a division occurs, members enter one of two lobbies (the "Aye" lobby or the "No" lobby) on either side of the chamber, where their names are recorded by clerks. A member who wishes to pointedly abstain from a vote may do so by entering both lobbies, casting one vote for and one against. At each lobby are two tellers (themselves MPs) who count the votes of the members. </p><p>Once the division concludes, the tellers provide the results to the presiding officer, who then announces them to the house. If the votes are tied, the Speaker or Deputy Speaker has a <a href="/wiki/Casting_vote" title="Casting vote">casting vote</a>. Traditionally, this casting vote is exercised according to <a href="/wiki/Speaker_Denison%27s_rule" title="Speaker Denison's rule">Speaker Denison's rule</a>: to allow further debate, if this is possible, or otherwise to avoid a decision without a majority (e.g. voting "no" to a motion or the third reading of a bill). Ties rarely occur: more than 25 years passed between the last two ones in July 1993 and April 2019. The quorum of the House of Commons is 40 members for any vote, including the Speaker and four tellers. If fewer than 40 members have participated, the division is invalid. </p><p>Formerly, if a member sought to raise a <a href="/wiki/Point_of_order" title="Point of order">point of order</a> during a division, suggesting that some of the rules governing parliamentary procedure are violated, he was required to wear a hat, thereby signalling that he was not engaging in debate. Collapsible top hats were kept in the chamber just for this purpose. This custom was discontinued in 1998. </p><p>The outcome of most votes is largely known beforehand, since political parties normally instruct members on how to vote. A party normally entrusts some members of parliament, known as <a href="/wiki/Whip_(politics)" title="Whip (politics)">whips</a>, with the task of ensuring that all party members vote as desired. Members of Parliament do not tend to vote against such instructions, since those who do so jeopardise promotion, or may be deselected as party candidates for future elections. Ministers, junior ministers and parliamentary private secretaries who vote against the whips' instructions usually resign. Thus, the independence of Members of Parliament tends to be low, although "backbench rebellions" by members discontent with their party's policies do occur. A member is also traditionally allowed some leeway if the particular interests of his constituency are adversely affected. In some circumstances, however, parties announce "<a href="/wiki/Conscience_vote" title="Conscience vote">free votes</a>", allowing members to vote as they please. Votes relating to issues of conscience such as <a href="/wiki/Abortion_debate" title="Abortion debate">abortion</a> and <a href="/wiki/Capital_punishment_debate" class="mw-redirect" title="Capital punishment debate">capital punishment</a> are typically free votes. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Pair_(parliamentary_convention)" title="Pair (parliamentary convention)">Pairing</a> is an arrangement where a member from one party agrees with a member of another party not to vote in a particular division, allowing both MPs the opportunity not to attend.<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>37<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>38<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>A bisque is permission from the Whips given to a member to miss a vote or debate in the house to attend to constituency business or other matters.<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>39<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(5)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="Committees">Committees</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Committees" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-5 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-5"> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Parliamentary_committees_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom">Parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom</a></div> <p>The British Parliament uses committees for a variety of purposes, e.g., for the review of <a href="/wiki/Act_of_Parliament" class="mw-redirect" title="Act of Parliament">bills</a>. Committees consider bills in detail, and may make amendments. Bills of great constitutional importance, as well as some important financial measures, are usually sent to the "Committee of the Whole House", a body that includes all members of the Commons. Instead of the Speaker, the chairman or a Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means presides. The committee meets in the House of Commons Chamber. </p><p>Most bills were until 2006 considered by standing committees, which consisted of between 16 and 50 members. The membership of each standing committee roughly reflected the strength of the parties in the House. The membership of standing committees changed constantly; new Members were assigned each time the committee considered a new bill. The number of standing committees was not limited, but usually only ten existed. Rarely, a bill was committed to a Special Standing Committee, which investigated and held hearings on the issues raised. In November 2006, standing committees were replaced by public bill committees. </p><p>The House of Commons also has several departmental <a href="/wiki/Select_committee_(United_Kingdom)" title="Select committee (United Kingdom)">select committees</a>. The membership of these bodies, like that of the standing committees, reflects the strength of the parties. The chairman of each committee is voted on in a secret ballot of the whole house during the first session of a parliamentary term, or when a vacancy occurs. The number of select committee chairmanships allocated to each party reflects the strength of the parties, and the parties allocate the positions through agreement. The primary function of a departmental select committee is to scrutinise and investigate the activities of a particular government department. To fulfil these aims, it is permitted to hold <a href="/wiki/Hearing_(law)" title="Hearing (law)">hearings</a> and collect evidence. Bills may be referred to Departmental Select Committees, but such a procedure is seldom used. </p><p>A separate type of select committee is the Domestic Committee. Domestic Committees oversee the administration of the House and the services provided to Members. Other committees of the House of Commons include Joint Committees (which also include members of the House of Lords), the <a href="/wiki/Standards_and_Privileges_Committee" title="Standards and Privileges Committee">Committee on Standards and Privileges</a> (which considers questions of <a href="/wiki/Parliamentary_privilege" title="Parliamentary privilege">parliamentary privilege</a>, as well as matters relating to the conduct of the members), and the Committee of Selection (which determines the membership of other committees). </p> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(6)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="Commons_symbol">Commons symbol</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Commons symbol" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-6 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-6"> <p>The symbol used by the Commons consists of a <a href="/wiki/Portcullis" title="Portcullis">portcullis</a> topped by <a href="/wiki/St_Edward%27s_Crown" title="St Edward's Crown">St Edward's Crown</a>. The portcullis has been one of the <a href="/wiki/Royal_badges_of_England" title="Royal badges of England">Royal badges of England</a> since the accession of the <a href="/wiki/House_of_Tudor" title="House of Tudor">Tudors</a> in the 15th century, and was a favourite symbol of <a href="/wiki/Henry_VII_of_England" title="Henry VII of England">King Henry VII</a>. It was originally the badge of Beaufort, his mother's family; and a pun on the name Tudor, as in tu-<i><a href="/wiki/Door" title="Door">door</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-45" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>40<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The original badge was of gold, but nowadays is shown in various colours, predominantly green or black. It features on the flag of the House of Commons; first flown on 11 May 2021 and designed by Graham Bartram, chief <a href="/wiki/Vexillologist" class="mw-redirect" title="Vexillologist">vexillologist</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Flag_Institute" title="Flag Institute">Flag Institute</a> at the request of speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>41<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(7)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="In_film_and_television">In film and television</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: In film and television" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-7 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-7"> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1251242444"><table class="box-More_citations_needed_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>needs additional citations for <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verification</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Special:EditPage/House of Commons of the United Kingdom">improve this article</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a> in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">September 2015</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In 1986, the British television production company <a href="/wiki/ITV_Granada" title="ITV Granada">Granada Television</a> created a near-full size replica of the post-1950 House of Commons debating chamber at its studios in <a href="/wiki/Manchester" title="Manchester">Manchester</a> for use in its adaptation of the <a href="/wiki/Jeffrey_Archer" title="Jeffrey Archer">Jeffrey Archer</a> novel <i><a href="/wiki/First_Among_Equals_(novel)" title="First Among Equals (novel)">First Among Equals</a></i>. The set was highly convincing, and was retained after the production—since then, it has been used in nearly every British film and television production that has featured scenes set in the chamber. From 1988 until 1999 it was also one of the prominent attractions on the <a href="/wiki/Granada_Studios_Tour" title="Granada Studios Tour">Granada Studios Tour</a>, where visitors could watch actors performing mock political debates on the set. The major difference between the studio set and the real House of Commons Chamber is that the studio set has just four rows of seats on either side whereas the real Chamber has five. </p><p>In 2002, the set was purchased by the scriptwriter <a href="/wiki/Paul_Abbott" title="Paul Abbott">Paul Abbott</a> so that it could be used in his BBC drama serial <i><a href="/wiki/State_of_Play_(TV_series)" title="State of Play (TV series)">State of Play</a></i>. Abbott, a former Granada Television staff writer, bought it because the set would otherwise have been destroyed and he feared it would take too long to get the necessary money from the BBC. Abbott kept the set in storage in <a href="/wiki/Oxford" title="Oxford">Oxford</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>42<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The pre-1941 Chamber was recreated in <a href="/wiki/Shepperton_Studios" title="Shepperton Studios">Shepperton Studios</a> for the <a href="/wiki/Ridley_Scott" title="Ridley Scott">Ridley Scott</a>/<a href="/wiki/Richard_Loncraine" title="Richard Loncraine">Richard Loncraine</a> 2002 biographical film on <a href="/wiki/Winston_Churchill" title="Winston Churchill">Churchill</a>, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Gathering_Storm_(2002_film)" title="The Gathering Storm (2002 film)">The Gathering Storm</a></i>. </p> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(8)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: See also" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-8 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-8"> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239009302">.mw-parser-output .portalbox{padding:0;margin:0.5em 0;display:table;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:175px;list-style:none}.mw-parser-output .portalborder{border:1px solid var(--border-color-base,#a2a9b1);padding:0.1em;background:var(--background-color-neutral-subtle,#f8f9fa)}.mw-parser-output .portalbox-entry{display:table-row;font-size:85%;line-height:110%;height:1.9em;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .portalbox-image{display:table-cell;padding:0.2em;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .portalbox-link{display:table-cell;padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.2em 0.3em;vertical-align:middle}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .portalleft{clear:left;float:left;margin:0.5em 1em 0.5em 0}.mw-parser-output .portalright{clear:right;float:right;margin:0.5em 0 0.5em 1em}}</style><ul role="navigation" aria-label="Portals" class="noprint portalbox portalborder portalright"> <li class="portalbox-entry"><span class="portalbox-image"><span class="mw-image-border noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:A_coloured_voting_box.svg" class="mw-file-description"><noscript><img alt="icon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/01/A_coloured_voting_box.svg/28px-A_coloured_voting_box.svg.png" decoding="async" width="28" height="28" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="160" data-file-height="160"></noscript><span class="lazy-image-placeholder" style="width: 28px;height: 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class="lazy-image-placeholder" style="width: 32px;height: 16px;" data-src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/32px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png" data-alt="flag" data-width="32" data-height="16" data-srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/48px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/64px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png 2x" data-class="mw-file-element"> </span></span></span></span><span class="portalbox-link"><a href="/wiki/Portal:United_Kingdom" title="Portal:United Kingdom">United Kingdom portal</a></span></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Procedure_2">Procedure</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Procedure" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large 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href="/wiki/Salaries_of_members_of_the_United_Kingdom_Parliament" title="Salaries of members of the United Kingdom Parliament">Salaries of members of the United Kingdom Parliament</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Counterparts">Counterparts</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: Counterparts" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Australian_House_of_Representatives" title="Australian House of Representatives">Australian House of Representatives</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/House_of_Commons_of_Canada" title="House of Commons of Canada">House of Commons of Canada</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/New_Zealand_House_of_Representatives" title="New Zealand House of Representatives">New Zealand House of Representatives</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Other">Other</h3><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Other" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Parliament_in_the_Making" title="Parliament in the Making">Parliament in the Making</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/UK_Parliament_Week" title="UK Parliament Week">UK Parliament Week</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parliamentary_Archives" title="Parliamentary Archives">Parliamentary Archives</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parliamentary_Brief" title="Parliamentary Brief">Parliamentary Brief</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Records_of_members_of_parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Records of members of parliament of the United Kingdom">Records of members of parliament of the United Kingdom</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom_relocation" title="Parliament of the United Kingdom relocation">Parliament of the United Kingdom relocation</a></li></ul> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(9)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: Notes" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-9 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-9"> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-lower-alpha"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-LabCoop-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-LabCoop_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Including 43 MPs sponsored by the <a href="/wiki/Co-operative_Party" title="Co-operative Party">Co-operative Party</a>, who are designated <a href="/wiki/Labour_and_Co-operative" class="mw-redirect" title="Labour and Co-operative">Labour and Co-operative</a><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Greens-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Greens_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Green Party of England and Wales only; the <a href="/wiki/Scottish_Greens" title="Scottish Greens">Scottish Greens</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Green_Party_Northern_Ireland" title="Green Party Northern Ireland">Green Party Northern Ireland</a> are not represented in Parliament.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Independent-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Independent_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">MPs designated as independents may be elected as independents, leave the party for which they were elected, or be suspended from their party's <a href="/wiki/Whip_(politics)" title="Whip (politics)">whip</a>. In the 2024 general election, six MPs were elected as independents, five of whom have since joined the Independent Alliance.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Current law passed by Parliament limits the term of the House of Commons to five years. However, since <a href="/wiki/Parliamentary_sovereignty_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom">Parliament is sovereign</a>, Parliament can extend its term for as long as it pleases.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The last time this occurred was during <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a> when Parliament voted to <a href="/wiki/Septennial_Act_1715#Prolongation_of_Parliament_during_the_First_World_War_and_Second_World_War" title="Septennial Act 1715">extend the term</a> of the House of Commons multiple times until the conclusion of the war, with that Parliament existing for ten years instead of five years.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Formally <b>The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled</b>.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></span> </li> </ol></div></div> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(10)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=23" title="Edit section: References" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-10 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-10"> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239543626"><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://party.coop/about/">"About: Members of Parliament"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Co-operative_Party" title="Co-operative Party">Co-operative Party</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">10 May</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=About%3A+Members+of+Parliament&rft.pub=Co-operative+Party&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fparty.coop%2Fabout%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFForsyth2011" class="citation journal cs1">Forsyth, Christopher (1 January 2011). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/9/1/132/902271">"The definition of Parliament after Jackson: Can the life of Parliament be extended under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949?"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/International_Journal_of_Constitutional_Law" title="International Journal of Constitutional Law">International Journal of Constitutional Law</a></i>. <b>9</b> (1). <a href="/wiki/Oxford_University_Press" title="Oxford University Press">Oxford University Press</a>: 132–143. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Ficon%2Fmor019">10.1093/icon/mor019</a></span>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/5113464158">5113464158</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:144226994">144226994</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=International+Journal+of+Constitutional+Law&rft.atitle=The+definition+of+Parliament+after+Jackson%3A+Can+the+life+of+Parliament+be+extended+under+the+Parliament+Acts+1911+and+1949%3F&rft.volume=9&rft.issue=1&rft.pages=132-143&rft.date=2011-01-01&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F5113464158&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A144226994%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1093%2Ficon%2Fmor019&rft.aulast=Forsyth&rft.aufirst=Christopher&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Facademic.oup.com%2Ficon%2Farticle%2F9%2F1%2F132%2F902271&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFForeign_Affairs_CommitteeGapes2008" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Foreign_Affairs_Select_Committee" title="Foreign Affairs Select Committee">Foreign Affairs Committee</a>; <a href="/wiki/Mike_Gapes" title="Mike Gapes">Gapes, Mike</a> (2008). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HhsZSMEH5DoC"><i>Overseas Territories: Seventh Report of Session 2007–08</i></a>. Vol. 2. London: <a href="/wiki/The_Stationery_Office" title="The Stationery Office">The Stationery Office</a>. p. 280. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-215-52150-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-215-52150-7"><bdi>978-0-215-52150-7</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/940357336">940357336</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Overseas+Territories%3A+Seventh+Report+of+Session+2007%E2%80%9308&rft.place=London&rft.pages=280&rft.pub=The+Stationery+Office&rft.date=2008&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F940357336&rft.isbn=978-0-215-52150-7&rft.au=Foreign+Affairs+Committee&rft.au=Gapes%2C+Mike&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DHhsZSMEH5DoC&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Those others were <a href="/wiki/Jim_Callaghan" class="mw-redirect" title="Jim Callaghan">Jim Callaghan</a> (lost the next election), <a href="/wiki/John_Major" title="John Major">John Major</a> (won the next election), <a href="/wiki/Gordon_Brown" title="Gordon Brown">Gordon Brown</a> (lost the next election), <a href="/wiki/Theresa_May" title="Theresa May">Theresa May</a> (won the next election), <a href="/wiki/Boris_Johnson" title="Boris Johnson">Boris Johnson</a> (won the next election), <a href="/wiki/Liz_Truss" title="Liz Truss">Liz Truss</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Rishi_Sunak" title="Rishi Sunak">Rishi Sunak</a>; they succeeded, respectively, <a href="/wiki/Harold_Wilson" title="Harold Wilson">Harold Wilson</a>, <a href="/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher" title="Margaret Thatcher">Margaret Thatcher</a>, <a href="/wiki/Tony_Blair" title="Tony Blair">Tony Blair</a>, <a href="/wiki/David_Cameron" title="David Cameron">David Cameron</a>, <a href="/wiki/Theresa_May" title="Theresa May">Theresa May</a>, <a href="/wiki/Boris_Johnson" title="Boris Johnson">Boris Johnson</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Liz_Truss" title="Liz Truss">Liz Truss</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Until 1965, the Conservative Party had no fixed mechanism for this. In 1957, when <a href="/wiki/Anthony_Eden" title="Anthony Eden">Anthony Eden</a> resigned as prime minister without recommending a successor, it was unable to nominate one. It fell to the Queen to appoint <a href="/wiki/Harold_Macmillan" title="Harold Macmillan">Harold Macmillan</a> as the new prime minister, after seeking a consensus from cabinet ministers.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary" title="Oxford English Dictionary">Oxford English Dictionary</a>.</i> Second edition, volume III: <i>Cham – Creeky.</i> Clarendon, Oxford 1989, pp. 564–567 (article <i>common, a.</i>), 567 (article <i>common, sb.</i>) and 572 seq. (article <i>commons, sb. pl.</i>).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld/ldcomp/compso2010/ldctso23.htm">Companion to Standing Orders</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFPollard1920" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/A._F._Pollard" class="mw-redirect" title="A. F. Pollard">Pollard, A.F.</a> (1920). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.24781"><i>The Evolution of Parliament</i></a>. Longmans. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.24781/page/n131">107</a>–108. <q>Not that the house of commons was ever that house of the common people which it is sometimes supposed to have been. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">14 April</span> 2014</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=UK+Parliament+%E2%80%93+Pay+and+expenses+for+MPs&rft.pub=Parliament.uk&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parliament.uk%2Fabout%2Fmps-and-lords%2Fmembers%2Fpay-mps%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSimeon1789" class="citation book cs1">Simeon, Sir John (1789). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=nSE0AAAAIAAJ&q=%22deaf+and+dumb%22+house+of+commons+-wikipedia+ineligible&pg=PA24"><i>A Treatise on the Law of Elections: In All Its Branches</i></a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210102103214/https://books.google.com/books?id=nSE0AAAAIAAJ&q=%22deaf+and+dumb%22+house+of+commons+-wikipedia+ineligible&pg=PA24">Archived</a> from the original on 2 January 2021<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">8 April</span> 2014</span> – via Google Books.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A+Treatise+on+the+Law+of+Elections%3A+In+All+Its+Branches&rft.date=1789&rft.aulast=Simeon&rft.aufirst=Sir+John&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DnSE0AAAAIAAJ%26q%3D%2522deaf%2Band%2Bdumb%2522%2Bhouse%2Bof%2Bcommons%2B-wikipedia%2Bineligible%26pg%3DPA24&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/education-programmes/universities-programme/university-teaching-resources/an-insiders-guide-to-the-house-of-commons/">"An insider's guide to the House of Commons"</a>. <i>parliament.uk</i>. 19 October 2012. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170902053028/https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/education-programmes/universities-programme/university-teaching-resources/an-insiders-guide-to-the-house-of-commons/">Archived</a> from the original on 2 September 2017<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">1 September</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=parliament.uk&rft.atitle=An+insider%27s+guide+to+the+House+of+Commons&rft.date=2012-10-19&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.parliament.uk%2Fget-involved%2Feducation-programmes%2Funiversities-programme%2Funiversity-teaching-resources%2Fan-insiders-guide-to-the-house-of-commons%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-spy_strangers-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-spy_strangers_37-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/strangers/">"Strangers – Glossary page"</a>. Parliament.uk. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190325222713/https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/strangers/">Archived</a> from the original on 25 March 2019<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">25 March</span> 2019</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Strangers+%E2%80%93+Glossary+page&rft.pub=Parliament.uk&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.parliament.uk%2Fsite-information%2Fglossary%2Fstrangers%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentwork/communicating/overview/hansardoftheair/">"Hansard of the air"</a>. parliament.uk. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151208150331/http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentwork/communicating/overview/hansardoftheair/">Archived</a> from the original on 8 December 2015<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">1 December</span> 2015</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Hansard+of+the+air&rft.pub=parliament.uk&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parliament.uk%2Fabout%2Fliving-heritage%2Fevolutionofparliament%2Fparliamentwork%2Fcommunicating%2Foverview%2Fhansardoftheair%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/8370647.stm">"20 years of TV cameras in the Commons"</a>. BBC Politics. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210124222046/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/8370647.stm">Archived</a> from the original on 24 January 2021<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">1 December</span> 2015</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=20+years+of+TV+cameras+in+the+Commons&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2F1%2Fhi%2Fprogrammes%2Fthe_daily_politics%2F8370647.stm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">For example: Plaid Cymru, Scottish National Party, the Green Party of England and Wales, and sometimes the Socialist Campaign Group. See e.g. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1104.0">[1]</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171126155532/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-04-21b.1104.0">Archived</a> 26 November 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2015-07-21a.1387.0#g1429.3">[2]</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171126124217/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2015-07-21a.1387.0#g1429.3">Archived</a> 26 November 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2014-09-10b.913.0#g992.0">[3]</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171126164253/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2014-09-10b.913.0#g992.0">Archived</a> 26 November 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-International1935-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-International1935_41-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSamuel1935" class="citation journal cs1"><a href="/wiki/Herbert_Samuel,_1st_Viscount_Samuel" title="Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel">Samuel, Herbert</a> (May 1935). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2UAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22">"The Pageantry of Parliament"</a>. <i>The Rotarian</i>. <b>46</b> (5): 22. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151120052812/https://books.google.com/books?id=2UAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22">Archived</a> from the original on 20 November 2015<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">14 April</span> 2015</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=The+Rotarian&rft.atitle=The+Pageantry+of+Parliament&rft.volume=46&rft.issue=5&rft.pages=22&rft.date=1935-05&rft.aulast=Samuel&rft.aufirst=Herbert&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3D2UAEAAAAMBAJ%26pg%3DPA22&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-42">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/pairing/">"Pairing – Glossary page – UK Parliament"</a>. Parliament.uk. 21 April 2010. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111231073316/http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/pairing/">Archived</a> from the original on 31 December 2011<span class="reference-accessdate">. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">12 December</span> 2010</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=BBC+News&rft.atitle=Pairing&rft.date=2008-10-16&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2Fdemocracylive%2Fhi%2Fguides%2Fnewsid_82000%2F82599.stm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-44">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/guides/newsid_81000/81907.stm">"Bisque"</a>. <i>BBC News</i>. 6 August 2008. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120323193755/http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/guides/newsid_81000/81907.stm">Archived</a> from the original on 23 March 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">12 December</span> 2010</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=BBC+News&rft.atitle=Bisque&rft.date=2008-08-06&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2Fdemocracylive%2Fhi%2Fguides%2Fnewsid_81000%2F81907.stm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-45">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFFox-Davies1909" class="citation book cs1">Fox-Davies, Arthur (1909). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41617/41617-h/41617-h.htm"><i>A Complete Guide to Heraldry</i></a>. London: T.C. & E.C. Jack. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150924222738/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41617/41617-h/41617-h.htm">Archived</a> from the original on 24 September 2015<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">6 December</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A+Complete+Guide+to+Heraldry&rft.place=London&rft.pub=T.C.+%26+E.C.+Jack&rft.date=1909&rft.aulast=Fox-Davies&rft.aufirst=Arthur&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gutenberg.org%2Ffiles%2F41617%2F41617-h%2F41617-h.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-46">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/flags-news/a-new-flag-for-the-house-of-commons/">"A New Flag for the House of Commons"</a>. <i>Flag Institute</i>. 12 May 2021.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Flag+Institute&rft.atitle=A+New+Flag+for+the+House+of+Commons&rft.date=2021-05-12&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flaginstitute.org%2Fwp%2Fflags-news%2Fa-new-flag-for-the-house-of-commons%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHouse+of+Commons+of+the+United+Kingdom" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-47">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Abbott, Paul. <a href="/wiki/Audio_commentary_(DVD)" class="mw-redirect" title="Audio commentary (DVD)">Audio commentary</a> on the DVD release of <i><a href="/wiki/State_of_Play_(TV_serial)" class="mw-redirect" title="State of Play (TV serial)">State of Play</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/BBC_Worldwide" title="BBC Worldwide">BBC Worldwide</a>. BBCDVD 1493.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(11)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="Bibliography">Bibliography</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=24" title="Edit section: Bibliography" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-11 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-11"> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239549316">.mw-parser-output .refbegin{margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul{margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul li{list-style:none}@media(max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{padding-left:1.6em;text-indent:-1.6em}}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .refbegin{font-size:90%}}</style><div class="refbegin" style=""> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Erskine_May" title="Erskine May">May, Erskine</a>. (1896). <i>Constitutional History of England since the Accession of George the Third</i>, 11th ed. London: Longmans, Green and Co.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kenneth_R._Mackenzie" title="Kenneth R. Mackenzie">Mackenzie, K. R.</a>, "The English Parliament", (1950) Pelican Books.</li> <li>"Parliament" (1911). <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>, 11th ed. London: Cambridge University Press.</li> <li>Pollard, Albert F. (1926). <i>The Evolution of Parliament</i>, 2nd ed. London: Longmans, Green and Co.</li> <li>Porritt, Edward, and Annie G. Porritt. (1903). <i>The Unreformed House of Commons: Parliamentary Representation before 1832.</i> Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</li> <li>Raphael, D. D., <a href="/wiki/Donald_Limon" title="Donald Limon">Donald Limon</a>, and W. R. McKay. (2004). <i>Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice</i>, 23rd ed. London: Butterworths Tolley.</li></ul> </div> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(12)"><span class="indicator mf-icon mf-icon-expand mf-icon--small"></span><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom&action=edit&section=25" title="Edit section: External links" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> <span class="minerva-icon minerva-icon--edit"></span> <span>edit</span> </a> </span> </div><section class="mf-section-12 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-12"> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid 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class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Asturianu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-az mw-list-item"><a href="https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B6y%C3%BCk_Britaniya_%C4%B0cmalar_palatas%C4%B1" title="Böyük Britaniya İcmalar palatası – Azerbaijani" lang="az" hreflang="az" data-title="Böyük Britaniya İcmalar palatası" data-language-autonym="Azərbaycanca" data-language-local-name="Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Azərbaycanca</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bn mw-list-item"><a href="https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0_%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%BE" title="যুক্তরাজ্যের কমন্সসভা – Bangla" lang="bn" hreflang="bn" data-title="যুক্তরাজ্যের কমন্সসভা" data-language-autonym="বাংলা" data-language-local-name="Bangla" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>বাংলা</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-min-nan mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-min-nan.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B9-b%C3%AEn_%C4%AA%E2%81%BF" title="Sù-bîn Īⁿ – Minnan" lang="nan" hreflang="nan" data-title="Sù-bîn Īⁿ" data-language-autonym="閩南語 / Bân-lâm-gú" data-language-local-name="Minnan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>閩南語 / Bân-lâm-gú</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bg mw-list-item"><a href="https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%89%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%92%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F" title="Камара на общините на Великобритания – Bulgarian" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" data-title="Камара на общините на Великобритания" data-language-autonym="Български" data-language-local-name="Bulgarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Български</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-br mw-list-item"><a href="https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ti_ar_C%27humunio%C3%B9_(Rouantelezh-Unanet)" title="Ti ar C'humunioù (Rouantelezh-Unanet) – Breton" lang="br" hreflang="br" data-title="Ti ar C'humunioù (Rouantelezh-Unanet)" data-language-autonym="Brezhoneg" data-language-local-name="Breton" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Brezhoneg</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambra_dels_Comuns_del_Regne_Unit" title="Cambra dels Comuns del Regne Unit – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Cambra dels Comuns del Regne Unit" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doln%C3%AD_sn%C4%9Bmovna_Spojen%C3%A9ho_kr%C3%A1lovstv%C3%AD" title="Dolní sněmovna Spojeného království – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Dolní sněmovna Spojeného království" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cy mw-list-item"><a href="https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%B7%27r_Cyffredin_(Y_Deyrnas_Unedig)" title="Tŷ'r Cyffredin (Y Deyrnas Unedig) – Welsh" lang="cy" hreflang="cy" data-title="Tŷ'r Cyffredin (Y Deyrnas Unedig)" data-language-autonym="Cymraeg" data-language-local-name="Welsh" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Cymraeg</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underhuset" title="Underhuset – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Underhuset" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Commons" title="House of Commons – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="House of Commons" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-et mw-list-item"><a href="https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Commons" title="House of Commons – Estonian" lang="et" hreflang="et" data-title="House of Commons" data-language-autonym="Eesti" data-language-local-name="Estonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eesti</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-el mw-list-item"><a href="https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%92%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%BB%CE%AE_%CF%84%CF%89%CE%BD_%CE%9A%CE%BF%CE%B9%CE%BD%CE%BF%CF%84%CE%AE%CF%84%CF%89%CE%BD_%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85_%CE%97%CE%BD%CF%89%CE%BC%CE%AD%CE%BD%CE%BF%CF%85_%CE%92%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%BB%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BF%CF%85" title="Βουλή των Κοινοτήτων του Ηνωμένου Βασιλείου – Greek" lang="el" hreflang="el" data-title="Βουλή των Κοινοτήτων του Ηνωμένου Βασιλείου" data-language-autonym="Ελληνικά" data-language-local-name="Greek" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ελληνικά</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A1mara_de_los_Comunes_del_Reino_Unido" title="Cámara de los Comunes del Reino Unido – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Cámara de los Comunes del Reino Unido" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo mw-list-item"><a href="https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%88ambro_de_komunuloj" title="Ĉambro de komunuloj – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="Ĉambro de komunuloj" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eu mw-list-item"><a href="https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erresuma_Batuko_Komunen_Ganbera" title="Erresuma Batuko Komunen Ganbera – Basque" lang="eu" hreflang="eu" data-title="Erresuma Batuko Komunen Ganbera" data-language-autonym="Euskara" data-language-local-name="Basque" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Euskara</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3_%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%85_%D8%A8%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%A7" title="مجلس عوام بریتانیا – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="مجلس عوام بریتانیا" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambre_des_communes_du_Royaume-Uni" title="Chambre des communes du Royaume-Uni – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Chambre des communes du Royaume-Uni" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ga mw-list-item"><a href="https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teach_na_dTeachta%C3%AD,_An_R%C3%ADocht_Aontaithe" title="Teach na dTeachtaí, An Ríocht Aontaithe – Irish" lang="ga" hreflang="ga" data-title="Teach na dTeachtaí, An Ríocht Aontaithe" data-language-autonym="Gaeilge" data-language-local-name="Irish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Gaeilge</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-gl mw-list-item"><a href="https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A1mara_dos_com%C3%BAns_do_Reino_Unido" title="Cámara dos comúns do Reino Unido – Galician" lang="gl" hreflang="gl" data-title="Cámara dos comúns do Reino Unido" data-language-autonym="Galego" data-language-local-name="Galician" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Galego</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%98%81%EA%B5%AD_%ED%95%98%EC%9B%90" title="영국 하원 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="영국 하원" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hy mw-list-item"><a href="https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%84%D5%AB%D5%A1%D6%81%D5%B5%D5%A1%D5%AC_%D4%B9%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%A1%D5%BE%D5%B8%D6%80%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D5%B5%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%B0%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%B6%D6%84%D5%B6%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%AB_%D5%BA%D5%A1%D5%AC%D5%A1%D5%BF" title="Միացյալ Թագավորության համայնքների պալատ – Armenian" lang="hy" hreflang="hy" data-title="Միացյալ Թագավորության համայնքների պալատ" data-language-autonym="Հայերեն" data-language-local-name="Armenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Հայերեն</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hi mw-list-item"><a href="https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%B8_%E0%A4%91%E0%A4%AB_%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%89%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B8" title="हाउस ऑफ कॉमन्स – Hindi" lang="hi" hreflang="hi" data-title="हाउस ऑफ कॉमन्स" data-language-autonym="हिन्दी" data-language-local-name="Hindi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>हिन्दी</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-io mw-list-item"><a href="https://io.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambro_di_la_Ne-nobeli" title="Chambro di la Ne-nobeli – Ido" lang="io" hreflang="io" data-title="Chambro di la Ne-nobeli" data-language-autonym="Ido" data-language-local-name="Ido" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ido</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewan_Rakyat_Britania_Raya" title="Dewan Rakyat Britania Raya – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Dewan Rakyat Britania Raya" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_dei_comuni_(Regno_Unito)" title="Camera dei comuni (Regno Unito) – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Camera dei comuni (Regno Unito)" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-he mw-list-item"><a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%91%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%A0%D7%91%D7%97%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D_%D7%94%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%98%D7%99" title="בית הנבחרים הבריטי – Hebrew" lang="he" hreflang="he" data-title="בית הנבחרים הבריטי" data-language-autonym="עברית" data-language-local-name="Hebrew" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>עברית</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ka mw-list-item"><a href="https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%97%E1%83%94%E1%83%9B%E1%83%97%E1%83%90_%E1%83%9E%E1%83%90%E1%83%9A%E1%83%90%E1%83%A2%E1%83%90_(%E1%83%92%E1%83%90%E1%83%94%E1%83%A0%E1%83%97%E1%83%98%E1%83%90%E1%83%9C%E1%83%94%E1%83%91%E1%83%A3%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98_%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90%E1%83%9B%E1%83%94%E1%83%A4%E1%83%9D)" title="თემთა პალატა (გაერთიანებული სამეფო) – Georgian" lang="ka" hreflang="ka" data-title="თემთა პალატა (გაერთიანებული სამეფო)" data-language-autonym="ქართული" data-language-local-name="Georgian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ქართული</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-kw mw-list-item"><a href="https://kw.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_Kemmynyon_an_Ruwvaneth_Unys" title="Chi Kemmynyon an Ruwvaneth Unys – Cornish" lang="kw" hreflang="kw" data-title="Chi Kemmynyon an Ruwvaneth Unys" data-language-autonym="Kernowek" data-language-local-name="Cornish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Kernowek</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-la mw-list-item"><a href="https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domus_Communium_(Britanniarum_Regnum)" title="Domus Communium (Britanniarum Regnum) – Latin" lang="la" hreflang="la" data-title="Domus Communium (Britanniarum Regnum)" data-language-autonym="Latina" data-language-local-name="Latin" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Latina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lv mw-list-item"><a href="https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apvienot%C4%81s_Karalistes_P%C4%81rst%C4%81vju_pal%C4%81ta" title="Apvienotās Karalistes Pārstāvju palāta – Latvian" lang="lv" hreflang="lv" data-title="Apvienotās Karalistes Pārstāvju palāta" data-language-autonym="Latviešu" data-language-local-name="Latvian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Latviešu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lt mw-list-item"><a href="https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bendruomeni%C5%B3_r%C5%ABmai" title="Bendruomenių rūmai – Lithuanian" lang="lt" hreflang="lt" data-title="Bendruomenių rūmai" data-language-autonym="Lietuvių" data-language-local-name="Lithuanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lietuvių</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hu mw-list-item"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A9pvisel%C5%91h%C3%A1z_(Egyes%C3%BClt_Kir%C3%A1lys%C3%A1g)" title="Képviselőház (Egyesült Királyság) – Hungarian" lang="hu" hreflang="hu" data-title="Képviselőház (Egyesült Királyság)" data-language-autonym="Magyar" data-language-local-name="Hungarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Magyar</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ml mw-list-item"><a href="https://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%B9%E0%B5%97%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%8D_%E0%B4%93%E0%B4%AB%E0%B5%8D_%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8B%E0%B4%AE%E0%B5%BA%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%8D_%E0%B4%93%E0%B4%AB%E0%B5%8D_%E0%B4%A6%E0%B4%BF_%E0%B4%AF%E0%B5%81%E0%B4%A3%E0%B5%88%E0%B4%B1%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B1%E0%B4%A1%E0%B5%8D_%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%82%E0%B4%97%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A1%E0%B4%82" title="ഹൗസ് ഓഫ് കോമൺസ് ഓഫ് ദി യുണൈറ്റഡ് കിംഗ്ഡം – Malayalam" lang="ml" hreflang="ml" data-title="ഹൗസ് ഓഫ് കോമൺസ് ഓഫ് ദി യുണൈറ്റഡ് കിംഗ്ഡം" data-language-autonym="മലയാളം" data-language-local-name="Malayalam" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>മലയാളം</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-mr mw-list-item"><a href="https://mr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%8A%E0%A4%B8_%E0%A4%91%E0%A4%AB_%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%89%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B8" title="हाऊस ऑफ कॉमन्स – Marathi" lang="mr" hreflang="mr" data-title="हाऊस ऑफ कॉमन्स" data-language-autonym="मराठी" data-language-local-name="Marathi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>मराठी</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-arz mw-list-item"><a href="https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%88%D9%85_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%89" title="مجلس العموم البريطانى – Egyptian Arabic" lang="arz" hreflang="arz" data-title="مجلس العموم البريطانى" data-language-autonym="مصرى" data-language-local-name="Egyptian Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>مصرى</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ms mw-list-item"><a href="https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewan_Rakyat_United_Kingdom" title="Dewan Rakyat United Kingdom – Malay" lang="ms" hreflang="ms" data-title="Dewan Rakyat United Kingdom" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Melayu" data-language-local-name="Malay" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Melayu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-my mw-list-item"><a href="https://my.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%80%9A%E1%80%B0%E1%80%94%E1%80%AD%E1%80%AF%E1%80%80%E1%80%BA%E1%80%90%E1%80%80%E1%80%BA%E1%80%80%E1%80%84%E1%80%BA%E1%80%B8%E1%80%92%E1%80%99%E1%80%BA%E1%80%B8_%E1%80%A1%E1%80%B1%E1%80%AC%E1%80%80%E1%80%BA%E1%80%9C%E1%80%BD%E1%80%BE%E1%80%90%E1%80%BA%E1%80%90%E1%80%B1%E1%80%AC%E1%80%BA" title="ယူနိုက်တက်ကင်းဒမ်း အောက်လွှတ်တော် – Burmese" lang="my" hreflang="my" data-title="ယူနိုက်တက်ကင်းဒမ်း အောက်လွှတ်တော်" data-language-autonym="မြန်မာဘာသာ" data-language-local-name="Burmese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>မြန်မာဘာသာ</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagerhuis_(Verenigd_Koninkrijk)" title="Lagerhuis (Verenigd Koninkrijk) – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Lagerhuis (Verenigd Koninkrijk)" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ne mw-list-item"><a href="https://ne.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%B8_%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%AB_%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B8,_%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4_%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF" title="हाउस अफ कमन्स, संयुक्त अधिराज्य – Nepali" lang="ne" hreflang="ne" data-title="हाउस अफ कमन्स, संयुक्त अधिराज्य" data-language-autonym="नेपाली" data-language-local-name="Nepali" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>नेपाली</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%B6%E6%B0%91%E9%99%A2_(%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AE%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9)" title="庶民院 (イギリス) – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="庶民院 (イギリス)" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-no mw-list-item"><a href="https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underhuset_(Storbritannia)" title="Underhuset (Storbritannia) – Norwegian Bokmål" lang="nb" hreflang="nb" data-title="Underhuset (Storbritannia)" data-language-autonym="Norsk bokmål" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Bokmål" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk bokmål</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nn mw-list-item"><a href="https://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Det_britiske_Underhuset" title="Det britiske Underhuset – Norwegian Nynorsk" lang="nn" hreflang="nn" data-title="Det britiske Underhuset" data-language-autonym="Norsk nynorsk" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Nynorsk" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk nynorsk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-oc mw-list-item"><a href="https://oc.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambra_de_las_Comunas_del_Reialme_Unit" title="Cambra de las Comunas del Reialme Unit – Occitan" lang="oc" hreflang="oc" data-title="Cambra de las Comunas del Reialme Unit" data-language-autonym="Occitan" data-language-local-name="Occitan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Occitan</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pnb mw-list-item"><a href="https://pnb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DB%81%D8%A7%D8%A4%D8%B3_%D8%A2%D9%81_%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B2" title="ہاؤس آف کامنز – Western Punjabi" lang="pnb" hreflang="pnb" data-title="ہاؤس آف کامنز" data-language-autonym="پنجابی" data-language-local-name="Western Punjabi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>پنجابی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izba_Gmin" title="Izba Gmin – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Izba Gmin" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A2mara_dos_Comuns_do_Reino_Unido" title="Câmara dos Comuns do Reino Unido – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Câmara dos Comuns do Reino Unido" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_Comunelor_a_Parlamentului_Regatului_Unit" title="Camera Comunelor a Parlamentului Regatului Unit – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Camera Comunelor a Parlamentului Regatului Unit" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%89%D0%B8%D0%BD_%D0%92%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8" title="Палата общин Великобритании – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Палата общин Великобритании" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sco mw-list-item"><a href="https://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoose_o_Commons_o_the_Unitit_Kinrick" title="Hoose o Commons o the Unitit Kinrick – Scots" lang="sco" hreflang="sco" data-title="Hoose o Commons o the Unitit Kinrick" data-language-autonym="Scots" data-language-local-name="Scots" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Scots</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sq mw-list-item"><a href="https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhoma_e_Komun%C3%ABve_t%C3%AB_Mbret%C3%ABris%C3%AB_s%C3%AB_Bashkuar" title="Dhoma e Komunëve të Mbretërisë së Bashkuar – Albanian" lang="sq" hreflang="sq" data-title="Dhoma e Komunëve të Mbretërisë së Bashkuar" data-language-autonym="Shqip" data-language-local-name="Albanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Shqip</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-si mw-list-item"><a href="https://si.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B6%91%E0%B6%9A%E0%B7%8A%E0%B7%83%E0%B6%AD%E0%B7%8A_%E0%B6%BB%E0%B7%8F%E0%B6%A2%E0%B6%B0%E0%B7%8F%E0%B6%B1%E0%B7%92%E0%B6%BA%E0%B7%9A_%E0%B6%B8%E0%B7%84%E0%B6%A2%E0%B6%B1_%E0%B6%B8%E0%B6%B1%E0%B7%8A%E0%B6%AD%E0%B7%8A%E2%80%8D%E0%B6%BB%E0%B7%93_%E0%B6%B8%E0%B6%AB%E0%B7%8A%E0%B6%A9%E0%B6%BD%E0%B6%BA" title="එක්සත් රාජධානියේ මහජන මන්ත්‍රී මණ්ඩලය – Sinhala" lang="si" hreflang="si" data-title="එක්සත් රාජධානියේ මහජන මන්ත්‍රී මණ්ඩලය" data-language-autonym="සිංහල" data-language-local-name="Sinhala" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>සිංහල</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-simple mw-list-item"><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="House of Commons of the United Kingdom – Simple English" lang="en-simple" hreflang="en-simple" data-title="House of Commons of the United Kingdom" data-language-autonym="Simple English" data-language-local-name="Simple English" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Simple English</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sd mw-list-item"><a href="https://sd.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%88%D8%B3_%D8%A2%D9%81_%DA%AA%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B2_%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%BD%D9%8A%DA%8A_%DA%AA%D9%86%DA%AF%DA%8A%D9%85" title="هائوس آف ڪامنز يونائيٽيڊ ڪنگڊم – Sindhi" lang="sd" hreflang="sd" data-title="هائوس آف ڪامنز يونائيٽيڊ ڪنگڊم" data-language-autonym="سنڌي" data-language-local-name="Sindhi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>سنڌي</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sk mw-list-item"><a href="https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doln%C3%A1_snemov%C5%88a_Spojen%C3%A9ho_kr%C3%A1%C4%BEovstva" title="Dolná snemovňa Spojeného kráľovstva – Slovak" lang="sk" hreflang="sk" data-title="Dolná snemovňa Spojeného kráľovstva" data-language-autonym="Slovenčina" data-language-local-name="Slovak" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenčina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BC_%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%B0" title="Дом комуна – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Дом комуна" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sh mw-list-item"><a href="https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dom_komuna_Ujedinjenog_Kraljevstva" title="Dom komuna Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva – Serbo-Croatian" lang="sh" hreflang="sh" data-title="Dom komuna Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva" data-language-autonym="Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски" data-language-local-name="Serbo-Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yhdistyneen_kuningaskunnan_alahuone" title="Yhdistyneen kuningaskunnan alahuone – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Yhdistyneen kuningaskunnan alahuone" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittiska_underhuset" title="Brittiska underhuset – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Brittiska underhuset" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tl mw-list-item"><a href="https://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapulungan_ng_mga_Karaniwan_ng_United_Kingdom" title="Kapulungan ng mga Karaniwan ng United Kingdom – Tagalog" lang="tl" hreflang="tl" data-title="Kapulungan ng mga Karaniwan ng United Kingdom" data-language-autonym="Tagalog" data-language-local-name="Tagalog" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tagalog</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ta mw-list-item"><a href="https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%90%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF_%E0%AE%87%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9A%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B3%E0%AE%B5%E0%AF%88" title="ஐக்கிய இராச்சியத்தின் மக்களவை – Tamil" lang="ta" hreflang="ta" data-title="ஐக்கிய இராச்சியத்தின் மக்களவை" data-language-autonym="தமிழ்" data-language-local-name="Tamil" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>தமிழ்</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tt mw-list-item"><a href="https://tt.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B6yekbritani%C3%A4ne%C3%B1_C%C3%A4m%C4%9Fi%C3%A4t_pulat%C4%B1" title="Böyekbritaniäneñ Cämğiät pulatı – Tatar" lang="tt" hreflang="tt" data-title="Böyekbritaniäneñ Cämğiät pulatı" data-language-autonym="Татарча / tatarça" data-language-local-name="Tatar" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Татарча / tatarça</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-th mw-list-item"><a href="https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%A0%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%8D%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%93%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%A3" title="สภาสามัญชนสหราชอาณาจักร – Thai" lang="th" hreflang="th" data-title="สภาสามัญชนสหราชอาณาจักร" data-language-autonym="ไทย" data-language-local-name="Thai" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ไทย</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avam_Kamaras%C4%B1" title="Avam Kamarası – Turkish" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" data-title="Avam Kamarası" data-language-autonym="Türkçe" data-language-local-name="Turkish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Türkçe</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%B4_%D0%A1%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%83%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%96%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B0" title="Палата громад Сполученого Королівства – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Палата громад Сполученого Королівства" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ur mw-list-item"><a href="https://ur.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9%85%D9%84%DA%A9%D8%AA_%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AF%DB%81_%DA%A9%D8%A7_%DB%81%D8%A7%D8%A4%D8%B3_%D8%A2%D9%81_%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B2" title="مملکت متحدہ کا ہاؤس آف کامنز – Urdu" lang="ur" hreflang="ur" data-title="مملکت متحدہ کا ہاؤس آف کامنز" data-language-autonym="اردو" data-language-local-name="Urdu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>اردو</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vec mw-list-item"><a href="https://vec.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A0mara_dei_comuni_(Regno_Unio)" title="Càmara dei comuni (Regno Unio) – Venetian" lang="vec" hreflang="vec" data-title="Càmara dei comuni (Regno Unio)" data-language-autonym="Vèneto" data-language-local-name="Venetian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Vèneto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vi mw-list-item"><a href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BA%A1_Ngh%E1%BB%8B_vi%E1%BB%87n_V%C6%B0%C6%A1ng_qu%E1%BB%91c_Li%C3%AAn_hi%E1%BB%87p_Anh_v%C3%A0_B%E1%BA%AFc_Ireland" title="Hạ Nghị viện Vương quốc Liên hiệp Anh và Bắc Ireland – Vietnamese" lang="vi" hreflang="vi" data-title="Hạ Nghị viện Vương quốc Liên hiệp Anh và Bắc Ireland" data-language-autonym="Tiếng Việt" data-language-local-name="Vietnamese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tiếng Việt</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-wuu mw-list-item"><a href="https://wuu.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8B%B1%E5%9B%BD%E4%B8%8B%E8%AE%AE%E9%99%A2" title="英国下议院 – Wu" lang="wuu" hreflang="wuu" data-title="英国下议院" data-language-autonym="吴语" data-language-local-name="Wu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>吴语</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8B%B1%E5%9C%8B%E4%B8%8B%E8%AD%B0%E9%99%A2" title="英國下議院 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="英國下議院" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>粵語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-diq mw-list-item"><a href="https://diq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamaray_Awami" title="Kamaray Awami – Zazaki" lang="diq" hreflang="diq" data-title="Kamaray Awami" data-language-autonym="Zazaki" data-language-local-name="Zazaki" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Zazaki</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8B%B1%E5%9B%BD%E4%B8%8B%E8%AE%AE%E9%99%A2" title="英国下议院 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="英国下议院" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li></ul> </section> </div> <div class="minerva-footer-logo"><img src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" alt="Wikipedia" width="120" height="18" style="width: 7.5em; height: 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