Themes

Governance of Parliament

Speaker at Prime Minister's Questions, 16 March 2022. © UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor

How does Parliament govern itself? Who controls the business and procedures in both Houses? Which individuals and bodies provide leadership, and how are their powers distributed? Do MPs and Peers have sufficient resources to perform their legislative and scrutiny functions?

News / William Wragg's honeytrap crisis, and is Speaker Hoyle under threat? - Parliament Matters podcast, episode 29 transcript

This week the team discuss William Wragg’s fall from grace following a ‘honeytrap sting’; the future of Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle; the sanctions available to punish former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells if she has misled MPs; whether Jeffrey Donaldson MP will attend Westminster now he has been charged with criminal offences; and why there has been a 39% reduction in the number of All Party Parliamentary Groups following chnages to the registration rules.

12 Apr 2024
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News / Tobacco and Vapes Bill: free vote blows smoke in Rishi Sunak's eyes - Parliament Matters podcast, episode 30 transcript

This week the team discuss the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and the fallout from the Second Reading free vote for Conservative MPs. It's still parliamentary ping-pong on the Rwanda Bill: but what is 'double insistence'? A former Labour adviser has suggested that if the party wins the general election Ministers should make extensive use of delegated powers already on the statute book to push their policy agenda through at speed with minimal parliamentary scrutiny. But what are the risks? And we talk to former Foreign Secretary Lord David Owen about the diplomatic dialogue that lay behind his question this week to his successor Lord Cameron.

12 Apr 2024
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Blog / What was the problem with House of Commons Standing Orders in the Gaza debate? Forthwithery explained

Procedurally, what was the cause of the furious party row over the Speaker's decision to break with precedent on an Opposition Day debate on 21 February 2024 ? What happened, what does it tell us about parliamentary procedure and why it matters, and what could be done to ensure the problem does not arise again?

27 Feb 2024
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Submissions / Commons scrutiny of Secretaries of State in the House of Lords: Evidence to the House of Commons Procedure Committee

Following the appointment of the Rt Hon Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton to the role of Foreign Secretary on 13 November 2023, we submitted evidence to the Procedure Committee inquiry into the options for MPs to effectively scrutinise Secretaries of State in the House of Lords and the work of their departments.

18 Dec 2023
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News / The King’s Speech, State Opening and the 1922 Committee – Parliament Matters podcast, episode 1 transcript

In this first episode of our Parliament Matters podcast, co-hosts Ruth Fox and Mark D'Arcy discuss the political prospects for the Government's legislative programme, and whether the pageantry of the State Opening of Parliament has outlived its usefulness.

10 Nov 2023
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Guides / What is the King’s Speech?

06 Nov 2023
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Publications / A New Normal? Parliament after Brexit

09 Mar 2020
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Blog / Whose House Is It Anyway?

12 Oct 2017
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Events / Lord Speaker Hustings 2016

01 Apr 2016
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Briefings / What next for e-petitions?

18 May 2012
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Reports / Opening Up The Usual Channels

02 Dec 2002