Private Members’ Bills (PMBs) are bills introduced by MPs and Peers who are not Government Ministers. When will the PMB ballot take place? When will MPs have to present their bills if they are successful in the ballot? Why might there be an extended window of opportunity for lobby groups to encourage MPs to adopt their legislative proposal this year? When can Peers introduce PMBs in the House of Lords?
Thirteen Friday sittings (approximately 65 hours) are set aside in the House of Commons each Session for the consideration of Private Members’ Bills (PMBs). Priority for the use of the first seven sitting Fridays is given to PMBs introduced by the PMB ballot. Ballot Bills therefore have the best chance of becoming law, or at least being debated on the Floor of the House.
The PMB ballot is usually drawn on the second Thursday of each Session, although there have been exceptions.[1] In the 2010-12 Session, for example, the ballot was moved to the third Thursday of the Session. The PMB Ballot is therefore likely to fall either on 25 July or 1 August.
MPs do not need to have drafted a Bill or even chosen the title before entering the ballot.
The names of the 20 Members whose names are drawn in the ballot are announced immediately.
On a subsequent Wednesday (Standing Orders specify the fifth Wednesday of the Session, but this was amended to the sixth Wednesday in 2010), all 20 MPs successful in the ballot formally present their bills.
At this First Reading stage they require only the short and long title – which sets out, in a short summary, what provisions a bill will contain - of the PMB.
Between being selected in the ballot and the presentation of their bill, the MPs who are selected are often subject to intense lobbying efforts by organisations with proposals for legislation. The timing of the election means that the PMB ballot and the presentation of the bills are likely to fall either side of the Summer recess, leaving an even longer period for this lobbying to take place.
After presenting their bill, each MP will then choose one of the allotted PMB Friday sittings for their Second Reading. MPs can postpone their allocated Second Reading day but may not bring their Second Reading forward to an earlier day. MPs choose their Second Reading days in the order in which they were selected in the ballot. The procedures that apply to PMBs (which differ to those of Government bills) mean a PMB is much more likely to succeed if it is debated first. MPs higher up the list will therefore pick days chosen by the fewest MPs so that their bill can be considered as early as possible in the day.
For PMBs introduced by Peers in the House of Lords, a ballot is conducted two working days after the King’s Speech to determine the order in which PMBs handed in on that day receive their First Reading.[2]
Peers must submit a long and short title to the Legislation Office by 4pm on the day after the State Opening, but not a full text. Twenty-five bills are drawn from the ballot, two of which are then introduced each sitting day in the order in which they were drawn. If a Member turns down their First Reading 'slot', all Peers below them on the ballot list move up one place in the queue for First Readings.
Peers are still able to introduce a bill at any stage of the Session, but such bills will receive their First Readings after those entered in the ballot.
[1] Standing Order No.14(10), House of Commons Standing Orders for Public Business, as at 23 October 2023
[2] Companion to the Standing Orders and Guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords, Chapter 8, Private Members’ Bills, as at 26 February 2024
The new Parliament will assemble on Tuesday 9 July 2024, five days after the General Election. This guide explains the ceremonial, legislative, organisational and procedural processes that are engaged at the start of the Parliament. It examines the challenges a July General Election poses to the parliamentary calendar over the Summer and looks at the Government's plans with respect to legislation and public finances.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – the Bill to legalise assisted dying – will begin its Committee Stage in the House of Lords on Friday 14 November. In this blog, we explain how Committee Stage works in the House of Lords, including how the House debates and decides on amendments, and how long this stage is likely to take.
Ten years after the House of Commons Petitions Committee was created – does it actually work? Does it genuinely shift policy? Or is it an emotional release valve? In this special anniversary episode, we bring together four Chairs of the Petitions Committee – one current, three former – for a candid conversation about what happens after hundreds of thousands (or sometimes millions) of people click “sign”. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.
Peers begin clause-by-clause scrutiny of the assisted dying Bill, after a Joint Committee on Human Rights evidence session on its impact on disabled people. David Lammy takes Justice questions in the Commons. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill completes its Lords stages and begins Commons ping-pong. MPs hold a Remembrance Day debate on the armed forces. Prime Minister’s Questions is followed by a Conservative Opposition Day. The Lords continue detailed scrutiny of the Border Security Bill, Tobacco and Vapes Bill, and Crime and Policing Bill and debate the Sentencing Bill for the first time. Four Secretaries of State face questions from Select Committees and Dame Antonia Romeo, the Home Office Permanent Secretary, will face scrutiny of her department’s performance.
Having passed through the House of Commons, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill - the Bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales - must now go through its legislative stages in the House of Lords. This guide explains the special procedures for legislation in the House of Lords, and for Private Members’ Bills in particular. It answers some frequently asked questions, including how Peers might block the Bill, and gives an explanation of each stage of the process, from Second to Third Reading.
As Britain’s modern party system frays, we rewind 300+ years to Queen Anne’s reign to trace the messy, very human birth of Britain’s party politics in conversation with historian George Owers, author of Rage of Party. He charts how religion, war, and raw parliamentary management forged early party politics, as the Whigs and Tories hardened into recognisable parties. Parliament turned from an occasional royal event into a permanent institution, and the job that would later be called “Prime Minister” began to take shape through court craft and parliamentary number-crunching. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.
