Who is in Control: The UK Executive or Parliament?

The issue of who has the greater power in the UK constitution can be considered more difficult that one expects.  The nature of the UK constitution means that there is not a definite check and balance in place to ensure that rigid controls of each branch exist in the UK. 

It is therefore necessary to explore how there is an argument in favour of both having control over each one. 

How does the UK Government control the UK Parliament?

i. Government usually has an overall majority:  

The electoral system virtually guarantees an overall majority when the government proposes legislation to Parliament.  It is rare that Parliament can prevent this. 

There has only been select few time when PMs have lost the vote in the Commons: 

Blair	4 times in 10 years
Brown	3 times in 3 years
Cameron	6 times under a coalition
May	0 at present

 

ii. The power of prime ministerial patronage renders many MPs excessively compliant and loyal 

There is a term for this…. ‘Lobby fodder’.

Many, perhaps most, MPs are ambitious and therefore prefer to be loyal to the P.M. who has sole power over government appointments.

Margaret Thatcher had several Reshuffles which helped maintain her success in Parliament (only suffered 4 defeats in 11 years)

iii. Party loyalty is very strong

 

MPs are elected under a party manifesto and have a strong mandate to support the party’s policies. Defying the party leadership might be seen as a betrayal of the mandate.

Eg The European Union Referendum Act 2015 was passed 544-53 without any control from Parliament

iv. The whips have great influence.

The analysis is that they can be both persuasive and threatening. They have influence over careers and in extreme circumstances can threaten suspension from the party or can persuade a local party to ‘de-select’ them. 

Eg Nadine Dorris was suspended by the Conservative Party for differences with David Cameron and George Osborne.

 v. Parliament Act 1911-49/Salisbury Convention limits the powers of the House of Lords

This very important Act of Parliament has led to the House of Lords not be able to adequately block any proposed legislation that has been voted on in the House (remember this rarely gets defeated).

They are restricted to delay or amendments.

The Salisbury convention also prohibits the House of Lords from obstructing anything that appears in the winning party’s manifesto.

Eg, The House of Lords were powerless to prevent the implementation of the Human Rights Act in 1998

 

How does the UK Parliament control the UK Government?

i. Select Committees are able to act independent and scrutinise departments effectively.

As select committees comprise of cross party MPs, this means that the UK Government are not free to make laws without them being adequately checked by all parties in select committees.  They cannot rely on their own party to help them out.

Also, as they are ran by backbench MPs, this is the opportunity for the wider Parliament (not just the front benches!!) to have a chance to control Parliament.

And they can control the Government!! Remember that the health select committee ordered the government to act on the swine flu epidemic in 2010! 

ii. Parliament does have the power to recommend changes to legislation (even if they can’t block it)

 This happens quite regularly.  In 2015, George Osborne’s proposed tax cuts were delayed by the House of Lords to allow people time to “deal with the impact £4.4bn cuts to tax credits”.

These delays mean that the government need to re-strategize and present some legislation that has been addressed.

It also means that the government need to take into consideration the influence of the House of Lords and ensure that they careful present it in the first place.

iii. In extreme circumstances, Parliament can remove the government through a vote of no confidence.

This is rare.  The last time this happened was in 1979 when the House of Commons carried the conservative motion of no confidence 311-310 again Jim Callaghan’s Labour government.

When a government, like in the above case, is ineffective it can be removed. Jim Callaghan lost 36 votes in 2 years and this was too many for the government to keep their position.

 

iv. Parliament has sovereignty over the government

The government cannot make any fundamental changes/updates to the law without Parliament voting on it first.  This is even if it is part of their manifesto pledges.

Eg, Parliament needed to vote in order to pass the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.  This was part of Labours 2005 pledge to remove judges from the House of Lords

Furthermore, Parliament can veto legislation if they believe that the government does not have the mandate for the proposal.

Eg, in 2006 The House of Commons vetoed Labour’s Freedom Of Information Act 1999 on exposing MP salaries.

 

In Conclusion….

There seems to be little doubt that both have influence over the other and that conventions and legislation alike do leave both chambers with something to leave them still feeling like heavy weights in Westminster.  With this in mind, a good the above will leave you ready to tackle a previous question asked by Edexcel:

 

To what extent do Parliament control Government Power? 

40 marks