procedures. His name first appeared on papers in1943. Since then the paper carries the name. Proceeding of both Houses are also now televised, the Lords since 1984 and the Commons since 1989. [14, p.107]
.2 The House of Commons
House of Commons today is an elected House with a nation-wide representation. Of its 650 Members 523 represent constituencies in England, 38 in Wales, 72 in Scotland and 17 in Northern Ireland. When speaking about the British Parliament, the House of Commons is usually meant. MP is addressed only to the members of the House of Commons. When speaking about General election, election to the House of Commons is meant. So this House is the centre of real political power and activity, most of its members being professional politicians, lawyers, economists, etc. [16, p.121] party that has won the general election makes up the majority in the House of Commons, and forms the Government. The party with the next largest number of members in the House, or sometimes a combination of other parties, forms the official Opposition, and Leader of the Opposition is a recognized post in the House of Commons.MPs sit on two sides of the hall, one side for the governing party and the other for the opposition. In the Commons debating chamber there are seats for only 437 MPs. But except on matters of great interest and importance the presence of all members is not necessary. 40 MPs is enough to make up a quorum. [18, p.40] of the most important members in the House of Commons, the chief officer, is the Speaker who despite his name is the one who actually never speaks. The Speaker is the Chairman or presiding MP of the House of Commons. He is elected by a vote of the House at the beginning of each new Parliament to preside over the House and enforce the rules of order. He cannot debate or vote. He votes only in case of a tie, that is when voting is equal and, in this case he votes with Government. The main job of the Speaker is to maintain strict control over debates, to keep fair play between the parties, the government and the opposition, between the back-benchers and front-benchers. The Speaker is responsible for the orderly conduct of business, and is required to act with scrupulous impartiality between Members in the House. [13, p.48] Parliament, in the House of Commons, party control is exercised by officers known as Whips. The whips are party functioneers, party managers, who receive special salaries for their duties. They arrange each day programme in Parliament and tell MPs when they must attend debates. They inform, instruct, dictate and enforce the views of the front-benchers (the Government) on the back-benchers. The strict party discipline obliges them to follow the instructions of the whips. [14, p.107-109] are Government and Opposition Whips in both Houses of Parliament, but the Whips in the Lords are less exclusively concerned with party matters. On the Government side of the Commons the Chief Whip is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury. There are other Government Whips, including the Deputy Chief Whip and five Assistant Whips. The Government Chief Whip, who is directly answerable to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the House of Commons, is responsible for working out the details of the Government s programme of business, for estimating the time required for each item, and for arranging the business of the individual sitt...
