House of Commons of the United Kingdom
The House of Commons[d] is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as members of Parliament (MPs). MPs are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.
"British House of Commons" redirects here. For the House of Commons from 1707 to 1800, see House of Commons of Great Britain. For other bodies in British history and abroad, see House of Commons.
The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled
since 4 November 2019
since 8 January 2020
since 25 October 2022
since 6 September 2022
since 25 October 2022
since 4 April 2020
since 4 September 2023
since 9 May 2021
650
- Conservative Party (346)
- Labour Party (201)[a]
- Scottish National Party (43)
- Liberal Democrats (15)
- Democratic Unionist Party (7)
- Plaid Cymru (3)
- Alba Party (2)
- SDLP (2)
- Alliance Party (1)
- Green Party (1)
- Reform UK (1)
- Workers Party (1)
- Independents (18)[b]
- Sinn Féin (7)
- Speaker (1)
- Vacant (1)
Up to five years[c]
Recommendations by the boundary commissions; confirmation by King-in-Council.
The House of Commons of England began to evolve in the 13th and 14th centuries. In 1707 it became the House of Commons of Great Britain after the political union with Scotland, and from 1801 it also became the House of Commons for Ireland after the political union of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, the body became the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the independence of the Irish Free State. Under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, the Lords' power to reject legislation was reduced to a delaying power. The government is solely responsible to the House of Commons and the prime minister stays in office only as long as they retain the confidence of a majority of the Commons.
Role[edit]
Relationship with the Government[edit]
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 leader of the Opposition. Since 1963, by convention, the prime minister has always been a member of the House of Commons, rather than the House of Lords.
The Commons may indicate its lack of support for the government by rejecting a motion of confidence 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 obliged either to resign, making way for another MP who can command confidence, or request the monarch to dissolve Parliament, thereby precipitating a general election.
Since the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 Parliament sits for up to five years. This is a maximum: the prime minister can, and often has, choose an earlier time to dissolve parliament, with the permission of the monarch. This was a return to the historic system that had been replaced by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, which fixed the term at five years. As of 25 October 2022, four of the eleven 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.[3]
A prime minister will resign after party defeat at an election if unable to form a coalition, or obtain a confidence and supply arrangement, and may resign after a motion of no confidence in the prime minister or for personal reasons. In such cases, the premiership goes to whomever can command a majority in the House, unless there is a hung parliament and a coalition is formed; the new prime minister will by convention be the new leader of the resigner'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.[4]
Peers as ministers[edit]
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 peerage (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: Alec Douglas-Home, 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.
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.
Few major cabinet positions (except Lord Privy Seal, Lord Chancellor and Leader of the House of Lords) have been filled by a peer in recent times. Notable exceptions are Sir Alec Douglas-Home; who served as Foreign Secretary from 1960 to 1963; Peter Carington, 6th Lord Carrington, who also served as Foreign Secretary from 1979 to 1982; David Cameron, former Prime Minister who has served as Foreign Secretary since 2023; David Young, Lord Young of Graffham, who was appointed Employment Secretary in 1985; Lord Mandelson, who served as Business Secretary; Lord Adonis, who served as Transport Secretary; Baroness Amos, who served as International Development Secretary; Baroness Morgan of Cotes, who served as Culture Secretary; and Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, who served as Minister of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Minister of State for International Development. 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. Responsible government 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.
Commons symbol[edit]
The symbol used by the Commons consists of a portcullis topped by St Edward's Crown. The portcullis has been one of the Royal badges of England since the accession of the Tudors in the 15th century, and was a favourite symbol of King Henry VII. It was originally the badge of Beaufort, his mother's family; and a pun on the name Tudor, as in tu-door.[40] The original badge was of gold, but nowadays is shown in various colours, predominantly green or black. It feature on the flag of the House of Commons; first flown on 11 May 2021 and designed by Graham Bartram, chief vexillologist of the Flag Institute at the request of speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.[41]