French wine, Italian food, German cars, British _______.[1] It is hard to figure out what that last word is. I’ll give you a second to think about it. The word your looking for is politics. Britain is known for its wild politics that takes place in ancient institutions. This essay will be looking at the legislature of the United Kingdom and will answer whether or not the ‘Mother’ of all parliaments has moved with the times and is not stuck in the past.
Debating
The definition of Debating is to argue on a subject, especially in a formal manner. The current way of debating in parliament is formal, in both houses. But it can be good to speak formally to one another so people take you and your ideas seriously. Point of Order! These can be very useful if a Member of Parliament wants to make sure an answer or speech is relevant or the debate is following the procedure correctly. All they have to do is say ‘Point of Order’ to either Mr or Madame Speaker and they will be heard. In the House of Lords the lords manage the debate themselves and only speak once so there would be no need for Points of orders. So Parliament has not moved on from the past but the way they debate seems to work fine.
You can say that parliament hasn’t moved on in that sense of debating but with time language has changed. Parliament have not moved on is the sense of formality and getting people heard but they have moved on with the times – mainly the language they use to debate. In fact there are occasions where the upper chamber (House of Lords) which is normally thought off as the old house has sounded more up to date on words than the lower house (House of Commons). Parliament has moved on in debating, it has to so then the public can watch the broadcasts of the chambers and understand the terms they use (with the exception sometime of Jacob Rees-Mogg).
Voting
The UK Parliament votes on issues in a way no other parliament does (although Canada do stand to be counted). When a division is called Members of the Commons or Lords will leave the chamber and choose either the Aye or No lobby (House of Commons) or Content lobby or Not Content Lobby (House of lords). Their tick on which way to vote is them walking pass a clerk taking down names. Now instantly you can tell this is old fashioned but it does mean the votes can’t be rigged by hacking. Has Parliament moved on its voting on issues? No, but, to, me the current system seems the safest way to do so.
Even though that is the way to vote in normal times, Parliament has shown it can move, on and quickly so, due the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic parliament became a hybrid parliament. Where Members of Parliament were given permission to vote on motions and bills from home through technology. The procedure committee made this decision quite quickly. Thus even though this way of voting was not permanent, it shows that the House of Commons and House of Lords (although electronic voting wasn’t permitted) can move forward with their way of voting in to a more efficient manner.
Elections
The United Kingdom uses First Past the Post as its electoral system. In each constituency the candidate with the most votes is elected the Member of Parliament – even if the majority of the electorate in the constituency voted for the other candidates. The political party with the most MPs becomes the Government and its leader becomes Prime Minister. Parliament hasn’t moved on with its elections for two fairly big reasons. One, loads of countries around the world now use electronic voting systems, it is more efficient with counting and if made correctly means elections have less of a chance of being interfered with. Two, the House of Lords. You would expect in the twenty-first century that all of the legislative in the United Kingdom was elected. The world has moved on from people being appointed into power so why is it still happening? Parliament can easily move on with its elections so why hasn’t it?
Parliament has been present for a long time so actually it has come quite far with its elections. The First Great Reform Act of 1832 increased the size of the electorate by broadening the term ‘property’ to allow more people to vote but not all who also had what we might think of as a property. The Second Great Reform Act of 1867 increased the size of the electorate again to all property owners who were excluded from the first reform act and also lodgers who paid more than £10 in rent. The Secret Ballot Act of 1872 mean that no one felt like they had to vote a certain way. 1918 – in this year the vote was open to all women over the age of 30. 1928 – in this year the vote was open to all women over the age of 21. Between 1928 and 1970 male and female voters had to be over 21, but in 1970 the Representation of the People Act was passed and all voters had to be 18 or older. The UK Parliament has moved on with its elections quite a lot and if the House of Lords faced some electoral reform it would probably be soon, that is in this own parliaments years which seem to be very very long.
Equality of opportunity
What would it mean for all to be treated justly and equally?[2] Well there is lots to say about this. For starters, the first female Member of Parliament was elected in 1919 (Nancy Astor, Con), parliament had been around since 1701. The first black Member of Parliament was elected in 1832 (John Stewart, Con). First black female Member of Parliament was elected in 1987 (Diane Abbott, Lab). First blind Member of Parliament was elected in 1864 (Henry Fawcett, Lib). There are many more firsts that entered parliament but if you look at the dates none of them are even with in a century of 1701! Parliament had not moved on as quickly as it wanted to admit.
But the paragraph above doesn’t necessarily illustrate failure. It shows that there are people who have been elected paving the way for more to follow. Whether they were the first South Asian MP (Dadabhai Naoroji, Lib). First British MP of Chinese origins (Alan Mak, Con). First MP that used a wheelchair (Arthur MacMorrough Kavanagh, Con). Parliament has moved on, it has done its best to move on, it may not of succeeded in the time length but at least it has succeeded by getting it started.
The House of Lords (The Upper House)
Like I stated in the election section (go to paragraph six and seven for more information on the matter) you would expect that the whole of the ‘Mother’ of all parliaments was elected, especially in the 21st century. During the lockdown all peers had to do to get money was log on. They didn’t even have to take part in the debate! It is pretty much impossible for a single party to have a majority in the Lords, so if a government has a massive majority in the commons, like we have with the Johnson administration, it would mean there would be a legislative gridlock. Has the House of Lords moved on? No.
Although on the outside it seems to be out dated the Upper House has madesome big advancements in recent history. In 2000 the House of Lords Commission was created to make nominations to the house. The criteria of this commission are.
· A record of significant achievement within their chosen way of life.
· The ability to make an effective and significant contribution to the work of the House.
· The time available to ensure they can make the contribution
· Some understanding of the constitution
· Integrity and independence
· A commitments the highest standards of public life.
Having this commission means that people can be nominated on their merits, not because they were born into a household or are friends with someone in high office. Tony Blair’s administration passed the House of Lords Act in 1999 which limited the hereditary peers to 92. The House of Lords sits for longer than the commons so it has more time to scrutinise the government and vote on motions and bills. The House is full of people from very different previous backgrounds so it gives the legislative loads of diversity in views. Has it moved on? Yes, you can find where it has moved on by looking deeper into this part of our Parliament.
The same buildings
This section might sound strange but it is a actually quite crucial. You see Parliament needs to be in a building that can take the strain of a legislative. The Palace of Westminster is old, very old so could it be time to pack up and move. Rats carry lots of diseases and at the moment that is a problem the building is facing. And with the advancements in technology walls are having to be taken down to fit wiring in, corrupting the structural integrity of the place. Would it be better and more efficient for the two Houses of Parliament to move to a building that already has the technology and space needed. And probably wouldn’t have a rat problem?
Well isn’t it currently moving on? The Palace of Westminster is currently being renovated and Parliament have come up with options on how to do it. Plans have been drawn of a temporary House of Commons chamber in the old Department of Health and Social Care building on Whitehall whilst the most recent idea for the House of Lords is to move up to York during renovations - although that got shot down. Has parliaments buildings moved on, you can’t say that they have but you can say they are currently moving on. And because the restoration of Parliament is a very important subject information should be released soon on the matter.
Political Parties
When Theresa May resigned in 2019 there wasn’t going to be a General election to decide who was going to be the next Prime Minister. Instead when it came down to the final two, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, only 0.29% of the population of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland were allowed to vote who would be the next Prime Minister. Yes it used to be an even smaller amount but still we called our selves a democracy whilst at the same time today our leader is being elected by 0.29% of the population!
Although over the years political parties have changed their core principles to be what politicians thought at the time was right for society. Labour have had four stages so far: Traditional Labour, New Labour, Blue Labour and Momentum. And the Conservatives have had three stages: Traditional Conservatism, One Nation Conservatism and The New Right. Over the years of having these Parties they have adapted, evolved to their surroundings. But did they evolve because they thought it was right for the country or because they thought it would get them more votes?
Now it comes down to the decision making. Or maybe not. In mathematical terms I would say this is mixed correlation. On some sections of this essay you could say Parliament absolutely has not moved on. And in others you could say Parliament absolutely has moved on. The whale is not a fish.[3] On the outside it look is like a fish but biologically it is a mammal. That is the conclusion to this essay. Parliament looks like it has not moved on but on the inside the move has started. Just like how the Political Parties adapt. Parliament must adapt to the ever changing world of the 21stcentury.