1. Semester Calendar 1. Identity: who are the British?
2. Geography and demographics: how do British people organize spatially and socially?
3. Politics and institutions: how are British people represented and ruled over?
4. The UK and the World: British people and the EU, British people and the US

2. Lecture 6: A Parliamentary Monarchy, part 1 The Houses of Parliament
Actualités et faits de société Licence 1
Lecture 6: A Parliamentary Monarchy, part 1 The Houses of Parliament

3. Introduction France is a Republic The UK is a parliamentary monarchy
2 elements:
‘PARLIAMENTARY’: elected representatives of the people to rule and legislate
‘MONARCHY’: the head of state is not elected, but the descendant of a long line of rulers in the royal family

4. Westminster Palace
You’re all familiar with Westminster Palace as it is one of the best-known monuments in London:

5. WESTMINSTER
Westminster Palace: the home of the two houses of Parliament
The House of Lords
The House of Commons

6. House of Lords/Upper House
Big Ben
House of Commons/
Lower House

7. Parliamentary Session
a parliamentary session is a parliamentary year (from November to November)
every session is opened by a ceremony, called the State Opening of Parliament
the highlight of the ceremony is the Queen’s Speech: the Queen reads the legislative programme of the coming year in front of the two Houses

8. 1. The House of Lords
The House of Lords is an entirely unelected body. Its members are known as peers, of which there are two main kinds:
Lords Temporal
Lords Spiritual
There are at the moment 775 peers but their number is not fixed.
They receive no salary but all their expenses are paid for by the state.

9. 1.1. Lords Temporal: 1.1.1. Hereditary Peers
Hereditary peers are members of the aristocracy whose title (‘peerage’) was handed down to them from their fathers.
Until 1999 there were about 700 hereditary peers;
Since the 1999 House of Lords reform, now only 92 remain in office

10. 1.1. Lords Temporal (2): 1.1.2. Life Peers
Life peers are appointed by the Queen on the recommandation of the PM. They make up the majority of peers (ca 630/775)
WHO ARE THEY?
People who retire from senior public office are often appointed as life peers (former PM – except Blair and Major – archbishops of Canterbury, Speakers of the House of Commons, etc.).
They can belong to a political party and refuse to be neutral: Labour life peers, Tory life peers…
Crossbench Life peers (Crossbenchers) are those peers who have declared themselves politically neutral.
This party division is reflected in the layout of the House of Lords, in the way peers sit.

11. Layout of the House of Lords
Cf. BBC News website, interactive map, special report on the House of Lords reform:

12. 1.2. Lords Spiritual They are archbishops and bishops.
There is no separation of powers between Church and State in the UK (every daily session starts with prayers for instance), hence the main representatives of the Anglican clergy form up the 26 Lords spiritual.

13. The functions of the House of Lords
Law-making powers and the power of veto over legislation.
This function has been gradually downsized: 1911 and 1949 Parliament Acts have reduced the House of Lords’ power to delay and block legislation.

14. The functions of the House of Lords
Scrutinizing government: the House of Lords is supposed to be a check on the power of the government by questioning and debating decisions made by ministers and government departments.
Ministers therefore regularly go to the HL to answer questions, and the PM him/herself has to go there once a week.

15. The House of Lords Reform, 1999
Part of Tony Blair’s platform in 1997 was a will to further abolish class privileges, embodied for some people in the ‘undemocratic, unelected, outdated House of Lords’.
It reduced the number of hereditary peers from ca. 700 to 92 members (this compromise was the only way for the Bill to be accepted by the Lords themselves).
Other people praise the existence of the House of Lords for its permanence, its ability to slow down the passage of radical legislation, the fact that it is supposed to be above party politics.

16. 2. The House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament responsible for examining, passing or repealing laws. It is a democratically elected body with 650 members or MPs.
MPs: Members of Parliament (= députés)
They are elected by the people at a single round of elections (suffrage uninominal à un tour) during the General Election (every 4 or 5 years).
They sit around 155 days a year, the sessions are broadcasted on the radio and on the BBC, and are open to the public.

17. The Westminster model
In the Westminster model, the legislative and executive power is exercised by the party which wins the majority of seats (but not votes) in the General Election.
The opposition party does not have any direct power.
The conduct of politics in the UK is adversarial by nature, rather than consensual, as is reflected in the layout of the House of Commons.

18. Layout of the House of Commons

20. Composition of the House of Commons
650 Members of Parliament (MPs), each one representing a different electoral constituency throughout the UK.
MPs who are either ministers, or who hold an official position in the opposition party are called ‘frontbenchers’ (they sit in the front row).
All other MPs are known as ‘backbenchers’.
Debates are presided over by the Speaker of the House of Commons, an MP elected by the other members of the House (not necessarily a member of the majority party, though).
Whips are MPs responsible for disciplining party members, ensuring that they vote in accordance with their party’s wishes (except for votes on matters of conscience).

21. Opposition
Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition is the main party which does not have the majority. The Leader of the Opposition is surrounded by the members of his Shadow Cabinet:
Shadow Prime Minister: leader of the opposition party (Jeremy Corbyn)
Shadow Defense Secretary, shadow Education Secretary…

22. Composition of the House of Commons
Women: 29% in 2015, an all-times record (23% in 2010)
Ethnic minorities: 42 MPs in 2015, an all-times record (6.6%, vs. 4.2% in 2010)
 MPs are still predominantly men, part of the social elite, often having been to public schools and Oxbridge.

23. Legislative function of the House of Commons
Law-making: examining proposals for new laws, passing, amending, abolishing laws.
BILL: proposition de loi
ACT: loi promulgée
Authorizing government’s expenditures and voting budget.
Debating the major issues of the day
Scrutinizing the government.

24. Scrutinizing Government
This is another important function of the House of Commons, although it is of course a bit hypocritical when a party has a very large majority in the House of Commons after a General Election.
Any member of the majority party is expected to follow government’s policies and guidelines.
There are, however, sometimes, ‘backbench rebellions’ (cf Terrorism Act, which planned to allow police to detain terror supsects for up to 90 days without charge; this was deemed contrary to the Habeas Corpus and the government lost on this one).
Commons can also express a motion of No Confidence, in which case the PM has to resign.

25. Scrutinizing Government
The climax of the week in the House of Commons is Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQ) every Wednesday at noon.
The PM has to answer questions on his current policies to the opposition leader; this is mainly an improvisation exercise, during which both leaders have to show wit and repartee. This moment encapsulates the adversarial nature of UK politics.
See also short BBC news video explanation of PMQ: