Page:Britain An official handbook 1954.pdf/35



The distribution of seats in the House of Commons resulting from the General Elections of 1950 and 1951 is shown in Table 2.

The effectiveness of the party system rests to a considerable extent upon the fact that Government and Opposition are carried on alike by agreement: that is to say, the minority agrees that the majority must govern and, therefore, accepts its decisions; and die majority agrees that the minority should criticize and, therefore, sets time aside for that criticism to be heard. As far as is compatible with effective government, the Prime Minister meets the convenience of the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Opposition meets the convenience of the Prime Minister. Through the respective Whips there is a measure of agreement on the subjects to be debated and on the time to be allowed; sometimes even on the information to be provided and the proposed line of attack. In this way, Parliament has a chance of hearing a full discussion on policy from every point of view.

Outside Parliament, party control is exercised by the national and local organizations; inside Parliament, it is exercised by the Whips, who in addition to their other functions are expected to keep their forces effective by all means in their power. For the Government, this work is done by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, the junior lords at the Treasury, and the political officers of the Household—the Treasurer, the Comptroller and the Vice-Chamberlain. The Opposition Whips have no official position and are not paid from public funds, but their parliamentary duties are the same.

Parliamentary procedure is based on forms and rules, many of which date back to the beginning of the sixteenth century and even earlier.

Each House has its own Standing Orders, but the system of debate is much the same in the two Houses, except that in the House of Commons the Speaker has a much greater measure of control. In the House of Lords, the office of Speaker could be held by a commoner, since the Woolsack on which the Lord Chancellor sits as Speaker is technically outside the precincts of the House. In fact, the office is always held by a peer, but it carries with it only a limited authority to check or curtail debate. The Lords, unlike the Commons, claim the right to overrule their Speaker forthwidi on issues of procedure.

In the Commons, the Speaker has the prime duty of controlling debate. It is his responsibility to see that parliamentary time is used to the best possible advantage and, therefore, although he must carefully guard against abuse of procedure or any infringe-