Critically discuss the composition of the House of Commons and the constitutional position of
Members of Parliament. Examine the laws and conventions that guarantee the primacy of the
House of Commons over the House of Lords.
Introduction
As an elected chamber, the House of Commons owes a duty to its electorate to represent and
protect them. Its composition and constitutional position should allow the Commons to serve the
people they represent to the maximum capacity possible. As well as this the balance of power
between the two chambers of the legislature should properly address whether they have an
electoral mandate to make influential legislative decisions. This essay will examine the constitutional
position of MPs within the House of Commons and to what extent its composition and position
relative to other bodies allows it to fulfil this role.
The constitutional position of members of parliament
Representation
As part of an elected body the constitutional position of MPs is to represent those that have given
them an electoral mandate. This is a social contract1 in which people give up some of their liberties
to the state in exchange for the state to protect their interests.
MPs are each elected by a constituency. Therefore, MPs are particularly responsible for representing
their constituents. This work is often informal such as MPs surgeries and letters from constituents,
from which MPs gage their needs and go on to represent them in parliament through raising issues
in debates.2. Robert Rogers (former speaker?) notes how for people with no access to justice, their
local MP can be the only way to ‘get equity from society’3. However, he also states that ‘pull of the
constituency is very powerful’ and describes a ‘tectonic shift’ that has taken place from ‘MPs having
their principal focus at Westminster and the demands they now face from their constituents’.4 The
Fabian Society has released a report which states MPs carry out too much constituency work than
they can efficiently manage, it suggests that a parliamentary official should be responsible for
managing the problems of the individual5. This is because extensive constituency responsibilities can
prevent MPs from fulfilling their constitutional role of representing society’s interests as a whole.
Legislation
Our constitution is uncodified meaning it is not contained in one single document but pulled
together from a wide range of sources. Acts of Parliament are one of its key sources and vital to its
functioning; Lord Norton of Louth states they ‘create a role for Parliament that is intrinsic to the
promulgation of law’. Parliaments role as legislature originates from the Glorious Revolution 1688
which resulted in parliament being the main power of our constitution. However, this role is often
confused: parliament is not a law-making body rather it is a ‘law affecting body’6. Law is formulated
by the government, yet parliament’s approval is what is required for a bill to become law. Lord
1
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (Penguin Classics 1968) 66
2
Clive Walker, ‘The roles of the House of Commons: What roles does the House of Commons fulfil in
constitutional terms?’ (Leeds University Law, 18 November 2001)
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/law/teaching/law6cw/hc-2.htm#Top accessed 11 February 2018
3
Robert Rogers, An insider’s guide to the House of Commons’ UK Parliament (Open Lectures 2012)
4
Robert Rogers, An insider’s guide to the House of Commons’ UK Parliament (Open Lectures 2012)
5
G Power Representatives of the people? The constituency roles of MPs (The Fabian Society 1998)
6
Alex Brazier Parliament, Politics and Law Making: Issues and Developments in the Legislative Process (The
Hansard Society 2004) 5
, Norton summarises this as ‘Conferring assent, on behalf of a wider community, to measures of
public policy that are to have binding applicability within a society is what defines a legislature’7.
Parliament has the power to reject or amend policies and therefore has great leverage over
government.
Government scrutiny
A system of separation of powers exists in the UK to ensure that the state does not become a threat
to liberty. Constitutional powers are split between three branches: namely the legislature, executive
and the judiciary. These branches enact a system of checks and balances upon each other to hold
each other accountable, echoing the liberal ideas of Montesquieu when he stated, “Power should be
a check unto power”. The Commons must scrutinise government policies and administration. The
Commons itself is more of a ‘policy influencing rather than a policy making legislature’8 as echoed by
John Stuart Mill "Instead of the function of governing, for which is radically unfit, the proper office of
a representative assembly is to watch and control the government …”9. MPs are instead expected to
influence and scrutinise government policy. Their approval will provide legitimisation of government
policy as the assent of MPs is equal to the assent of the people they represent10.
Composition of the House of Commons
How democratic is the Commons?
First Past the Post is the electoral system used to elect MPs however it has received widespread
criticism. Under FPTP, each of the UK’s 650 constituencies elects an MP in a general election to
represent them in parliament. The candidate with one more vote than the second most popular
candidate becomes that constituencies MP. Therefore, it is possible that the winning MP may have
received less than 50% of overall votes in their constituency. This gives rise to a ‘winner takes all’
scenario in which the votes of the constituents are not nearly proportionally represented. This gives
rise to a ‘two party’ system in which the two largest parties, Labour and Conservatives, dominate.
Smaller parties such as the Liberal Democrats or UKIP are not reflected in parliament even if
nationwide they had many votes which gives rise to an elective dictatorship which is when the
interests of the minority are trampled by the interests of the majority. Whilst this allows strong
government and prevents gridlock, this ultimately prevents parliament from fulfilling its
constitutional role of representation as the system is not democratic enough.
Social composition
Despite the wide pool of those eligible, the social composition of MPs remains relatively non-
diverse. In the 2017 election results there were 52 ethnic minority MPs and 45 LGBT MPs elected:
whilst this is a vast improvement on previous years this still does not proportionally resemble the
social composition of the UK11. Women candidates now make up 191 out of the 650 MPs in the
7
Alex Brazier Parliament, Politics and Law Making: Issues and Developments in the Legislative Process (The
Hansard Society 2004) 5
8
Alex Brazier Parliament, Politics and Law Making: Issues and Developments in the Legislative Process (The
Hansard Society 2004) 5
9
John Stuart Mill, Considerations on Representative Government (Cambridge University Press 2011)
10
Alex Brazier Parliament, Politics and Law Making: Issues and Developments in the Legislative Process (The
Hansard Society 2004) 5
11
Cherry Wilson ‘Election results 2017: The most diverse Parliament’ (BBC News, 11 June 2017)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40232272 accessed 12 February 2018
Members of Parliament. Examine the laws and conventions that guarantee the primacy of the
House of Commons over the House of Lords.
Introduction
As an elected chamber, the House of Commons owes a duty to its electorate to represent and
protect them. Its composition and constitutional position should allow the Commons to serve the
people they represent to the maximum capacity possible. As well as this the balance of power
between the two chambers of the legislature should properly address whether they have an
electoral mandate to make influential legislative decisions. This essay will examine the constitutional
position of MPs within the House of Commons and to what extent its composition and position
relative to other bodies allows it to fulfil this role.
The constitutional position of members of parliament
Representation
As part of an elected body the constitutional position of MPs is to represent those that have given
them an electoral mandate. This is a social contract1 in which people give up some of their liberties
to the state in exchange for the state to protect their interests.
MPs are each elected by a constituency. Therefore, MPs are particularly responsible for representing
their constituents. This work is often informal such as MPs surgeries and letters from constituents,
from which MPs gage their needs and go on to represent them in parliament through raising issues
in debates.2. Robert Rogers (former speaker?) notes how for people with no access to justice, their
local MP can be the only way to ‘get equity from society’3. However, he also states that ‘pull of the
constituency is very powerful’ and describes a ‘tectonic shift’ that has taken place from ‘MPs having
their principal focus at Westminster and the demands they now face from their constituents’.4 The
Fabian Society has released a report which states MPs carry out too much constituency work than
they can efficiently manage, it suggests that a parliamentary official should be responsible for
managing the problems of the individual5. This is because extensive constituency responsibilities can
prevent MPs from fulfilling their constitutional role of representing society’s interests as a whole.
Legislation
Our constitution is uncodified meaning it is not contained in one single document but pulled
together from a wide range of sources. Acts of Parliament are one of its key sources and vital to its
functioning; Lord Norton of Louth states they ‘create a role for Parliament that is intrinsic to the
promulgation of law’. Parliaments role as legislature originates from the Glorious Revolution 1688
which resulted in parliament being the main power of our constitution. However, this role is often
confused: parliament is not a law-making body rather it is a ‘law affecting body’6. Law is formulated
by the government, yet parliament’s approval is what is required for a bill to become law. Lord
1
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (Penguin Classics 1968) 66
2
Clive Walker, ‘The roles of the House of Commons: What roles does the House of Commons fulfil in
constitutional terms?’ (Leeds University Law, 18 November 2001)
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/law/teaching/law6cw/hc-2.htm#Top accessed 11 February 2018
3
Robert Rogers, An insider’s guide to the House of Commons’ UK Parliament (Open Lectures 2012)
4
Robert Rogers, An insider’s guide to the House of Commons’ UK Parliament (Open Lectures 2012)
5
G Power Representatives of the people? The constituency roles of MPs (The Fabian Society 1998)
6
Alex Brazier Parliament, Politics and Law Making: Issues and Developments in the Legislative Process (The
Hansard Society 2004) 5
, Norton summarises this as ‘Conferring assent, on behalf of a wider community, to measures of
public policy that are to have binding applicability within a society is what defines a legislature’7.
Parliament has the power to reject or amend policies and therefore has great leverage over
government.
Government scrutiny
A system of separation of powers exists in the UK to ensure that the state does not become a threat
to liberty. Constitutional powers are split between three branches: namely the legislature, executive
and the judiciary. These branches enact a system of checks and balances upon each other to hold
each other accountable, echoing the liberal ideas of Montesquieu when he stated, “Power should be
a check unto power”. The Commons must scrutinise government policies and administration. The
Commons itself is more of a ‘policy influencing rather than a policy making legislature’8 as echoed by
John Stuart Mill "Instead of the function of governing, for which is radically unfit, the proper office of
a representative assembly is to watch and control the government …”9. MPs are instead expected to
influence and scrutinise government policy. Their approval will provide legitimisation of government
policy as the assent of MPs is equal to the assent of the people they represent10.
Composition of the House of Commons
How democratic is the Commons?
First Past the Post is the electoral system used to elect MPs however it has received widespread
criticism. Under FPTP, each of the UK’s 650 constituencies elects an MP in a general election to
represent them in parliament. The candidate with one more vote than the second most popular
candidate becomes that constituencies MP. Therefore, it is possible that the winning MP may have
received less than 50% of overall votes in their constituency. This gives rise to a ‘winner takes all’
scenario in which the votes of the constituents are not nearly proportionally represented. This gives
rise to a ‘two party’ system in which the two largest parties, Labour and Conservatives, dominate.
Smaller parties such as the Liberal Democrats or UKIP are not reflected in parliament even if
nationwide they had many votes which gives rise to an elective dictatorship which is when the
interests of the minority are trampled by the interests of the majority. Whilst this allows strong
government and prevents gridlock, this ultimately prevents parliament from fulfilling its
constitutional role of representation as the system is not democratic enough.
Social composition
Despite the wide pool of those eligible, the social composition of MPs remains relatively non-
diverse. In the 2017 election results there were 52 ethnic minority MPs and 45 LGBT MPs elected:
whilst this is a vast improvement on previous years this still does not proportionally resemble the
social composition of the UK11. Women candidates now make up 191 out of the 650 MPs in the
7
Alex Brazier Parliament, Politics and Law Making: Issues and Developments in the Legislative Process (The
Hansard Society 2004) 5
8
Alex Brazier Parliament, Politics and Law Making: Issues and Developments in the Legislative Process (The
Hansard Society 2004) 5
9
John Stuart Mill, Considerations on Representative Government (Cambridge University Press 2011)
10
Alex Brazier Parliament, Politics and Law Making: Issues and Developments in the Legislative Process (The
Hansard Society 2004) 5
11
Cherry Wilson ‘Election results 2017: The most diverse Parliament’ (BBC News, 11 June 2017)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40232272 accessed 12 February 2018
