The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy which, by legislation and convention, operates as a unitary parliamentary democracy. A hereditary monarch, currently King Charles III, serves as head of state while the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, currently Sir Keir Starmer since 2024, serves as the elected head of government.
A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party. In a parliamentary system, especially within the Westminster system, it can also be used to indicate crossbench members of a hung parliament where confidence and supply is provided to allow formation of a minority government but the right to vote on conscience is retained. Free votes are found in Canadian and some British legislative bodies; conscience votes are used in Australian and New Zealand legislative bodies.
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents. Whips are the party's "enforcers". They work to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being effectively expelled from the party.
Nicholas Hugh Brown, known as Nick Brown, is a British former politician and trade unionist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne East between 1983 and 2024. He represented the Labour Party until his resignation in 2023. Brown is the longest-serving Chief Whip of the Labour Party, discontinuously holding the position several times between 1997 and 2021 under Blair, Brown, Miliband, Corbyn and Starmer.
Alan James Beith, Baron Beith, is a British Liberal Democrat politician who represented Berwick-upon-Tweed as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 1973 to 2015.
Sir Nicholas Barton Harvey is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the member of parliament (MP) for North Devon from 1992 to 2015 and the Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 2010 to 2012.
Angela Evans Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon is a British politician and life peer serving as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal since 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Parties, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Basildon from 1997 to 2010.
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
The Jatiya Sangsad, often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for women. Elected occupants are called members of Parliament, or MPs. The 12th national parliamentary election was held on 7 January 2024. Elections to the body are held every five years, unless a parliament is dissolved earlier by the President of Bangladesh. On 6 August 2024, President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved parliament after the resignation of Sheikh Hasina and ordered to form a interim government.
The 2004 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's part of the wider 2004 European Parliament election which was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union. The United Kingdom's part of this election was held on Thursday 10 June 2004. The election also coincided with the 2004 local elections and the London Assembly and mayoral elections. In total, 78 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation.
Jeff Smith is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Withington since 2015, Lord Commissioner of the Treasury since 2024.
The Chief Whip of the Conservative Party oversees the whipping system in the party, which is responsible for ensuring that Conservative MPs or members of the House of Lords attend and vote in parliament in the desired way of the party leadership. Chief Whips, of which two are appointed in the party, a member of the House of Commons and a member of the House of Lords, also help to organise their party's contribution to parliamentary business.
The Chief Whip of the Liberal Democrats is responsible for administering the whipping system in the party which ensures that members attend and vote in parliament when the party leadership requires a majority vote. Whips, of which two are appointed in the party, a member of the House of Commons and a member of the House of Lords, also help to organise their party’s contribution to parliamentary business. On some occasions, the party leadership may allow MP's to have a free vote based on their own conscience rather than party policy, of which the chief whip is not required to direct votes.
The chief whip of the Labour Party oversees the whipping system in the Labour Party, and is responsible for ensuring that Labour members of Parliament (MPs) or members of the House of Lords attend and vote in Parliament of the United Kingdom in the desired way of the party leadership. The two chief whips, one in the House of Commons and one in the House of Lords, also help to organise their party's contribution to parliamentary business. The chief whip manages a team of whips, whom they may appoint from the Parliamentary Labour Party, to support the work of the whips' office.
The Committee of Selection is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Unlike the Commons' other select committees, the Committee of Selection exists by virtue of the House's Standing Orders for Private Business, its rules for bills that affect only specific organizations or individuals. Despite that, the committee is best known for appointing members of committees established under resolutions of the House and the Standing Orders for Public Business.
The Commons members of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) elected 19 members of the Shadow Cabinet from among their number in 2010. This follows the Labour Party's defeat at the 2010 general election, after which the party formed the Official Opposition in the United Kingdom.
Wendy Morton is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldridge-Brownhills since 2015. She served as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from September to October 2022.
Dame Amanda Anne Milling is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cannock Chase from the 2015 general election until losing her seat in 2024. She served as Minister without Portfolio in the UK cabinet and, alongside Ben Elliot, as Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party from February 2020 to September 2021. She also served as Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East from September 2021 to September 2022. She previously worked in market research.
The New Zealand Labour Party's Senior Whip administers the "whipping in" system that tries to ensure that party MPs attend and vote according to the party leadership's wishes. The position is elected by the Labour caucus members. The senior whip also acts as an intermediary between the backbenchers and the party leadership. Whenever Labour is in government the senior whip serves as the chief government whip and when out of government serves as chief opposition whip; thus the position is also referred to as "Chief Whip".
The Gang of 25 or the Group of 25 was a cohort of British Conservative Party backbench members of Parliament (MPs) that threatened to vote against prime minister Margaret Thatcher's 1981 Autumn Statement. The statement contained monetarist measures to control inflation. Similar measures introduced since 1979 had reduced inflation but caused job losses in the manufacturing sector.
