His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition

Last updated

His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition, commonly known as the Official Opposition in the United Kingdom, is the main political opposition to His Majesty's Government. This is usually the political party with the second-largest number of seats in the House of Commons, as the largest party will usually form the government. Since July 2024, the Official Opposition has been the Conservative Party, led by former British prime minister Rishi Sunak.

Contents

Origins

The phrase His Majesty's Opposition was coined in 1826, before the advent of the modern two-party system, when Parliament consisted more of interests, relationships and factions rather than the highly coherent political parties of today (although the Whigs and Tories were the two main parties). The phrase was originally coined in jest; in attacking Foreign Secretary George Canning in the House of Commons, [1] John Hobhouse said jokingly, "It is said to be hard on His Majesty's Ministers to raise objections of this character but it is more hard on His Majesty's Opposition to compel them to take this course." [2] [3]

Opposition days

Whilst most days in the House of Commons are set aside for government business, twenty days in each session are set aside for opposition debates. Of these days, seventeen are at the disposal of the Leader of the Opposition and three can be used by the leader of the smaller, or tertiary, opposition party. This has been the Liberal Democrats since the 2024 General Election. [4]

Although the Opposition has no more formal powers in setting the Parliamentary agenda, in reality they have a certain influence through a process known as the usual channels. [4]

Leader of the Opposition

The Leader of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition is often seen as the Prime Minister-in-waiting. The Leader of the Opposition receives a statutory salary and perquisites like those of a cabinet minister, including appointment as a Privy Counsellor. Since 1915, the Leader of the Opposition has, like the Prime Minister, always been a member of the House of Commons. Before that a member of the House of Lords sometimes took on the role, although often there was no overall Leader of the Opposition.

Although there has never been a dispute as to who holds the position, under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, the speaker's decision on the identity of the Leader of the Opposition is final. [4]

As of 5 July 2024, the current Leader of the Opposition is Rishi Sunak who is also leader of the Conservative Party. He replaced Keir Starmer after losing the 2024 General Election.

Ministers' Questions

Prime Minister's Questions

The most public parliamentary function of the Leader of the Opposition is Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), currently a 30-minute session held on Wednesday at noon when Parliament is sitting. The Leader of the Opposition has six questions, which they sometimes split into two sets. Backbench opposition MPs and frontbench opposition MPs that are not in the Shadow Cabinet also have the right to question the Prime Minister; they are selected either through a ballot, or by "catching the Speaker's eye". [5] By convention, other Shadow Cabinet members do not question the Prime Minister at PMQs, except when standing in for the Leader.

Questions to other ministers

Every government department is subjected to questions in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. As with PMQs, the official opposition spokespersons are allocated a number of questions, and in addition backbench MPs are free to ask questions. In the House of Lords, opposition spokespersons also question the government. This is one of the reasons why every government department has at least one Member of Parliament and one peer in it.

Seating

As is usual with Westminster systems, and other statutory assemblies and councils in the UK, the government and its supporters sit to the Speaker's right, whilst the opposition parties sit to their left. [6] Currently, members from the Labour Party sit to the Speaker's right, and members from the Conservative Party sit on the main left bench, which is where the main opposition party sits. The second main opposition bench is where the third largest party sits, in this case the Liberal Democrats. The back of this bench is where other minor parties sit, such as the Scottish National Party, Reform UK, the Green Party, the DUP, Plaid Cymru, SDLP, and the Independents.

See also

Notes

  1. Kleinig 2014.
  2. Foord, Archibald S (1964). His Majesty's Opposition, 1714-1830. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 1. ISBN   978-0-19-821311-6.
  3. John Hobhouse (10 April 1826). "Salary To The President Of The Board Of Trade". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Vol. 15. House of Commons. col. 135.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. 1 2 3 Standard Note:SN/PC/3910 UK Parliament, 8 February 2006, accessed 5 May 2010 [ dead link ]
  5. "Catching the Speaker's eye". www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  6. BBC News 2008.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Commons of the United Kingdom</span> Lower house of the UK Parliament

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as members of Parliament (MPs). MPs are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Commons of Canada</span> Lower house of the Canadian Parliament

The House of Commons of Canada is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.

A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers, which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be cancelled in exceptional circumstances. Question time originated in the Westminster system of the United Kingdom, and occurs in other countries, mostly Commonwealth countries, who use the system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Backbencher</span> Parliamentarian who neither holds ministerial office nor shadows a minister

In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the "rank and file".

The shadow cabinet or shadow ministry is a feature of the Westminster system of government. It consists of a senior group of opposition spokespeople who, under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition, form an alternative cabinet to that of the government, and whose members shadow or mirror the positions of each individual member of the Cabinet. Their areas of responsibility, in parallel with the ruling party's ministries, may be referred to as a shadow portfolio. Members of a shadow cabinet have no executive power. It is the shadow cabinet's responsibility to scrutinise the policies and actions of the government, as well as to offer alternative policies. The shadow cabinet makes up the majority of the Official Opposition frontbench, as part of frontbenchers to the parliament. Smaller opposition parties in Britain and Ireland have Frontbench Teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prime Minister's Questions</span> UK parliamentary practice

Prime Minister's Questions is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every Wednesday at noon when the House of Commons is sitting, during which the prime minister answers questions from members of Parliament (MPs).

A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber.

In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench and are described as frontbenchers. Those sitting behind them are known as backbenchers. Independent and minority parties sit to the side or on benches between the two sides, and are referred to as crossbenchers. Frontbenchers may be part of a Frontbench Team with other members of their political party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliamentary Private Secretary</span> UK government office

A parliamentary private secretary (PPS) is a member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a government minister or a shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the "eyes and ears" of the minister in the House of Commons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)</span> Politician who leads the official opposition in the United Kingdom

The Leader of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition, more commonly referred to as the Leader of the Opposition, is the person who leads the Official Opposition in the United Kingdom. The position is seen as the shadow head of government of the United Kingdom and thus the shadow prime minister of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom)</span> Opposition cabinet of the United Kingdom

The Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet, or His Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition Shadow Cabinet, but usually simply the Shadow Cabinet, is the committee of senior members of the Official Opposition who scrutinise the work of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Each Shadow Cabinet member is typically given a position which corresponds to that of a government minister in Cabinet. Shadow Cabinet members, known as Shadow Ministers, are usually appointed by the leader of the Opposition. The roles of Shadow Ministers are to develop alternative policies, hold the government to account for its actions and responses, and act as spokespeople for the opposition party in their own specific policy areas. By convention, Shadow Ministers are drawn either from serving members of the House of Commons or the House of Lords, with most chosen from the former. Since July 2024, the Conservative Party has been the Official Opposition, and its leadership therefore forms the current Shadow Cabinet.

The Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. While in opposition, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats appoints a frontbench team of Members of Parliament (MPs), Peers, Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and Members of the Senedd (MSs), to speak for the party on different issues. Their areas of responsibility broadly corresponded to those of Government ministers. The frontbench team is divided into departmental sub-units, the principal ones being the economy, foreign policy, and home affairs. Sometimes the frontbench team consists of more than just the principal positions.

The frontbench of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of the Shadow Cabinet and other official shadow ministers of the political party currently serving as the Official Opposition. The Opposition front bench provide Parliamentary opposition to the British Government front bench, and is currently the Conservative Party, since 5th July 2024. An official Leader of the Opposition has yet to be chosen since the resignation of Rishi Sunak after the 2024 General Election, where the Conservatives lost the election after the Labour Landslide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of the United Kingdom</span>

The Government of the United Kingdom, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The government is led by the prime minister who selects all the other ministers. The country has had a Labour-led government since 2024. The prime minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadow Cabinet of Ed Miliband</span> Shadow Cabinet of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015

Ed Miliband became Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition upon being elected to the former post on 25 September 2010. The election was triggered by Gordon Brown's resignation following the party's fall from power at the 2010 general election, which yielded a Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition. Miliband appointed his first Shadow Cabinet in October 2010, following the Labour Party Shadow Cabinet elections. These elections were the last such elections before they were abolished in 2011.

The United Kingdom has an uncodified constitution. The constitution consists of legislation, common law, Crown prerogative and constitutional conventions. Conventions may be written or unwritten. They are principles of behaviour which are not legally enforceable, but form part of the constitution by being enforced on a political, professional or personal level. Written conventions can be found in the Ministerial Code, Cabinet Manual, Guide to Judicial Conduct, Erskine May and even legislation. Unwritten conventions exist by virtue of long-practice or may be referenced in other documents such as the Lascelles Principles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frontbench Team of Ian Blackford</span> Political party spokesperson group

The Frontbench Team of Ian Blackford was the team of Scottish National Party Spokespersons in the House of Commons from 2017 to 2022.

On 28 August 2019, the Parliament of the United Kingdom was ordered to be prorogued by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the Conservative prime minister, Boris Johnson – advice which was later ruled unlawful. The prorogation, or suspension, of Parliament was to be effective from some point between 9 and 12 September 2019 and would last until the State Opening of Parliament on 14 October 2019. As a consequence, Parliament was suspended between 10 September and 24 September 2019. Since Parliament was to be prorogued for five weeks and reconvene just 17 days before the United Kingdom's scheduled departure from the European Union on 31 October 2019, the move was seen by many opposition politicians and political commentators as a controversial and unconstitutional attempt by the prime minister to avoid parliamentary scrutiny of the Government's Brexit plans in the final weeks leading up to Brexit. Johnson and his Government defended the prorogation of Parliament as a routine political process that ordinarily follows the selection of a new prime minister and would allow the Government to refocus on a legislative agenda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual House of Commons</span> Series of measures to mitigate coronavirus in the UK Parliament

The Virtual House of Commons is a name given to a series of measures involving the United Kingdom's House of Commons, including the use of video-conferencing and the practising of social distancing. The measures were announced in April 2020 to help stop the spread of coronavirus during the ongoing pandemic.

References