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), who are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.
The West Lothian question, also known as the English question, is a political issue in the United Kingdom. It concerns the question of whether members of Parliament (MPs) from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales who sit in the House of Commons should be able to vote on matters that affect only England, while neither they nor MPs from England are able to vote on matters that have been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd. The term West Lothian question was coined by Enoch Powell MP in 1977 after Tam Dalyell, the Labour MP for the Scottish constituency of West Lothian, raised the matter repeatedly in House of Commons debates on devolution.
A statutory instrument (SI) is the principal form in which delegated legislation is made in Great Britain.
There has not been a government of England since 1707 when the Kingdom of England ceased to exist as a sovereign state, as it merged with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Kingdom of Great Britain continued from 1707 until 1801 when it merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which itself became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) in 1922 upon independence for most of the island of Ireland.
The parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom are committees of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Each consists of a small number of Members of Parliament from the House of Commons, or peers from the House of Lords, or a mix of both, appointed to deal with particular areas or issues; most are made up of members of the Commons. The majority of parliamentary committees are select committees. The remit of these committees vary depending on whether they are committees of the House of Commons or the House of Lords.
A devolved English parliament is a proposed institution that would give separate decision-making powers to representatives for voters in England, similar to the representation given by the Senedd, the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly. A devolved English parliament is an issue in the politics of the United Kingdom.
The Committee of Public Accounts is a select committee of the British House of Commons. It is responsible for overseeing government expenditures, and to ensure they are effective and honest. The committee is seen as a crucial mechanism for ensuring transparency and accountability in government financial operations, having been described by Professor the Lord Hennessy as "the queen of the select committees...[which] by its very existence exert[s] a cleansing effect in all government departments".
The Parliament of the Cook Islands is the legislature of the Cook Islands. Originally established under New Zealand administration, it became the national legislature upon independence in 1965.
The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having been established in 1979. It examines the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated public bodies, including the British Armed Forces. The Committee's remit does not generally review Defence Intelligence which instead falls under the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.
The Home Affairs Select Committee is a departmental select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Northern Ireland Grand Committee is one of three such grand committees in the United Kingdom Parliament. The other two are for Scotland and Wales. The membership of the committee includes all participating Northern Irish MPs, as well as up to 25 other MPs who are nominated by the Committee of Selection.
The Scottish Grand Committee is a committee of the House of Commons. It is not a select committee, but rather a grand committee composed of all 59 Scottish MPs.
The Welsh Grand Committee, is a committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It is one of three such grand committees in the United Kingdom Parliament; the other two are for Scotland and Northern Ireland. The committee is made up of all 40 Welsh MPs and up to five other MPs. Since 1996, the committee is governed by Standing Order numbers 102 to 108, which set out its remit and composition.
The legislative grand committees were committees of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. They were established in 2015 and abolished in July 2021.
The Transport Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Transport and its associated public bodies. Its powers, like those of other select committees, are provided for under standing order 152 of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons and its membership is limited to 11 members.
The Scottish Affairs Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, and relations with the Scottish Parliament. It also looks at the administration and expenditure of the Advocate General for Scotland.
The Education Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Education and any associated public bodies.
The Select Committee on the Modernisation of the House of Commons was a temporary select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was created early in the 1997, 2001, and 2005 Parliaments. It ceased to exist at the end of the 2005–10 Parliament, and the Government chose not to propose its reappointment in the Parliament following the 2010 election.
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 London Regional Select Committee was one of nine regional select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The establishment of the committee was agreed by the House of Commons on 25 June 2009, following the establishment of regional select committees for the eight other regions of England in November 2008, and the appointment of 'regional ministers' by Gordon Brown on his appointment as Prime Minister in June 2007. The committee came into existence on 1 January 2009 and ceased to exist upon the dissolution of Parliament on 12 April 2010.
