Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Last updated

The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission (SCEC), [1] or simply the Speaker's Committee, is a body created under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 to scrutinise the Electoral Commission. [2] Through the committee's members, the commission is able to field questions in the House of Commons in a manner similar to the way ministers do.

Contents

Composition

The committee comprises nine MPs: the speaker of the House of Commons (who also serves as its chair), the Lord President of the Council, [3] the chair of the select committee responsible for electoral issues, [4] the minister responsible for local government, and five others nominated by the speaker who are not Ministers of the Crown. [5] As of 28 May 2020, the members of the committee are as follows:

MemberPartyRole
Lindsay Hoyle Speaker (Labour)Speaker of the House of Commons (ex officio member)
Michael Gove Conservative Minister for the Cabinet Office (ex officio member)
Craig Mackinlay Conservative Regular Member
Karl McCartney Conservative Regular Member
Cat Smith Labour Regular Member
Christian Matheson Labour Regular Member
William Wragg Conservative Chair of PACAC
Gloria De Piero Labour Regular Member
Owen Thompson Scottish National Party Regular Member

[6]

See also

Related Research Articles

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

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Malta</span> Political system of Malta

The politics of Malta takes place within a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malta is the constitutional head of state. Executive Authority is vested in the President of Malta with the general direction and control of the Government of Malta remaining with the Prime Minister of Malta who is the head of government and the cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Malta which consists of the President of Malta and the unicameral House of Representatives of Malta with the Speaker presiding officer of the legislative body. Judicial power remains with the Chief Justice and the Judiciary of Malta. Since Independence, the party electoral system has been dominated by the Christian democratic Nationalist Party and the social democratic Labour Party.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leader of the House of Commons</span> Political role in the UK Government

The leader of the House of Commons is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)</span> Presiding officer of the House of Commons

The speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the lower house and primary chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The current speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, was elected Speaker on 4 November 2019, following the retirement of John Bercow. Hoyle began his first full parliamentary term in the role on 17 December 2019, having unanimously been re-elected after the 2019 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand House of Representatives</span> Sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament

The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes laws, provides ministers to form Cabinet, and supervises the work of government. It is also responsible for adopting the state's budgets and approving the state's accounts.

Cabinet of New Zealand Central decision-making forum of the New Zealand Government

The Cabinet of New Zealand is the New Zealand Government's body of senior ministers, accountable to the New Zealand Parliament. Cabinet meetings, chaired by the prime minister, occur once a week; in them, vital issues are discussed and government policy is formulated. Though not established by any statute, Cabinet has significant power in the New Zealand political system and nearly all bills proposed by Cabinet in Parliament are enacted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives</span> Presiding officer of the New Zealand House of Representatives

In New Zealand, the speaker of the House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer and highest authority of the New Zealand House of Representatives. The individual who holds the position is elected by members of the House from among their number in the first session after each general election. They hold one of the highest-ranking offices in New Zealand. The current Speaker is Adrian Rurawhe who was elected on 24 August 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)</span> Independent agency that regulates the electoral process in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the Electoral Commission is the national election commission, created in 2001 as a result of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. It is an independent agency that regulates party and election finance and sets standards for how elections should be run.

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

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.

Cabinet collective responsibility, also known as collective ministerial responsibility, is a constitutional convention in parliamentary systems that members of the cabinet must publicly support all governmental decisions made in Cabinet, even if they do not privately agree with them. This support includes voting for the government in the legislature. Some Communist political parties apply a similar convention of democratic centralism to their central committee.

Lord Speaker Presiding officer of the British House of Lords

The Lord Speaker is the presiding officer, chairman and highest authority of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections Department Singapore</span> Government agency in Singapore

The Elections Department of Singapore (ELD), known exonymously as the Elections Department, is a department under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) of the Government of Singapore which are responsible for overseeing the procedure for elections in Singapore, including parliamentary elections, presidential elections and referendums.

Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom) United Kingdom government ministerial department

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. Its stated priorities are to reduce re-offending and protect the public, to provide access to justice, to increase confidence in the justice system, and uphold people's civil liberties. The Secretary of State is the minister responsible to Parliament for the judiciary, the court system and prisons and probation in England and Wales, with some additional UK-wide responsibilities e.g. the UK Supreme Court and judicial appointments by the Crown. The department is also responsible for areas of constitutional policy not transferred in 2010 to the Deputy Prime Minister, human rights law and information rights law across the UK.

The Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee was a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015.

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 United Kingdom legislation

The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011(c. 1) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made provision for the holding of a referendum on whether to introduce the Alternative Vote system in all future general elections to the UK Parliament and also made provision on the number and size of parliamentary constituencies. The Bill for the Act was introduced to the House of Commons on 22 July 2010 and passed third reading on 2 November by 321 votes to 264. The House of Lords passed the Bill, with amendments, on 14 February 2011, and after some compromises between the two Houses on amendments, it received Royal Assent on 16 February 2011.

House of Lords Reform Bill 2012

The House of Lords Reform Bill 2012 was a proposed Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom introduced to the House of Commons in June 2012 by Nick Clegg. Among other reforms, the bill would have made the House of Lords a mostly elected body. It was abandoned by the British Government in August 2012 and formally withdrawn on 3 September 2012 following opposition from within the Conservative Party.

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">53rd New Zealand Parliament</span> Current New Zealand parliamentary term

The 53rd New Zealand Parliament is the current session of Parliament in New Zealand. It opened on 25 November 2020 following the 17 October 2020 general election, and will expire on or before 20 November 2023 to trigger the next election. It consists of 120 members of Parliament (MPs) with five parties represented: the Labour and Green parties, in government, and the National, Māori and ACT parties, in opposition. The Sixth Labour Government has a majority in this Parliament, with Jacinda Ardern as prime minister.

The powers of the prime minister of the United Kingdom come from several sources of the UK constitution, including both statute and constitutional convention, but not one single authoritative document. They have been described as "...problematic to outline definitively."

References

  1. "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  2. Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (c. 41), Schedule 1 ss 14–19
  3. As ministerial responsibility for the Electoral Commission was transferred to the Deputy Prime Minister, this position was transferred by statutory instrument as was done when responsibility shifted from the Home Secretary to the Lord Chancellor. See SI 2010/1837, s 4 and SI 2002/2626, s 11.
  4. Section 2(2)(a) of the Political Parties, Elections, and Referendums Act specifically calls for this to be the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, but 2(6)(b) states that if responsibility for electoral issues transfers to another committee, that committees chair should serve instead. In the 2005, Alan Beith served on the Committee as chair of the Justice Select Committee. As ministerial responsibility for the Electoral Commission has transferred to the Deputy Prime Minister, the chair of the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee, which was set up to scrutinse the Deputy Prime Minister's functions, now serves.
  5. Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2010 (c. 41) s 2
  6. UK Parliament - Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/144/speakers-committee-on-the-electoral-commission/membership/ - Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission.{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)