To what extent has the formation of a coalition altered the relationship between Parliament and government?
To what extent has the formation of a coalition altered the relationship between Parliament and government?
Since 1945, there has been a single party majority government. Before the coalition, the government could control parliament due to its large majority, however we’ve seen a recent change in the relationship between the executive and legislature. The main issues that arise would be from the small majority of just 76 in the Commons, the lack of support from backbench MPs and fact that Cameron is the first Conservative Prime minister to not have a majority in the House of Lords. The Coalition of the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative party lacks both ideological and tribal unity, which would normally derive from a strong, single party majoritarian government. This provides Parliament with more opportunities to examine and scrutinize the government.
The first sign that the Coalition has changed the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature would be the rising effectiveness and opportunity of scrutiny. Parliament’s role of scrutinizing the government has become extensive with the lack of majority in the House of Commons. With a majority in the government, MPs would usually support the governing party and there was less elbowroom for criticism. Parliamentary scrutiny has become most effective through Prime Minister’s question time, where the Parliament have a chance to hold the executive accountable every Wednesday, and The Wrights Reforms, brought about in 2010. This has made it harder for the government to pass legislation, as they can no longer use the select committees to ease the passage of legislation. The Wrights reforms changed the appointment of chairs of departmental and select committees to being elected by MPs rather than appointed by the Prime Minister. This has freed the select committees from the control of the whips and manipulation by the government. An example of the effectiveness would be when Theresa May faced difficult
Since 1945, there has been a single party majority government. Before the coalition, the government could control parliament due to its large majority, however we’ve seen a recent change in the relationship between the executive and legislature. The main issues that arise would be from the small majority of just 76 in the Commons, the lack of support from backbench MPs and fact that Cameron is the first Conservative Prime minister to not have a majority in the House of Lords. The Coalition of the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative party lacks both ideological and tribal unity, which would normally derive from a strong, single party majoritarian government. This provides Parliament with more opportunities to examine and scrutinize the government.
The first sign that the Coalition has changed the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature would be the rising effectiveness and opportunity of scrutiny. Parliament’s role of scrutinizing the government has become extensive with the lack of majority in the House of Commons. With a majority in the government, MPs would usually support the governing party and there was less elbowroom for criticism. Parliamentary scrutiny has become most effective through Prime Minister’s question time, where the Parliament have a chance to hold the executive accountable every Wednesday, and The Wrights Reforms, brought about in 2010. This has made it harder for the government to pass legislation, as they can no longer use the select committees to ease the passage of legislation. The Wrights reforms changed the appointment of chairs of departmental and select committees to being elected by MPs rather than appointed by the Prime Minister. This has freed the select committees from the control of the whips and manipulation by the government. An example of the effectiveness would be when Theresa May faced difficult