|
Crossbench Life Peers
A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber. United Kingdom Crossbench members of the British House of Lords are not aligned to any particular party. Until 2009, these included the Law Lords appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876. In addition, former Speakers of the House of Commons (such as Lord Martin of Springburn and Baroness Boothroyd) and former Lord Speakers of the House of Lords (such as Baroness Hayman and Baroness D'Souza), who by convention are not aligned with any party, also sit as crossbenchers. There are also some non-affiliated members of the House of Lords who are not part of the crossbencher group; this includes some offi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minor Party
A minor party is a political party that plays a smaller (in some cases much smaller, even insignificant in comparison) role than a major party in a country's politics and elections. The difference between minor and major parties can be so great that the membership total, donations, and the candidates that they are able to produce or attract are very distinct. Some of the minor parties play almost no role in a country's politics because of their low recognition, vote and donations. Minor parties often receive very small numbers of votes at an election (to the point of losing any candidate nomination deposit). The method of voting can also assist or hinder a minor party's chances. For example, in an election for more than one member, the proportional representation method of voting can be advantageous to a minor party as can preference allocation from one or both of the major parties. A minor party that follows the direction/directive of some other major parties is called a bloc pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, conscience vote, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. 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 expelled from the party. The term is said to be taken from the "wikt:whipper-in, whipper-in" during a hunt, who tries to prevent hounds from wandering away from a hunting pack. The term may more reasonably have been taken from the practice of "keeping discipline" in slaves by cracking a leather whip over their heads. Additionally, the term "whip" may mean the voting instructions issued to legislators, or the status of a certain legislator in their party's parliamentary grouping. Etymology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Williamson, Baron Williamson Of Horton
David Francis Williamson, Baron Williamson of Horton (8 May 1934 – 30 August 2015) was a senior British and European civil servant, as well as a member of the House of Lords. Education and early life Williamson was educated at Tonbridge School and Exeter College, Oxford. He served in the Royal Signals 1956–58 as his national service. He married Patricia Smith in 1961; they had two sons. Civil service career Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food He began his civil service career in 1958 at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom), Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, becoming Principal Private Secretary to the minister in 1967. European Commission He was Deputy Director-General for Agriculture in the European Commission from 1977 to 1983 and Secretary-General of the European Commission from 1987 to 1997. From 1983 until 1987, Williamson had returned to the United Kingdom to serve as Deputy Secretary (civil service), Deputy Secretary an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Craig, Baron Craig Of Radley
Marshal of the Royal Air Force David Brownrigg Craig, Baron Craig of Radley, (born 17 September 1929) is a retired Royal Air Force officer and member of the House of Lords. He was a fast jet pilot in the 1950s, a squadron commander in the 1960s and a station commander in the 1970s. He served as Chief of the Air Staff during the late 1980s, when the Boeing Airborne early warning and control system was ordered and the European Fighter programme was being developed. He then served as Chief of the Defence Staff during the Gulf War. He was granted a life peerage as Baron Craig of Radley after his retirement from active service in 1991, sitting as a crossbencher. As of 2024, he is the last living officer in the British Armed Forces to have held a five-star rank whilst on active service. Early life The son of Major Francis Brownrigg Craig and his wife Olive Craig, Craig grew up in the Irish Free State, and was largely unaffected by the events of the Second World War.Probert, p. 95 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernard Weatherill
Bruce Bernard Weatherill, Baron Weatherill, (25 November 1920 – 6 May 2007) was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1983 and 1992. Background Born in Sunningdale in 1920, he was the son of Annie Gertrude () and Bernard Bruce Weatherill. He married Lyn Eatwell in 1949 and they had three children. Weatherill was known as "Jack", while his twin sister (baptismal name Margery) was called "Jill". Tailor After attending Malvern College, he was apprenticed at age 17 as a tailor to the family firm Bernard Weatherill Ltd, Sporting Tailors, later of 5 Savile Row. He became Director (1948), Managing Director (1958), and Chairman (1967) of the business. After it merged with Kilgour French & Stanbury Ltd., Tailors in 1969, he became Chairman of the combined firm. He resumed his role with the company after his retirement from the House of Commons in 1992, as president until the firm was acquired by others in 2003. Some of the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Audrey Hylton-Foster, Baroness Hylton-Foster
Audrey Pellew Hylton-Foster, Baroness Hylton-Foster DBE (''née'' Brown; 19 May 1908 – 31 October 2002), was the daughter of Douglas Clifton Brown, 1st Viscount Ruffside, and Violet Cicely Kathleen Wollaston. She married Sir Harry Braustyn Hylton-Foster, who had started a distinguished career at the Bar in 1931; they had no children. Her great-grandparents were Charles Rowe, who was mixed race, due to being of African descent, and his Lima-born wife Sarah. Born in Simla, India, she was educated at St George's, Ascot, and Ivy House, Wimbledon. Both her father and husband served as Speaker of the House of Commons. Red Cross work Audrey Hylton-Foster first lived at Speaker's House during her father's time there, when she went to recover from measles. While she was convalescing she started working for the British Red Cross, and this, apart from politics, became her life's work. During World War II she was a nurse at St Luke's Hospital, Chelsea. She cycled thousands of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Strang, 1st Baron Strang
William Strang, 1st Baron Strang (2 January 1893–27 May 1978) was a British diplomat who served as a leading adviser to the British Government from the 1930s to the 1950s and as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1949 to 1953. During his Foreign Office career, he was involved in the Munich Agreement, the Moscow Conference (1939), the European Advisory Commission, the North Atlantic Treaty, and the post-war occupation of Germany. Early life and education Strang was the eldest son of James Strang, a farmer, and his wife Margaret Steven, daughter of William Steven. He was educated at Palmer's School, University College, London and at the Sorbonne. Military and diplomatic career Strang was commissioned into the Worcestershire Regiment in 1915 and served in the First World War. He ended the war as a captain. In 1919, he joined the Diplomatic Service and served at the British embassy in Belgrade from 1919 to 1922, at the Foreign Office from 1922 to 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Usual Channels
"Usual channels" is a term used in British politics to describe the relationship between the whips and leadership of the Government and the Opposition. Essentially, this is to obtain co-operation between the two parties, in order to ensure as much business as possible can be dealt with in each parliamentary session. Negotiations in the "usual channels" take place daily, with the key roles being played by civil servants such as the Principal Private Secretary to the Chief Whip. They determine how the time in each house of Parliament is spent and, prior to the 2010 general election, they decided the composition and the chair of select committees. In 2002, the Hansard Society published a report entitled ''Opening Up The Usual Channels'', which concluded that the Commons would benefit from greater transparency if the system were to be replaced by a formal "business committee" as used in other legislatures. In 2006, The Constitution Unit at UCL made similar recommendations. In 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parliament Of The United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster in London. Parliament possesses legislative supremacy and thereby holds ultimate power over all other political bodies in the United Kingdom and the Overseas Territories. While Parliament is bicameral, it has three parts: the sovereign, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The three parts acting together to legislate may be described as the King-in-Parliament. The Crown normally acts on the advice of the prime minister, and the powers of the House of Lords are limited to only delaying legislation. The House of Commons is the elected lower chamber of Parliament, with elections to 650 single-member constituencies held at least every five years under the first-past-the-post system. By constitutional conventi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Hay, 16th Earl Of Kinnoull
Charles William Harley Hay, 16th Earl of Kinnoull (born 20 December 1962), styled Viscount Dupplin until 2013, is a Scottish hereditary peer and Crossbench member of the House of Lords, who serves as Convenor of the Crossbench Peers. Biography Viscount Dupplin was educated at Eton College and studied chemistry at Christ Church, Oxford. where he was an open scholar. A qualified barrister, called to the Bar in 1990 (Middle Temple) he worked for insurance provider Hiscox for 25 years. He also farms in Perthshire. He has been a member of The Queen's Bodyguard for Scotland (Royal Company of Archers) since 2000. He succeeded his father as Earl of Kinnoull following the latter's death on 7 June 2013. The Earl was elected to sit in the House of Lords at a crossbench hereditary peers' by-election on 4 February 2015, following the resignation of Lady Saltoun of Abernethy. On 19 March 2015, he made his maiden speech in the House of Lords on a report of the Science & Technology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. It is currently led by Gavin Robinson, who initially stepped in as an interim after the resignation of Jeffrey Donaldson. It is the second-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and won five seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom at the 2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024 election. The party has been mostly described as right-wing"It will be ‘difficult’ for May to survive, says N Ireland’s DUP" , By Vincent Boland & Robert Wright. Financial Times. 9 June 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confidence And Supply
In parliamentary system, parliamentary democracies based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one or more parties or independent MPs on Motion of no confidence, confidence votes and Government budget, the state budget ("supply"). On issues other than those outlined in the confidence and supply agreement, non-government partners to the agreement are not bound to support the government on any given piece of legislation. A coalition government is a more formal arrangement than a confidence-and-supply agreement, in that members from junior parties (i.e., parties other than the largest) gain positions in the Cabinet (government), cabinet and Minister (government), ministerial roles, and are generally expected to hold the government Whip (politics), whip on passing legislation. Confidence In most parliamentary democracies, members of a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
