Speaker Denison's rule is a

constitutional convention Constitutional convention may refer to: * Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement *Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...

established by John Evelyn Denison, who was Speaker of the British House of Commons from 1857 to 1872, regarding how the Speaker decides on their

casting vote A casting vote is a vote that someone may exercise to resolve a tied vote in a deliberative body. A casting vote is typically by the presiding officer of a council, legislative body, committee, etc., and may only be exercised to break a deadlock ...

in the event of a tie in the number of votes cast in a division. In 1867, when a tie arose on a motion on Fellowships at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, Denison gave his casting vote against the motion, declaring that any decision must be approved by the majority. The rule as subsequently adopted is that the Speaker, in any division upon a bill, should vote to leave a bill in its existing form. The principle is always to vote in favour of further debate, or, where it has been previously decided to have no further debate or in some specific instances, to vote in favour of the status quo. Thus, the Speaker will vote: * against the final

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

of a bill (and against holding such readings immediately rather than in the future, to allow for time to consider the matter) * in favour of earlier readings of bills (and in favour of holding such readings immediately rather than in the future, to allow for further debate) * against amendments to bills * against motions of no confidence * in favour of disagreeing with amendments made by the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

The thinking behind the rule is that change should only occur if an actual majority vote is in favour of the change. Speaker Denison's rule is now a guiding principle in many other bodies that have neutral chairpersons.

Tied votes in the British House of Commons

In the case of a Committee of the Whole House, the presiding officer is the Chairman of Ways and Means or a Deputy Chairman. In other cases of

plenary session A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference which all members of all parties are to attend. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily related to a specific sty ...

, the presiding officer is the Speaker or a Deputy Speaker. Votes of smaller Commons committees are not listed.

Notes

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

List of all votes decided by the Speaker's casting vote since 1801
Constitution of the United Kingdom House of Commons of the United Kingdom Westminster system