BBC reports the Queen’s Speech will be on October 14th. Parliament to be prorogued after two week sitting in September.
Prorogation brings to an end nearly all parliamentary business. Public Bills may be carried over from one session to the next, subject to agreement
Motions lapse when the House becomes prorogued, questions which have not been answered fall, nothing more will happen with them. If they have not been answered then they will stay unanswered. No motions or questions can be tabled during a prorogation.
Select committee inquiries continue, though no committee may meet during prorogation.
MPs and Peers cannot formally debate government policy and legislation, submit parliamentary questions for response by government departments, scrutinise government activity through parliamentary committees or introduce legislation of their own.
For prorogation to last more than a month is unprecedented in modern times. Since the 1980s prorogation has rarely lasted longer than two weeks and, between sessions during a Parliament, has typically lasted less than a week.
Prorogation being a prerogative power, there is no obvious legal mechanism by which Parliament could prevent its exercise otherwise than by passing legislation to constrain it.
Thread 🧵 on maiden speeches. In the next few days, weeks and months new MPs will make their first speech in the House of Commons. It can be a nerve wracking experience.
Having watched literally hundreds of maiden speeches, here are some tips.
Keep it short. Leave your peers wanting more, not wishing for death.
If you are funny, be funny, but if you’re not then don’t try.
There is nothing worse than an unamusing speaker butchering a joke. If in doubt, leave it out.
You are expected to say something nice about your predecessor. If you can't stand them, an insult disguised as a compliment works well. "He served to the best of his abilities".
Congratulations to @SamanthaDixonMP who has been appointed vice chamberlain of HM Household.
This is a senior whip with specific responsibilities: compiling a daily private report to the Sovereign on proceedings in the House of Commons … 🧵
Relaying addresses from the Commons to the Sovereign and back. This involves carrying their wand of office, which closely resembles a snooker cue.
The vice chamberlain accompanies the Sovereign and Royal Household at certain diplomatic and social events, particularly the annual garden party at Buckingham Palace.
Speaker tells the House the Queen has signified Royal Assent to the private international law act 2020 and the parliamentary constituencies act 2020
Parliamentary constituencies act came into force at Royal Assent. The number of MPs is fixed at 650. The 2018 Review, which would have reduced the number of MPs to 600, will not be implemented.
Under the Act, Wales loses 8 constituencies, Scotland loses 3 and England gains 10. No change for Northern Ireland.
Living in a safe seat? Worried your vote might not count? Let’s talk about Short money. That’s funding allocated to opposition parties to assist them in holding the government to account. It’s calculated from seats won AND for every 200 votes gained by the party. #GE2109
It’s quite a lot of money. The amount payable to qualifying parties in 2018/19 was £17,673.65 for every seat won at the last election plus £35.30 for every 200 votes gained by the party. researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefi…
So every vote counts, even in the safest seat in the country. #GetOutAndVote
Sir Henry Bellingham has withdrawn from the Speaker race. As it stands there are now eight candidates.
All candidates will have to put in a valid nomination by 10:30am on Monday to be eligible to stand for Speaker.
Each candidate has to sign a statement and have the signatures of between 12 and 15 MPs “of whom not fewer than three shall be Members elected to the House as members of any party other than that to which the candidate belongs or members of no party”.