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Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, or the Official Opposition in the
Origins
The phrase His Majesty's Opposition was coined in
"It is said to be hard on His Majesty's Ministers to raise objections of this character but it is more hard on His Majesty's Opposition to compel them to take this course."
The phrase was widely welcomed and has been in use ever since.
Opposition Days
Whilst most days in the House of Commons are set aside for government business, twenty days in each session are set aside for opposition debates. Of these days, seventeen are at the disposal of the
Although the Opposition has no more formal powers in setting the Parliamentary agenda, in reality they have a certain
influence through a process known as the
Leader of the Opposition
- Main article:
Leader of the Opposition (UK) .
The Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition is often seen as the
Though there has not recently been a dispute as to who holds the position under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975,
the
Ministers' Questions
Prime Minister's Questions
- Main article: Prime Minister's Questions
The most public parliamentary function of the Leader of the Opposition is Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), currently a 30 minute session held on Wednesday afternoons when Parliament is sitting. The Leader of the Opposition has 6 questions, which he usually splits into two sets. Other backbench opposition MPs also have the right to question the Prime Minister; they are selected either through a ballot, or by "catching the Speaker's eye". By convention other Shadow Cabinet members do not question the Prime Minister at PMQs, except when standing in for the Leader.
Other Ministers' Questions
Every government department is subjected to questions in the House of Commons, and the House of Lords. As with PMQs, the official opposition spokesmen are allocated a number of questions, and in addition backbench MPs are free to ask questions. In the House of Lords, opposition spokesmen also question the government. This is one of the reasons why every government department (and opposition shadow department) has at least one member of parliament and one peer in it.
Seating
As is usual with Westminster style systems, and other statutory assemblies and councils in the UK, the government and its supporters sit to the right of the Speaker (from the speaker's perspective), whilst the Opposition parties sit to the left.[2] Currently the Conservative Party occupies all the benches nearest to the speaker, including the frontbench directly opposite the usual seating places of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.
The Liberal Democrats, Nationalist and Unionist parties, Respect,
Notes and References
- ^ a b c UK Parliament Standard Note:SN/PC/3910, 8th February 2006. Accessed 3rd June 2006.
- ^ BBC News Opposition Thursday, 19 January 2006, 16:26 GMT, accessed 3rd June 2006
See also
Leader of the Opposition (UK) - Official opposition frontbench (UK)
Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK) Parliamentary opposition
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