What is the House of Commons?

Answer 1

The House of Commons is the name given to the lower, and more powerful, chamber of Parliament in both the United Kingdom (from which the name originates) and Canada.

In both countries, the House of Commons is generally regarded as the most important governmental and political institution in the nation, being the originator of legislation and the institution that lends political legitimacy to the Government. In order to lead the UK or Canada, a Prime Minister of either country must command the confidence (i.e. a working majority) of members of the House of Commons.

The House of Commons is responsible for all primary legislation in both states, subject to the consent of the upper house (the Senate in Canada and the House of Lords in the UK, though neither of these chambers is as powerful as their respective House of Commons), including the passing of the annual budget. Neither House actually elects the Prime Minister or the Government, but both have the power to remove a Prime Minister and his or her government from office.

In both countries, the House of Commons is comprised of several hundred Members of Parliament (currently 308 - soon to be 338 - in Canada and 650 in the UK), each elected in single-member constituencies under first past the post (the candidate with the most votes wins). Elections to the Canadian House are held every four years; elections to the UK House are held every five. This system usually produces strong single-party governments who can dominate and completely control the legislative process, meaning that most legislation in both Houses comes from the Government of the day, and any legislation not backed by the Government is likely to fail. Ergo, in both countries, elections to the House of Commons are perceived as elections to chose the government of the day by the voting public and the media.

Since 2006 in Canada and 2010 in the UK, both Houses of Commons have been dominated by the country's respective Conservative parties. In Canada, the Conservative Party holds an overall majority, whilst in the UK it leads in coalition with the third-placed and much smaller Liberal Democrats. In both Houses, centre-left socialists (the New Democratic Party in Canada and the Labour Party) are the second largest parties, with the Liberals being third-placed by a clear margin in both Houses. Similarly, both Houses have one Green MP and a handful of regional-separatist MPs in them.

Unlike the Canadian House of Commons, which is governed by Canada's Constitution, the UK House of Commons has no limits to its power except those it imposes upon itself voluntarily (which it can in turn remove whenever it wishes). It is considered to be sovereign; i.e., it has the power to do whatever a majority of its members like and no law or constitutional principle is outside the authority of the House.