House of Commons of the United Kingdom

lower house in the Parliament of the United Kingdom

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is made up of Members of Parliament elected by the people. Sometimes it is called the 'lower house'. (The 'upper house' is called the House of Lords.) Other countries also have a bicameral parliament with a House of Commons working in the same way.

The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled
59th Parliament
Flag of the House of Commons
Flag of the House of Commons
Type
Type
Leadership
Sir Lindsay Hoyle
since 4 November 2019
Vacant
Sir Keir Starmer, Labour
since 5 July 2024
Lucy Powell, Labour
since 5 July 2024
Sir Alan Campbell, Labour
since 5 July 2024
Rishi Sunak, Conservative
since 5 July 2024
Chris Philp, Conservative
since 8 July 2024
Stuart Andrew, Conservative
since 5 July 2024
Structure
Seats650
Political groups
Template:UK Parliament political groups
Length of term
Up to five years[a]
Elections
First-past-the-post
Last election
4 July 2024
Next election
No later than 15 August 2029
RedistrictingEvery eight years, proposed by the boundary commissions
Meeting place
House of Commons chamber
Palace of Westminster
City of Westminster
London, England
United Kingdom
Website
www.parliament.uk/business/commons/ Edit this at Wikidata

In the British parliament, there are 650 Members of Parliament or MPs. Each MP represents a constituency, which covers an area of the country. The people of each constituency vote at a general election or a by-election to choose one person to represent them in the House of Commons. Usually, the people choose someone who belongs to a political party. When all the parties get together, the party or coalition with the most members is the government and runs the country. The leader of that party is called the Prime Minister.

The House of Commons hold their meetings in the Palace of Westminster. Their chief officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by MPs. The current Speaker is Lindsay Hoyle, who was elected in 2019. The Clerk of the House of Commons is the Principal Adviser to the Speaker. The Serjeant-at-Arms is in charge of the security.

Election results since 1945

change
Year Conservative Labour Liberal & SDP SNP Others
1945 197 393 12 0 38
1950 298 315 9 0 3
1951 321 295 6 0 3
1955 Winston Churchill resigns and Anthony Eden becomes Prime Minister
1955 345 277 6 0 8
1957 Anthony Eden resigns and Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
1959 365 258 6 0 1
1963 Harold Macmillan resigns and Alec Douglas-Home becomes Prime Minister
1964 304 317 9 0 0
1966 253 364 12 0 1
1970 330 288 6 1 5
1974 297 301 14 7 16
1974 277 319 13 11 15
1976 Harold Wilson resigns and James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister
1979 339 269 11 2 14
1983 397 209 23 2 19
1987 376 229 22 3 21
1988 The Liberal and SDP parties merge and Form The Liberal Democrats
Year Conservative Labour Lib Dems SNP Others
1990 Margaret Thatcher resigns and John Major becomes Prime Minister
1992 336 271 20 3 21
1997 165 418 46 6 24
2001 166 413 52 5 23
2005 198 355 62 4 23
2007 Tony Blair resigns and Gordon Brown Becomes Prime Minister
2010 306 258 57 6 23
2015 330 232 8 56 24
2016 David Cameron resigns and Theresa May becomes Prime Minister
2017 317 262 12 35 24
2019 Theresa May resigns and Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister
2019 365 202 11 48 24
2022 Boris Johnson resigns and Liz Truss becomes Prime Minister
2022 Liz Truss resigns and Rishi Sunak becomes Prime Minister
2024 121 411 72 9 37
  1. Current law passed by Parliament limits the term of the House of Commons to five years. However, since Parliament is sovereign, Parliament can extend its term for as long as it pleases.[1] The last time this occurred was during World War II when Parliament voted to extend the term of the House of Commons multiple times until the conclusion of the war, with that Parliament existing for ten years instead of five years.

References

change
  1. Forsyth, Christopher (1 January 2011). "The definition of Parliament after Jackson: Can the life of Parliament be extended under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949?". International Journal of Constitutional Law. 9 (1). Oxford University Press: 132–143. doi:10.1093/icon/mor019. OCLC 5113464158. S2CID 144226994.