Attending sittings of Parliament actually not so vital in the UK

In the parliamentary system the PM is the head of the executive branch and their prime responsibility is the day-to-day running of the government. The responsibility for the day-to-day leadership of the legislature and the management of government business in the house is usually delegated to a Cabinet minister.

The British PM traditionally attends the House of Commons each Wednesday at noon when he spends half an hour answering MP’s questions, other than that he only ever turns up for key events like the budget speech or to lend his support to major bills. The same is true of his Cabinet ministers who also attend a weekly question session but are absent for the rest of the time running their ministries.

Nor do ordinary British MPs spend much time in the chamber, if you tune in to the TV feed from the House of Commons you will seldom see more than a dozen MPs present unless some major event is on the agenda. A quorum is required for a vote to be held but even that only requires 40 out of the 650 members to be present. 

In the parliamentary system the chamber is the formal setting in which debates take place but the real legislative work takes place behind the scenes in committees and through inter-party negotiations.

The importance that the British “Mother of Parliaments” attaches to attendance in the chamber can be gauged by the fact that though there are 650 MPs, there are only 427 seats available in the chamber.

Dom Dunn

London