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The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation Whip is a role in party-based politics whose primary purpose is to ensure control of the formal decision-making process in a parliamentary legislature A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral

Chief Whip of House of Commons
&
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
Incumbent:
Geoff Hoon MP
Took office: 28 June 2007
Style: The Right Honourable
Appointed by: Gordon Brown
as Prime Minister
First : unknown
Formation: unknown
United Kingdom

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In British politics, the Chief Whip of the governing party in the House of Commons is usually appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury so that the incumbent, who represents the whips in general, has a seat and a voice in the Cabinet. In the United Kingdom, there are at five Secretaries to the Treasury, officials officially acting as secretaries to the Treasury board Geoffrey 'Geoff' William Hoon (born 6 December 1953 is a British Politician. Events 1098 - Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The Right Honourable (abbreviated as The Rt Hon) is an Honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Academic titles --> James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951 is The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The politics of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland takes place in the framework of a Constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is Head Her Majesty's Government, or when the monarch is male His Majesty's Government, is the title used by the Government of the United Kingdom, based at TalkCommonewalth realm.--> The monarchy For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II Throughout the Commonwealth realms The Crown is an abstract metonymic concept which represents the legal authority for the existence of any government Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. In the Politics of the United Kingdom, the Cabinet is a formal body composed of the most senior government ministers chosen by the Prime Minister The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Academic titles --> James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951 is The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all Economic and Financial Alistair Maclean Darling (born 28 November 1953 is a British Politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer since 28 June 2007 The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a member of the United Kingdom Government heading the David Wright Miliband The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office Jacqueline Jill "Jacqui" Smith (born 3 November 1962 is a British Politician for the Labour Party. See also Lord Chancellor The Secretary of State for Justice is a United Kingdom cabinet position John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946 most commonly known as Jack Straw, is a senior British Labour Party Politician. Gordon Brown is currently serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories In the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an annual event held usually in October or November that marks the commencement of a session of the Parliament This article discusses types of Acts and the process of law-making in Parliament The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" The Lord Speaker is the speaker of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Helene Valerie Hayman Baroness Hayman, PC, née Middleweek (born 26 March 1949 in Wolverhampton) is Lord Speaker of the House of Lords The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords Michael John Martin MP (born 3 July 1945 is the current Speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons Harriet Ruth Harman Prime Minister's Questions ( PMQs) (officially Questions to the Prime Minister) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, where every Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, or the Official Opposition, in the United Kingdom is led by the Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition (sometimes known as the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons) in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966 is a British Politician and the current leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of Her Majesty's In British parliamentary practice the Official Loyal Opposition Shadow Cabinet (usually known simply as 'The Shadow Cabinet' is a group of members from Her Majesty's Loyal The United Kingdom does not have a single unified Judicial system, but separate judicial systems serving England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Her Majesty's Courts of Justice of England and Wales are the civil and criminal Courts responsible for the administration of Justice in England The courts of Northern Ireland are the civil and criminal Courts responsible for the administration of Justice in Northern Ireland: The civil, criminal and heraldic Courts of Scotland are responsible for the administration of Justice. The constitution of the United Kingdom is the set of laws and principles under which the United Kingdom is governed The United Kingdom has a long and established tradition of avowed respect for its subjects' Human rights. Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping Political history Pre-Union politics See also Parliament of England The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon " Regional Assembly " is the name which has been adopted by the English bodies established as regional chambers under the Regional Development Agencies The Greater London Authority ( GLA) is the city-wide governing body for London, England. Current situation The largest party is the Scottish National Party, which campaigns for Scottish independence. The Scottish Government (SG ( Scottish Gaelic: Riaghaltas na h-Alba) is the executive arm of the government of Scotland. The Scottish Parliament ( Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba; Scots: Scottish Pairlament) is the devlolved national unicameral The emergence of a Welsh polity During the latter part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century the notion of a distinctive Welsh polity gained credence The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG (Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru LlCC) was firstly an executive body of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of The National Assembly for Wales (Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. General demographics Population 1685267 The population of Northern Ireland has increased annually since 1978 The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved Legislature for Northern Ireland The Northern Ireland Assembly ( Irish: Tionól Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann Semmlie) is the devolved For other meanings see Reserved powers disambiguation page In the United Kingdom reserved matters, also referred to as reserved The United Kingdom has five distinct types of Elections UK general elections elections to national/regional parliaments and assemblies elections to the European Parliament This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as at the 2005 general election This is a list of political parties in the United Kingdom. Brief history and overview Prior to the mid-19th century Politics in the United Kingdom Results Overview For events leading up to the date of the election see article Pre-election day events of the United Kingdom general Leadership of the main parties David Cameron became Conservative leader in December 2005 replacing Michael Howard. The United Kingdom (UK is a key player in international politics with interests throughout the world The European Union is a unique entity possessing elements of Intergovernmentalism, Supranationalism and a Multi-party Parliamentary democracy Information on politics by country is available for every Country, including both De jure and De facto independent The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The politics of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland takes place in the framework of a Constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is Head The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords In the United Kingdom, there are at five Secretaries to the Treasury, officials officially acting as secretaries to the Treasury board In the Politics of the United Kingdom, the Cabinet is a formal body composed of the most senior government ministers chosen by the Prime Minister By virtue of holding the office of Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, the Government Chief Whip has an official residence at 12 Downing Street. However, the Chief Whip's office is currently located at 9 Downing Street. Downing Street is the street in London, England, which for over two hundred years has contained the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers [1]

As shown in BBC television series Yes Minister and House of Cards, the Chief Whip can wield a large amount of power over those in their party, up to and including cabinet ministers, being seen to speak at all times with the voice of the Prime Minister. A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U Yes Minister is a multi-award winning satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted House of Cards is a political thriller novel written by Michael Dobbs, a former Chief of Staff at Conservative Party headquarters which was set at the The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher was famed for using her Chief Whip as a "cabinet enforcer" (there were rumours that her first chief whip, Michael Jopling was the closest cabinet colleague of Thatcher). Margaret Hilda Thatcher Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925 (Thomas Michael Jopling Baron Jopling, PC (born December 10, 1930) is a politician in the United Kingdom, and sits in the House of Lords

The role of Chief Whip is regarded as secretive, as the Whip is concerned with the discipline of their own party's Members of Parliament and never appears on television or radio in their capacity as whip. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament.

In the House of Commons, Geoff Hoon became the Government Chief Whip in June 2007, Patrick McLoughlin became the Official Opposition Chief Whip in 2005, and Paul Burstow was elected the Liberal Democrat Chief Whip in March 2006. Geoffrey 'Geoff' William Hoon (born 6 December 1953 is a British Politician. Patrick Allen McLoughlin (born 30 November 1957, Stafford) is a British politician Paul Kenneth Burstow (born May 13, 1962) British Politician. He is the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, are a liberal Political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by merging the

The Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons is assisted by the Deputy Chief Whip, Whips, and Assistant Whips. In order to give them a salary for what is in essence a party office, the government whips are appointed to positions in HM Treasury and in the Royal Household under the Lord Steward of The Household. HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing The royal household in all the early medieval monarchies of Western Europe formed the basis for the general government of the country The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household, in England, is an important official of the Royal Household. The whips are not active in either of these departments. The Deputy Chief Whip is Treasurer of HM Household, the next two Whips are Comptroller of HM Household and Vice-Chamberlain of HM Household, and the remaining Whips are Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. The position of Treasurer of the Household is theoretically held by a household official of the British monarch under control of the Lord Steward's Department but is in fact The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the English royal household currently the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward 's department and often The Vice-Chamberlain of the Household is usually a junior government whip in the British House of Commons and is an officer of the Royal Household of the The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer is an old English (after 1707, British) government position Assistant Whips, and Whips of opposition parties, generally do not receive such appointments. The Opposition Chief Whip, like the Leader of the Opposition receives a stipend in addition to his parliamentary salary because his additional responsibilities will make him unable to hold down another job. The Leader of the Opposition (sometimes known as the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons) in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads

A similar arrangement exists for Whips in the House of Lords. The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" The Government Chief Whip is usually appointed Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms, while the Deputy Chief Whip is usually appointed Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard—currently the Lords Chief Whip is Baroness Royall of Blaisdon. The Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms is a UK government post usually held by the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords. The Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is presently a UK government post usually held by the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the Janet "Jan" Anne Royall Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, PC (born 20 August 1955) is a Labour politician and the current Leader Other Whips, who are fewer in number due to the decreased importance of party discipline in the Lords, are appointed Lords in Waiting if men and Baronesses in Waiting if women. Most Lords in Waiting (female Baroness-in-Waiting) are Government whips in the House of Lords who are members of the Royal Household of

As well as their duties as whips, there are also other, ministerial responsibilities the Lords Whips take on:

In the UK Parliament the importance of a vote is indicated by underlining of items on the "whip", which is the name of the letter the Chief Whip faxes to all the MPs in their party at the start of the week. Bryan Davies Baron Davies of Oldham, PC, (born 9 November 1939) is a Labour member of the House of Lords. (John Steven Bassam Baron Bassam of Brighton (born 11 June 1953) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and member of the Matthew Evans Baron Evans of Temple Guiting CBE (born 1941 is a British Labour Party politician Delyth Morgan Baroness Morgan of Drefelin (born 30 August[[ 961]] is a Labour peer in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. Josephine 'Josie' Farrington Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (born 29 June 1940) is a British Labour politician Dorothea Glenys Thornton Baroness Thornton (born 16 October, 1952) known as Glenys Thornton is a Labour and Co-operative member of the This letter informs them of the schedule for the days ahead, and includes the sentence, "Your attendance is absolutely essential" next to each debate in which there will be a vote. This sentence is underlined one, two or three times depending on the consequences that will be suffered if they do not turn up, hence the origin of the terms one-line whip, two-line whip and three-line whip. The actual direction of their vote is communicated to them in the chamber by hand signals during the division when the time comes (usually after the Division bell has been rung). A division bell is a bell rung in or around a parliament to signal a division and thus call all members of the chamber so affected to vote in it Even though it determines the outcome of the votes crucially far more than the debate, neither these instructions, which are visible to everyone in the chamber, nor the "whip" letter at the start of the week, are recorded in Hansard, as they are considered an internal matter of the political party. Hansard is the traditional name for the printed transcripts of Parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of Government. A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral

The consequences for defying the party whip depend on the circumstances and are usually negotiated with the party whip in advance. The party whip's job is to ensure the outcome of the vote, so the situation is different and more important for a party which holds the majority, because if their members obey the whip they can always win. They can make allowances for MPs who are away on important business, whose political circumstances require them to take a particular single issue very seriously, or if there is a mass revolt. Theoretically at least, expulsion from the party is automatically consequent from defying a three-line whip.

An example of this is in the case of John Major's government. Sir John Major KG CH ACIB (born 29 March 1943 is a British Politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Nine conservative Members of Parliament had their whips removed after voting against the government on its stance to the Maastricht Treaty. The Maastricht Treaty (formally the Treaty on European Union, TEU) was signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht, the Netherlands after final It was also the only time when MPs who are being whipped were co-operating with the opposite side's whips.

There are some cases in which whips are removed because an issue is a matter of conscience. These include adoption, religion and equal opportunities. The impact of a whip being imposed on a matter of conscience can be damaging for a party leader. One such case was that of Iain Duncan-Smith, who imposed a three-line whip on equal rights for gay people. George Iain Duncan Smith, PC, MP, (born 9 April 1954 is a British politician Several Conservative MPs voted against the official party line, and Duncan-Smith's authority was weakened. The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom.

Whips can often be brutal to backbenchers to secure their vote. For other meanings see Backbench A backbencher is a Member of Parliament (MP or a legislator who does not hold governmental Protected by the privileges of the Palace of Westminster, the Whips will resort to a mixture of threats, blackmail and extortion[2] to force an unpopular vote. A good whip will know secrets and incriminating information about Members of Parliament. A whip should know major figures in an MP's local constituency party, the MP's agent. A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures goals or loyalty There have been cases where Members of Parliament were wheeled from far afield to vote for the government on a crucial vote. Former MP Joe Ashton remembered a case from the dying days of James Callaghan's government:

"I remember the famous case of Leslie Spriggs, the then-Member for St. Joseph William Ashton (born October 9, 1933) usually known as Joe Ashton, is a British Labour Party politician who was known for Leonard James Callaghan Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005 was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 Leslie Spriggs ( 22 April 1910 - 22 May 1990) was a British Labour politician Helens. We had a tied vote and he was brought to the House in an ambulance having suffered a severe heart attack. The two Whips went out to look in the ambulance and there was Leslie Spriggs laid there as though he was dead. I believe that John Stradling Thomas said to Joe Harper, 'How do we know that he is alive?' So he leaned forward, turned the knob on the heart machine, the green light went around, and he said, 'There, you've lost--it's 311. Sir John Stradling Thomas ( 10 June 1925 &ndash 29 March 1991) was a Welsh Conservative Party politician Joseph Harper ( March 17 1914 &ndash June 24 1978) was a Labour Party politician in Great Britain. ' That is an absolutely true story. It is the sort of nonsense that used to happen. No one believes it, but it is true. "[3]

For a minister, the consequences for defying the party whip are absolute: they are dismissed from their job immediately, if they have not already resigned, and return to being a backbencher. A minister or a secretary is a Politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional Government. Sometimes their votes in Parliament are called the "payroll vote", because of their higher salaries and the fact that they can be taken for granted. Payroll vote is a term in the British Parliamentary System for the office-holders paid or unpaid among a party's MPs or peers who are obliged either to The consequences for a back-bencher can include the lack of future promotion to a cabinet post, a reduction of party campaigning effort in his constituency during the next election, deselection by his local party activists, or, in extreme circumstances, "withdrawal of the whip" and expulsion from the party.

The whips, although superficially dictatorial, do act as communicators between the backbenchers and the party leadership. Ultimately if backbenchers are unhappy with the leadership's position they can threaten to revolt during a vote and force the leadership to compromise.

While the whip was formally introduced to British politics by the Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell in the 1880s, in 1846 the Duke of Wellington advised the new Conservative Party Leader Lord Stanley to ensure that his "whippers-in" were personally loyal. The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP (commonly called the Irish Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing Charles Stewart Parnell ( 27 June 1846 &ndash 6 October 1891) was an Irish Protestant landowner nationalist Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS ( c

Other jurisdictions

There are also Chief Whips in:

The United States uses the similar terms, majority whip and minority whip. The Politics of Australia take place within the framework of parliamentary democracy. The politics of Canada function within a framework of Constitutional monarchy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic In Canada the Chief Government Whip is the member of the Canadian House of Commons charged with ensuring party discipline among members of the Caucus Politics of India takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary multi-party representative democratic Republic modelled The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach is essentially the Irish Government Chief Whip and is the most senior Minister of State. The politics of Malaysia takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the Head of government The Chief Whip in Malaysia is the Member of Parliament (MP from the governing party who ensures each MP votes in accordance with the party line when necessary The politics of New Zealand takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic Monarchy. In the current politics of South Africa, the African National Congress is the ruling party at a national level and in most provinces having received 69 In recent history the Pakistani political processes have taken place in the framework of a Federal republic, where the system of government has at times been Parliamentary Whip is a role in party-based politics whose primary purpose is to ensure control of the formal decision-making process in a parliamentary legislature Whip is a role in party-based politics whose primary purpose is to ensure control of the formal decision-making process in a parliamentary legislature

See also

References

  1. ^ Campbell ousts the Chief Whip. Whip is a role in party-based politics whose primary purpose is to ensure control of the formal decision-making process in a parliamentary legislature The Public Whip is a Parliamentary informatics project based in Britain and loosely affiliated to MySociety 's TheyWorkForYou website which shares
  2. ^ http://www.globalchange.com/taw/TAW-Chapter7.htm
  3. ^ Hansard 14 July 1997, Column 507, Paragraph 20..
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