CUSTOMS
Forms of Address
By convention Members of Parliament who sit in the House of Commons are never referred to directly, and must be addressed via the Speaker. Members who sit in the House of Lords by convention address the entire chamber.
MPs without titles:
The Honourable Member/Lady/Gentleman/Pronoun for [constituency]
MPs in the Privy Council:
The Right Honourable Member/Lady/Gentleman/Pronoun for [constituency]
Peers:
Members of the Lords address their speech to the entirety of the chamber. Expressions such as ‘My Lords’, 'Your Lordships’ and ‘The Noble Lord’ are common.
Examples:
“Mr Speaker, has The Honourable Member considered that the plans to build the Longdendale Bypass are unnecessary?“
“Mr Speaker, what has the Right Honourable Lady done to ease the congestion in the Longdendale Valley?”
“My Lords, I wish to ask if the Government has any plans to alleviate traffic congestion along the A57?”
Question Sessions
We have three question sessions a week, where all members of the simulation are encouraged to come and hold the Government to account by asking them questions. This is the primary method of getting answers from the government, and is a central part of the game. Question sessions are held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
In question sessions, the Shadow Secretary who holds responsibility for the topic being discussed is allowed to ask unlimited questions to their Government counterpart. Spokespeople from parties in the Unofficial Opposition are allowed to ask 6 questions. Everyone else may ask 2 questions; and are allowed to ask another question in response to each answer they receive.
Forms of address in question sessions are much the same as in other debates, however it is considered courteous to refer to the person answering the questions as ‘The Secretary’ or ‘The Secretary of State for [insert cabinet position].’ Similar courtesies should be extended to the Shadow Secretary of State when answering one of their questions.
Swearing In
Before an MP is allowed to comment in debate, they must swear in. There are variations of the oath that can be taken. One such variation is the traditional oath of loyalty to the crown, while other variations include atheist and republican versions. Additionally, members can choose to swear in using additional languages including Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish. A thread for swearing in is posted at the start of a parliamentary term, and regardless of when an MP is appointed or elected, they must swear in.
Whipping
Part of being an MP is voting on legislation, and part of voting on legislation is being whipped. Each party will send round messages regarding how MP’s should vote on upcoming legislation. Obeying the whip is often considered a mark of a good parliamentarian, although some MP’s may break a whip if they feel strongly enough about the legislation in question.
While the punishments for breaking the whip and often vary between parties, the following is a general outline of how a whip works:
Free Vote:
Sometimes referred to as a ‘conscience’ vote, this signifies that the party do not have any set stance on the legislation, and will accordingly let their MP’s vote as they wish.
1 Line:
Considered to be an advisory whip, this signifies the way a party would ‘like’ their MP’s to vote. Punishments for breaking a 1 line whip are often light or non-existent.
2 Line:
Considered to be a request to vote one way, voting the opposite way to a 2 line whip is considered to be a breach of discipline. This whip is normally used on relatively important legislation, and as such, punishments may be serious, but not as serious as defying a 3 line.
3 Line:
Considered to be an order to vote on way. Defying a 3 line whip can often lead to expulsion from the Cabinet/Shadow Cabinet, deselection as an MP, or possible expulsion from the party. As a result of the harsh punishments, 3 line whips are only normally used on large pieces of legislation, such as the annual budget.
Flair Standardisation
MPs:
The Hon. MP for [constituency] | [titles] | [other positions]
MPs who are privy councillors:
The Rt Hon. MP for [constituency] | [titles -inc. PC] | [other positions]
