Political terms and conventions

OK, this is my last post on politics, I promise. I just find this stuff fascinating.

• Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords make up Parliament, but only members of the House of Commons are referred to as "MPs" (members of Parliament). Members of the House of Lords are usually referred to as "Peers."
• In session, MPs address each other as "The Honourable representative of [constituency]" except for members of the Privy Council (primarily cabinet ministers), who are addressed as "Right Honourable." The 26 bishops who serve in the House of Lords are known as "Lords Spiritual" while the other members are "Lords Temporal."
• In the House of Commons, MPs sit on benches, with the major political party (the "government party") on one side and the major "opposition party" on the other. The party leaders sit on the front bench; their members are referred to as "backbenchers." Members of a third party are referred to as (I kid you not) "cross-benchers."
• Like the US, the UK has "whips" to keep the backbenchers in line, and ensure a quorum for important votes. In the UK, whips are much stronger, and often eject members from the party. When a member is ejected, he usually stays on as a "cross-bencher" to finish their term.
• The major party forms a cabinet, of which the four major offices are the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (equivalent to the Secretary of the Treasury), the Foreign Secretary, and the Home Secretary.
• The opposition party also forms a "shadow cabinet," who would form the cabinet if they were to come to power.
• A voice vote is always taken first, with the Speaker judging the results. If it is unclear -- or the result is challenged -- then a "division" is called, and all of the MPs leave their seats and walk into either the "Aye" or "No" lobby, where attendance is taken. If an MPs wants to abstain from a vote--but have it on record--he has to go into both lobbies.
• Parliamentary sittings begin with the following prayer. MPs stand for prayers facing the wall behind them.

"Lord, the God of righteousness and truth, grant to our Queen and her government, to Members of Parliament and all in positions of responsibility, the guidance of your Spirit. May they never lead the nation wrongly through love of power, desire to please, or unworthy ideals but laying aside all private interests and prejudices keep in mind their responsibility to seek to improve the condition of all mankind; so may your kingdom come and your name be hallowed. Amen."

• In the UK, there is no way to recall an MP and, interestingly, they are forbidden from resigning. However, according to a law from 1707, if an MP is appointed to an "office of profit under the Crown" he was obliged to leave his post, so MPs are appointed "Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds" or "Steward of the Manor of Northstead", obsolete offices of negligible duties but a small stipend from the Queen. On December 17, 1985, when 15 MPs resigned over the Anglo-Irish Agreement, each MP held the office for a portion of the day.
• MPs are given a salary, an expense account to maintain a second home (presumably but not necessarily in London), and a lump sum payment when they leave, to help them "reintegrate" into normal life. However, if they resign before an election, they forfeit that money.
• In 1997, the UK began to "devolve" powers back to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, allowing local parliaments to decide matters other than defence, national security, foreign affairs and the economy. However, England does not have a local parliament, leading to the odd situation where Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (as members of the UK) vote on laws which affect England, but England has no voice in those countries. (This is not unlike Washington DC, which has no state powers so Congress has to vote on all local laws.)
• MPs must swear an Oath of Allegiance to the Queen. There are five MPs, all from Sinn Fein, who refuse to take the Oath and are therefore not allowed to vote.
• Seats in the House of Lords are appointed or inherited, but in 1997 Labour passed a reform bill, ejecting all inherited seats except 92. (I don't know why 92.) The Lords held an election so, ironically, the only elected members of the House of Lords are the ones who inherited their seats.

And finally, when you think of Lord Adonis, this probably isn't what you were thinking:

Lord Adonis, Secretary of State for Transport