The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the
Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the
Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the
House of Commons of England and the
third estate of the Parliament of Scotland, as one of the most significant changes brought about by the Union of the kingdoms of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
into the
Kingdom of Great Britain
The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...
.
In the course of the 18th century, the office of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
developed. The notion that a government remains in power only as long as it retains the support of Parliament also evolved, leading to the first ever
motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
, when
Lord North
Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was 12th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most o ...
's government failed to end the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
. The modern notion that only the support of the House of Commons is necessary for a government to survive, however, was of later development. Similarly, the custom that the Prime Minister is always a Member of the Lower House, rather than the Upper one, did not evolve until the twentieth century.
The business of the house was controlled by an elected
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
. The Speaker's official role was to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The Speaker decided who may speak and had the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the house. The Speaker often also represented the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial and some other situations. The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of
Thomas de Hungerford
Sir Thomas de Hungerford (died 3 December 1397) of Farleigh Castle in Somerset, was the first person to be recorded in the rolls of the Parliament of England as holding the office of Speaker of the House of Commons of England,Lee Vol 28, pp. ...
in the Parliament of England. By convention, Speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as Mister Speaker, if a man, or Madam Speaker, if a woman.
In 1801, the House was enlarged to become the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom, as a result of the
Act of Union of 1800 which combined Great Britain and the
Kingdom of Ireland
The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label=Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed from ...
into the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...
.
[Chris Cook & John Stevenson, British Historical Facts 1760-1830 (The Macmillan Press, 1980)]
Creation
The
members
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of the last House of Commons of England had been elected between 7 May and 6 June 1705, and from 1707 they all continued to sit as members of the new House of Commons. The last general election in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
had been held in the autumn of 1702, and from 1707 only forty-five of the members of the
Parliament of Scotland
The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...
joined the new house. In Scotland there was also no new election from the burghs, and the places available were filled by
co-option
Co-option (also co-optation, sometimes spelt coöption or coöptation) has two common meanings.
It may refer to the process of adding members to an elite group at the discretion of members of the body, usually to manage opposition and so maintai ...
from the last Parliament.
Parliamentary constituencies
The constituencies which elected members in
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
remained unchanged throughout the existence of the Parliament of Great Britain.
[
Sources:
*Chris Cook & John Stevenson, ''British Historical Facts 1760-1830'' (The Macmillan Press, 1980)
*Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher, ''British Electoral Facts 1832-1999'' (Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2000)
]
See also
* Elections in Great Britain
*Unreformed House of Commons
"Unreformed House of Commons" is a name given to the House of Commons of Great Britain and (after 1800 the House of Commons of the United Kingdom) before it was reformed by the Reform Act 1832, the Irish Reform Act 1832, and the Scottish Reform ...
*List of parliaments of Great Britain
This is a listing of sessions of the Parliament of Great Britain, tabulated with the elections to the House of Commons of Great Britain for each session, and the list of members of the House.
The sessions are numbered from the formation of the ...
*First Parliament of Great Britain
The first Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain was established in 1707 after the merger of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. It was in fact the 4th and last session of the 2nd Parliament of Queen Anne suitably renamed: no ...
* 2nd Parliament of Great Britain
* List of members of the House of Commons at Westminster 1705–1708
*List of speakers of the British House of Commons
This is a list of speakers of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801.
For the 'prolocutors' and speakers of the House of Commons of England, see List of speakers of t ...
References
Further reading
"Parliamentary Register: Proceedings of the House of Commons 1775"
External links
{{Coord, 51, 29, 59.6, N, 0, 07, 28.8, W, region:GB-WSM_scale:5000, display=title
Parliament of Great Britain
Westminster system
Defunct lower houses
1707 establishments in Great Britain
1800 disestablishments in Great Britain
House of Commons of the United Kingdom