An opposition day is a day in a legislature using the Westminster system in which an

opposition party Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

sets the agenda. Most days the parliamentary agenda is set by the government; opposition days allow the smaller parties to choose the subject for debate. The number of days varies between parliaments. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

there are twenty-two opposition days per

parliamentary session A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections ...

. The days are divided among opposition parties with the Official Opposition allotted the most. Canadian opposition parties are allocated days, which are also called "allotted" or "supply" days, in proportion to their membership in the House. There are no opposition days in Australian jurisdictions. In India, the Parliament does not have an opposition day, but one day every week (Friday) during a session is devoted to private members' bills and resolutions. Originally, opposition days were associated with debates over supply and held prior to the

estimates {{otheruses, Estimate (disambiguation) In the Westminster system of government, the ''Estimates'' are an outline of government spending for the following fiscal year presented by the cabinet to parliament. The Estimates are drawn up by bureaucrat ...

and the budget and were created so that opposition parties could advance ideas for what should and should not be funded. In modern politics, opposition days are most often used to bring up issues that the government would rather ignore. Typically, governments seek to amend opposition day motions to support their own policy.

In the United Kingdom

In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

there are twenty opposition days per

. The Official Opposition (currently

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

) is allocated 17 opposition days, and the second biggest opposition party (currently the Scottish National Party) given 3 days. The outcomes of votes on opposition day motions are not considered legally binding, although they do represent the will of Parliament. On 29 April 2009, Gordon Brown's government was defeated in an opposition day vote on the subject of settlement rights for veterans of the

Gurkhas The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recru ...

. This was the first time since January 1978 that a British government had lost an opposition day vote. Theresa May's government, being a fragile

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

, refused to amend the motions or divide the house, meaning that all opposition day motions during this period were passed with no vote. This led the SNP MP

Pete Wishart Peter Wishart (born 9 March 1962) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and musician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Perth and North Perthshire, formerly North Tayside, since the 2001 general election. Wishart ...

to accuse the Government of "degrading

hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the g ...

to little more than

adjournment debate In the Westminster system, an adjournment debate is a debate on the motion, "That this House do now adjourn." In practice, this is a way of enabling the House to have a debate on a subject without considering a substantive motion. Types of deb ...

s". Following the 2019 general election, in which Boris Johnson's government won a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

majority of 80 seats, the practice of the government attending and voting on opposition day motions temporarily resumed. However, following a campaign by footballer

Marcus Rashford Marcus Rashford (born 31 October 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Manchester United and the England national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his explosive ath ...

, the government whipped its MPs to vote against a Labour motion calling on the government to continue funding free

school meal A school meal or school lunch (also known as hot lunch, a school dinner, or school breakfast) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world ...

s for children over the school holidays until Easter 2021, which the Opposition claimed would prevent over 1 million children going hungry during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, after which there was a strong public backlash, with many new-intake

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MPs receiving online abuse and threats. Following this the government have resumed Theresa May's practice of ignoring opposition day motions, although Labour have forced the motions to go to a division by having a small number of MPs verbally vote against their own motion (only to vote for the motion in the division) – the government

abstain Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with ...

s in these divisions.

References

Westminster system {{politics-stub