Parliamentary agents are
solicitors
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...
who are licensed (together with the firms they belong to) by the
Houses of Parliament
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...
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 No ...
to draft, promote or oppose
private bills. Private bills are a specific class of legislation promoted by organisations outside Parliament to obtain powers for themselves that differ from the general law.
History
In 1836, due to the obvious conflict of interest, the Clerks of the House were debarred from carrying out what had been a lucrative line of agency work. Parliamentary agents expanded into the space left by the clerks and formed the Society of Parliamentary Agents in 1840.
The high point for parliamentary agency work was during the mid 19th century during the rise of the railway industry, as these companies often needed parliamentary powers in building and running their operations. This was a source of political controversy, since railway directors were becoming seen to be overly powerful, leading the prime minister at the time,
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
, to identify parliamentary agents as ‘the deeper power in opposition’.
Today
As private bills make up a very small proportion of contemporary legislation, with most legislation being sponsored by the government and thus drafted and supported by the
Civil Service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
, the work of parliamentary agents has relatively diminished and there are now only seven firms of parliamentary agents:
, employing five Roll A agents, Winckworth Sherwood LLP and
Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP (formerly Rees & Freres), each employing three Roll A agents, Sharpe Pritchard LLP, employing two Roll A agents and
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP,
Pinsent Masons LLP and Veale Wasbrough Vizards LLP who each have one Roll A agent.
It is also possible for any person to become a Roll B parliamentary agent for the purpose of opposing a single bill in Parliament. Such a person must either be a solicitor or have "a certificate of respectability".
Much of the work of parliamentary agents, as experts in the legislative process and
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament ...
and
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
political culture, would now come under the profession of political consultancy, although the remaining parliamentary agents are now billed as law firms first and parliamentary agents second. However, the largest of the seven firms, Bircham Dyson Bell, has developed a political consultancy business within its legal practice, thus giving it the rare distinction of most of its political consultants also being qualified lawyers.
Parliamentary agents can observe
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
proceedings from the under gallery near the entrance to the chamber.
[
The ]City Remembrancer
The Remembrancer is one of the City of London Corporation’s Chief Officers; the role dates back to 1571. His traditional role is as the channel of communications between the Lord Mayor and the City of London on the one hand and the Sovereign, ...
is a Roll A parliamentary agent.
References
External links
Private Bills before Parliament - Parliamentary Agents
UK Parliament
House of Commons factsheet on private billsHouse of Commons private bill petitioning kitUK Parliamentary Archives, Parliamentary Agents Papers
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament