private members' bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

(PMB) in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

is a type of

public bill Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...

that can be introduced by either members of the

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. ...

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

who are not Ministers. Less parliamentary time is given to such bills and as a result only a minority of PMBs actually become law.Private Members' Bills – UK Parliament
/ref> Such bills can be used however to create publicity for a cause or issue and can affect legislation indirectly.

Methods

There are three methods by which a Member of Parliament can introduce a Private Members' Bill: by ballot, by the Ten Minute Rule, and by presentation.

Ballot

Under this method Members who apply are drawn from a ballot and, if successful, are given Parliamentary time for their bill. Members of Parliament who are successful in the ballot often have a higher chance of seeing their legislation passed, as greater Parliamentary time is given to ballots than other methods of passing a PMB such as under the Ten Minute Rule. It is normal for the first seven ballot bills to get one day's debate each.

Ten Minute Rule

The Ten Minute Rule is a method of introducing a PMB after a brief debate. A member speaks for up to ten minutes on a motion under Standing Order 23 to introduce a bill, followed potentially by an opposing member's ten minute speech. If the motion is passed, the bill is introduced and given a formal first reading; it is unlikely to make further progress because it will not be given priority on the parliamentary calendar. The Ten Minute Rule can be used to generate publicity for a particular issue. Often they are used merely as an opportunity to criticise legislation rather than pass a bill.

Presentation

Under this method any Member of Parliament may introduce a PMB if they have previously given an indication that they intend to do so. Members then formally introduce the bill but do not speak to support it. It is rare for a PMB to succeed by this method.

Procedure

The second reading and subsequent readings of Private Members Bills take place on a sitting Friday. The sitting times for debate are 9.30am until 2.30pm, the debates for each bill must be concluded before 2.30pm in order to progress to the next stage of the bill passage. If the debate has not concluded before the time has run out, it will be moved to the bottom of the list of bills to be read and rescheduled for another time. For any sitting Friday there can be as many as 50 bills scheduled for debate on the order paper, however due to the short amount of time allotted to Friday sittings, Parliament has never progressed further than the 4th bill listed on the order of business for the day.

Criticisms

The current system of Private Members' Bills has been criticised for being easily susceptible to

filibustering A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

. Labour MP

Kerry McCarthy Kerry Gillian McCarthy (born 26 March 1965) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol East since 2005. A member of the Labour Party, she is the Shadow Minister for Climate Change. She was Shadow Secretary ...

has compared the system to the BBC radio game show '' Just a Minute'' but in reverse stating that the more hesitation, deviation and repetition an MP makes the more likely they are to defeat a bill. As Private Members' Bills are debated on

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth day ...

s attendance in debates is often poor as Members of Parliament return to their constituency.

Reform proposals

The low number of Private Members' Bill passed has resulted in calls for reform of the PMB system. The

Hansard Society The Hansard Society was formed in the United Kingdom in 1944 to promote parliamentary democracy. Founded and chaired by Commander Stephen King-Hall, the first subscribers were Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee. The society's co-presidents a ...

has produced reform proposals in a pamphlet called 'Enhancing the Role of Backbench MPs'. The pamphlet calls for greater resourcing of PMBs and changes to the times when Private Members' Bills are debated.Private Members’ Bills: proposals for reform

Recent successful PMBs

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Current parliamentary session

{, class="wikitable" , +2021–22 parliamentary session !Type!!Title of act!!Presented by!!Party!!Constituency , -, - , Ballot, , Animals (Penalty Notices) Act 2022, ,

Andrew Rosindell Andrew Richard Rosindell MP (; born 17 March 1966) is a British Conservative politician. He became the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Romford constituency in Greater London in 2001. He has been the international director of the European ...

, , Conservative, , Romford , - , Ballot, ,

British Sign Language Act 2022 The British Sign Language Act 2022 (c. 34) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which legally recognises British Sign Language (BSL) as a language of England, Scotland and Wales. It also requires the Secretary of State to publish ...

, ,

Rosie Cooper Rosemary Elizabeth Cooper (born 5 September 1950) is a British health official and former Labour Party politician who has served as the chair of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust since November 2022. Previously, she served as the Member of Parl ...

, , Labour, , West Lancashire , - , Ballot, ,

Cultural Objects (Protection from Seizure) Act 2022 Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

, ,

Mel Stride Melvyn John Stride (born 30 September 1961) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since October 2022. He previously served in the May Government as Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster ...

, , Conservative, , Central Devon , - , Ballot, ,

Down Syndrome Act 2022 The Down Syndrome Act 2022 is an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament introduced as a private member's bill and sponsored by Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP Liam Fox. It was described as "world ...

, ,

Liam Fox Liam Fox (born 22 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Conservative Party, Fox has served as t ...

, , Conservative, , North Somerset , - , Ballot, , Education (Careers Guidance in Schools) Act 2022, ,

Mark Jenkinson Mark Ian Jenkinson (born 28 January 1982) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington since 2019. Early life and career Jenkinson was born in Whitehaven and raised in Workington. He was ed ...

, , Conservative, , Workington , - , Ballot, , Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022, ,

Jane Stevenson Jane Barbara Stevenson (born 12 February 1959) is a British historian, literary scholar, and author. Since 2017, she is Senior Research Fellow at Campion Hall, Oxford. From 2007 to 2017, she was Regius Professor of Humanity at the University of ...

, , Conservative, , Wolverhampton North East , - , Ballot, , Local Government (Disqualification) Act 2022, , Sir Paul Beresford, , Conservative, , Mole Valley , - , Ballot, ,

Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 Marriage is available in England and Wales to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples and is legally recognised in the forms of both civil and religious marriage. Marriage laws have historically evolved separately from Marriage in the United Kingd ...

, ,

Pauline Latham Pauline Elizabeth Latham, (born 4 February 1948) is a British Conservative Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Derbyshire. Early life Latham was born on 4 February 1948 in L ...

, , Conservative, , Mid Derbyshire , - , Ballot, , Pension Schemes (Conversion of Guaranteed Minimum Pensions) Act 2022, ,

Margaret Ferrier Margaret Ferrier (born 10 September 1960) is a Scottish politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutherglen and Hamilton West since 2019, and previously from 2015 to 2017. As the candidate for the Scottish National Party (SNP), Ferrie ...

, , Independent, , Rutherglen & Hamilton West , - , Ballot, , Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Act 2022, ,

Jeremy Wright Sir Jeremy Paul Wright , MP (born 24 October 1972) is a British lawyer and politician who served as Attorney General for England and Wales from 2014 to 2018 and as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2018 to 2019. A ...

, , Conservative, , Kenilworth & Southam , - , Ballot, , Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022, ,

Peter Gibson Sir Peter Leslie Gibson (born 10 June 1934), is a former British barrister and Lord Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, and is currently a judge of the Qatar International Court. Gibson has also served, between April ...

, , Conservative, , Darlington , - , Presentation, , Approved Premises (Substance Testing) Act 2022, ,

Rob Butler Robert Butler may refer to: Politicians * Robert Butler (U.S. commander) (1786–1860), U.S. commander receiving the former East Florida for the United States in 1821, from Spain *Cuthbert Butler (politician) (Robert John Cuthbert Butler, 1889� ...

, , Conservative, , Aylesbury , - , Presentation, , Motor Vehicles (Compulsory Insurance) Act 2022, ,

Peter Bone Peter William Bone (born 19 October 1952) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons in 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wellingborough since 2005. He campaigned for Brexit ...

, , Conservative, , Wellingborough , -

References

External links

Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom