A
GUIDE TO THE
MODEL HOUSES OF
PA R L I A M E N T
H I S TO RY 28 May 2014
3 Jun 2014
Timanfya creates the MHoC, and forms the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats Leader of the 3 original parties elected. OllieSimmonds for the Tories. owenberic for Labour, and dems4vince for the Lib Dems.
14 Jun 2014
The First General Election takes place. Labour and the Tories win 11 out of 30 seats. The Lib Dems win 8.
19 Jun 2014
Labour and the Lib Dems go into coalition to govern during the first parliament.
29 Jun 2014
The first bill is presented to the House by Peter199 on behalf of the Labour Party, with the intent to nationalise the railways.
23 Aug 2014
Following inactivity, a by-election is announced to replace 6 MPs who have become inactive, and to add 10 additional seats to the house.
25 Aug 2014
The UK Independence Party and the Green Party are formed and are permitted to compete in the by-election.
5 Sep 2014
The newly formed UK Independence Party win the first by election, taking 4 of the 16 possible seats, with Labour also gaining four, while the Liberal Democrats claimed 3, the Greens also won 3 and the Conservatives came last, securing 2 of the possible 16 seats.
6 Sep 2014
The Communist Party are formed and begin to take members from Labour and the Greens.
7 Sep 2014
A far-right party called the British Imperial Party is created, following the rejection of the name “British Union of Fascists�
21 Oct 2014
3 people defect from the Labour Party to the Communist Party, including the first and second prime ministers of the MHoC.
H I S TO RY 2 Nov 2014
The Second General Election ends, with the Communists and the Conservatives both gaining 15 seats, the Greens winning 11, UKIP winning 10, the Lib Dems winning 9, Labour winning 6 and the BIP winning 5, Celtic Workers League (CWL) gaining 4 and 2 Independents are elected.
7 Nov 2014
The Conservatives, UKIP and the Independent googolplexbyte from the Second Government Coalition. With the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Greens forming the “Traffic Light Coalition� Official Opposition.
29 Jan 2015
After months of waiting, the EU Referendum is finally voted in, with the Out campaign taking an early lead during the results, but the In group ends up winning the referendum with 53% of the vote.
24 Feb 2015
After 4 months in government, the leader of UKIP banter_lad_m8 calls a vote on leaving the coalition, with 12 people voting to leave, and only 2 voting to stay. The Traffic Light Coalition then get into government.
8 Mar 2015
The Socialist Party is granted official party status and attract defectors from the Communist and Green Parties.
8 Mar 2015
The CWL elect RomanCatholic as leader who then changes the name to the Social Democratic and Civic Nationalist Party, and change their ideology from communism to social democracy.
30 Mar 2015
The 3rd General Election ends, with the Conservatives winning 17 seats, UKIP gain 1 extra seat, bringing them up to 14 seats. The Greens and Communists win 13 seats each, Labour win 11 seats, the Liberal Democrats win 10, the Socialists gain 9, with the Vanguard winning 7 seats, the SNP winning 4 and the SDCN winning 2.
4 Apr 2015
The Government Coalition is made up of the Communists, Socialists, Greens and the Labour Party. While The Opposition consists of the Liberal Democrats, the UK Independence Party and the Conservatives.
7 May 2015
After inactivity, the SDCN is disestablished and the Pirate Party is founded to replace it, the leader of the SDCN and several members also transfer across.
29 May 2015
A by-election is held to replace the SDCN seats, which were vacated when the party was disestablished, the winners were SPQR1776 and HaveADream
H I S TO RY 5 July 2015
After more than one year as the Head of the Model House of Commons, Timanfya resigns as Speaker and triggers a Speaker election.
16 July 2015
The Model House of Lords officially opens with 16 Conservative Peers, 6 Labour, 7 Green, 7 Communists, 4 Socialists, 5 Lib Dems, 6 UKIP, 3 Vanguard, 1 SNP, 1 Pirate and 3 Crossbenchers
22 July 2015
The Communists leave the government entering the Unofficial Opposition. Labour, the Socialists, Greens and the SNP form the fifth government with 38 seats.
23 July 2015
RoryTime is elected as the new Speaker of the House of Commons.
27 Jul 2015
Whigwham the longest serving prime minister resigns the post and also resigns as Principle Speaker of the Green Party.
2 Aug 2015
RadioNone is elect as Principle Speaker of the Green Party and appointed Prime Minister.
ELECTIONS General Elections happen around every 6 months. Parties will put up a post on the party subreddit where members to declare their intention to stand as a MP. The voting period varies but it’s usually around six days. Internal elections within parties are are usually to elect MPs whose predecessors have resigned or become inactive or for other important positions. Different parties have different methods of electing so check your party’s subreddit for more
T H E S U B R E D D I T N E T WO R K HOUSE OF COMMONS /R/MHOC The House of Commons is the lower chamber of the legislature in the United Kingdom. It’s where most of the action takes place and anyone can take part. In the Commons bills and motions are debated, people can scrutinising government ministers at question time and ‘events’ happen from time to time.
HOUSE OF LORDS /R/MHOL The House of Lords is the exclusive upper chamber. The Model House of Lords is where the scrutinising of legislation happens. The Lords contains party Lords which have been elected/appointed by parties. Achievement Lords who have been given peerages based on their outstanding commitment to various aspects of the model world. Only members of the House of Lords can post and comment in this subreddit. Non-Lords will be warned and eventually banned if they comment.
THE PRESS /R/MHOCPRESS This is where the model newspapers will post their latest editions and the economist will publish their outlook for the month. From here you can find the subs of all the newspapers that are published by the parties. It is similar to the Strangers’ Bar in the respect that news can be found here, but it is generally much more formal and related to MHoC.
T H E S U B R E D D I T N E T WO R K THE STRANGERS’ BAR /R/MHOCSTRANGERSBAR Like the actual Strangers’ Bar, it is where MPs and their ‘guests’ go to talk about everything unrelated to MHOC, as well as many things that are. After elections and victories, people will often go there to celebrate, and you’ll often find surveys, opinion polls and statistics to help gauge the thoughts and opinions of the community.
E A R LY D AY M O T I O N S /R/MHOCEDM Early Day Motions can be found here. These short motions can be signed by Lords and MPs, and at the end of each weekly session the most popular motions (those with the most signatures) are posted to the /r/MHOC subreddit.
OTHERS There are also various other subreddits dedicated to other parts of the Model World, such as /r/RMUN (Reddit Model United Nations), /r/ModelUSGov (Model United States Federal Government), /r/MhOir (Model House of the Oireachtas of the Irish Republic) and /r/iksdagen (Model Swedish Government). There are several subs that are currently in the process of joining too, such as Canada, Australia, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
C OA L I T I O N S Coalitions are when two or more parties join together. This is usually because no one party has gained a majority of seats in parliament. Coalitions happen pretty much exclusively on the Model House of Commons, and it’s unlikely to change, so it’s best to be amicable with everyone, as you might end up working with some of them.
C OA L I T I O N AG R E E M E N T S The coalition agreement is a formal document that outlines key areas of policy that a coalition intends to implement. It contains policies that are agreed upon by all parties within the coalition. All members of the coalition are expected to vote for legislation contained in the coalition agreement. In order to ensure this these votes are whipped. Important policies within the agreement are usually given a three line whip. If an coalition member defies a three line whip then they will have to resign from any positions they hold within the cabinet or shadow cabinet.
C O A L I T I O N L E G I S L AT I O N Bills can be created by multiple coalition members, or by a member of a single party but both can be submitted as a ‘coalition bill’. For a bill to be submitted as a ‘coalition bill’ it must be supported by all parties in the coalition, and will be submitted once it gains approval from the leaders or deputy leaders of each party.
C OA L I T I O N E T T I Q U T T E It’s generally a good rule to be supportive of coalition members and legislation in public subreddits and voice any concerns privately.
POLITICAL T H E C O M M U N I S T PA R T Y They are a radical leftist party committed to ensuring the prosperity the workers of Britain. They include Marxist-Leninists, Trotskyists, Maoists, Libertarian Socialists, among others. Their main tenets are communism, feminism, environmentalism and anti-imperialism. They are a revolutionary minded party and will not simply reform capitalism, but seek to replace it with economic democracy.
T H E S O C I A L I S T PA R T Y We are a far left socialist party, with many factions and views - the main contingent of the party being Democratic Socialists but we also have Libertarian Socialists, Market socialists, Trotskyists and a large variety of resolute socialists; we aim to create a socialist economy through democratic means, so our party has weekly policy debate threads, party congresses every month, and generally strong party democracy.
T H E G R E E N PA R T Y Broad left party, predominantly socialist, working towards the four pillars of Green Politics - environmentalism, social justice, pacifism, and grassroots democracy. The party has several pressure factions and is consolidating its regional groups: the Scottish Greens and Plaid Werdd. The Green party has been the major partner in three separate governments.
T H E L A B O U R PA R T Y The Labour Party is a centre-left social democratic party. The majority of its members are social democrats with a few social liberals and democratic socialists. They are committed to social justice, equality and democracy.
T H E S C O T T I S H N AT I O N A L PA R T Y The SNP is a centre-left social-democratic party which supports Scottish independence. They believe in the freedom of the individual but with a large benefits program, oppose militarisation and hence NATO membership but support immigration and continued membership of the EU.
L PA R T I E S T H E C O N S E R VAT I V E PA R T Y The Conservative Party is a centre-right to right wing party, They are a party that supports a strong traditionalist stance on social issues, but an economic view emphasising fiscal responsibility and globalism.
T H E U K I N D E P E N D E N C E PA R T Y UKIP are a patriotic, right wing libertarian party who believe that Britain would be better off independent from the European Union, they believe in free trade, the freedom of individuals and the free market.
T H E L I B E R A L D E M O C R AT S We are a liberal party of all stripes, representing a broad church from social democracy to classical liberalism, with significant Georgist, pirate and ordoliberal elements. Our primary aims are to create a fair economy and a market that works for everyone, while strengthening our civil liberties and heavily favouring international cooperation on important issues.
T H E P I R AT E PA R T Y The pirate party is the newest addition to the official parties of MHOC. They intentionally try to leave themselves off typical left-right political spectrums. Pirates espouse civil liberties, direct democracy and internet democracy. They promote copyright reform and open content. They are a party with a very strong technology focus and believe in freedom of information, information privacy and net neutrality.
T H E VA N G U A R D The Vanguard is a loose coalition of the ‘alternative right’, containing social conservatives, traditionalists, third positionists, nationalists, fascists, and others. Their uniting theme is a sense of national spirit, built upon a shared history, culture, and language. We support a mixed economy on the whole. We hope to mix due reverence for tradition with an understanding of modernity, to bring about a truly united Britain.
L E G I S L AT I O N BILLS & MOTIONS The first thing to do when you have an idea for a bill/motion is to check the legislative history of MHOC, incase it has already been done, this can be done by checking the MHOC Master Spreadsheet, and also asking members of your party who have been around for a while, who might remember if such a bill/ motion has already been presented. After checking that the bill/motion has not already been submitted, you are free to then start writing your bill. When writing your first bill/motion, it is a good idea to look at some recent legislation to get an idea of the format and to ensure that you include all the normal parts of a bill, such as definitions, commencement date and where in the United Kingdom it extends to.
POSTING After you write up your first draft of your bill/motion, you should always post it to your party’s subreddit, to see what their views are on it, and they can also suggest changes to it. If your party is in a coalition, you should also put the bill/motion on your coalition subreddit, even if you do not expect to get coalition support for it, as it allows an additional layer of feedback and is common courtesy to let them know you are planning to submit a bill/motion. Once you iron out any issues brought up by your party or coalition about the bill/motion, you have 3 options on how to submit it. The first option is a Party Bill, and to do this, you will need to ask the leader to support it is as a party bill/motion, and also the relevant spokesperson in your party, if appropriate. If your leader supports the bill/motion, you can also try to get it as a coalition backed bill/motion, to do this you need the support of all the leaders in your coalition and the relevant Minister or Shadow Minister. If you do not get the support of your party for the bill/motion, you can still submit it as a Private Members’ Bill/Motion, however, if you are not an MP or a Lord you will need one to sponsor the bill/motion for you.
SUBMITTING TO THE HOUSE Once you decide on how you will submit it, you should then send it to the relevant Speaker of the House you want it you start in, so if you are an MP or your sponsor is an MP, then you should send the bill/motion to the Speaker, but if you are a Lord or your sponsor is a Lord, then you should send it to the Lord Speaker. In your message you should include: The Bill/Motion, If it is a PMB, a Party Bill or a Coalition Bill and any additional information you feel fit and a opening speech. You will then be given a date for the first reading of the bill/motion.
L E G I S L AT I O N EXEMPL AR BILL
This is known as the ‘long title’. It basically sets up what the bill is about. This is the ‘enactment clause’. All bills must have this.
These are the ‘provisions’ of a bill. They make up the main body of the bill, and will vary depending on what the bill is about. The provisions are split into sections, which each section grouping relevant topics. The ‘Extent, commencement and short title’ section is always the last section of any bill and must be included on all bills submitted.
• All Bills must be written as a Reddit post, unless the bill is too long, in which case the Reddit post can contain a link to a Google Doc of the bill.
CUS TOMS FORMS OF ADDRESS Members of parliament in the House of Commons are never referred to directly. They must be addressed through the Speaker’s chair.
Untitled Men and Women MPs without titles are referred to as ‘the honourable member/lady/gentleman (for [constituency])’.
Privy Councillors The Privy Council is ancient executive governing body of the United Kingdom. Membership is for life. Members of the Privy Council are styled as ‘Right Honourable’ usually abbreviated to ‘Rt Hon’. They are referred to in the Commons as ‘the right honourable member/ lady/gentleman (for [constituency])’.
Peers Members of the House of Lords address their speech to the House in general and not to any individual. Thus the expressions used are: "Your Lordships", "Your Lordships' House" and "the noble Lord", and not "you". Baron/Baroness The fifth degree of the Peerage, baron is always referred to, both orally and in correspondence, as Lord (surname) rather than Baron(surname). The title Baron is never used, except in formal or legal documents. In conversation: Lord/Lady/Baroness Chamberlain Legal Document: The Right Honourable Rachel Baroness Chamberlain
CUS TOMS Viscount/Viscountess This is the fourth degree of the Peerage. A viscount/viscountess is, in conversation referred to as Lord (Chamberlain) rather than the Viscount Chamberlain. When a viscount is also a privy counsellor or has received a knighthood they may use the appropriate post-nominal letters. In conversation: Lord/Lady Chamberlain Legal document: The Right Honourable George Donald Viscount Chamberlain Earl and Countess This is the third degree of the Peerage. An earl is, in conversation referred to as Lord Framlingham rather than the Earl of Framlingham. When an earl is also a privy counsellor or has received a knighthood they may use the appropriate post-nominal letters. In conversation: Lord/Lady Framlingham Legal document: The Right Honourable Jonathan Earl of Framlingham Marquess and Marchioness The second most senior grade in the peerage, the official spelling of this title, marquess, is now standardised and this is adopted on the Roll of the House of Lords. When a marquess is also a privy counsellor or has received a knighthood they may use the appropriate post-nominal letters.
CUS TOMS In conversation: Lord/Lady Framlingham Legal document: The Most Honourable Jonathan Marquess of Framlingham
Duke and Duchess A duke is the highest of the five grades of the peerage. A duke is always so described, unlike the lower ranks of the peerage. If reference is made to only one duke he may be called 'the Duke' but if distinction is necessary, or on introduction, he should be referred to as 'the Duke of …..’. When a duke is also a privy counsellor or has received a knighthood they may use the appropriate post-nominal letters. In conversation: Duke/Duchess Legal document: The Most Noble Rachel Duchess of Kensington
MAIDEN SPEECHES The first time a newly elected MP speaks in the Chamber of the House of Commons is known as a maiden speech. By tradition, the Member is called ahead of other MPs who may have indicated their wish to speak at the same time. A maiden speech is usually uncontroversial, fairly short and contains a tribute to the MP's predecessor and favourable remarks about the constituency. While this isn’t something new MPs are required to do on /r/mhoc a few people have nonetheless made maiden speeches.
QUES TIONS TO THE PRIME MINIS TER Questions to the Prime Minister (PMQs) occur fortnightly and is a chance for the Commons to ask questions to the Prime Minister about matters of importance.
CUS TOMS ‘Question number one’ During PMQs someone might comment with “Question number one, Mr/Madam (Deputy) Speaker”. This refers to the first question on the Order Paper, which lists all the business happening in Parliament that day, and asks: “If he [the Prime Minister] will list his official engagements for [date]. To which the prime minister will reply: “This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, and in addition to my duties in this house I shall have further such meetings later today.”
S W E A R I N G I N & T H E PA R L I A M E N TA R Y O AT H Members of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords are required to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown before they take their seats in Parliament after a general election or by-election and after the death of the monarch. Any MP or Member of the House of Lords who objects to swearing an oath can make a solemn affirmation instead. This process is known as swearing in. This hasn’t formally happened yet on /r/mhoc or /r/mhol but a few MPs have sworn the oath in the weekly update threads.
H I S TO RY: I N D E P T H On the 28th of May, 2014, Timanfya, the first speaker of the Model House of Commons, creates the /r/mhoc subreddit, with three parties - the Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats. He, almost immediately, held leadership elections for the three parties, with /u/dems4vince, /u/owenberic and /u/OllieSimmonds becoming leaders of the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Conservatives. Timanfya then held the first general election. It’s interesting to note that /u/Jacktri, a notorious, now banned user, ran in all three leadership elections Out of thirty seats available, the Liberal Democrats won eight, and the Conservatives and Labour both won eleven. The Liberal Democrats formed a coalition with Labour, equalling twenty one seats and therefore forming the first government. /u/peter199 produced the first bill, The Railway Reform Act 2014, which nationalized the railways. The Euthanasia Act then followed after about a month. During this time, MHOC experienced heavy inactivity, which almost caused MHOC to be closed down. /u/ThinkingLiberal was appointed the first Deputy Speaker of MHOC, and, during Timanfya’s absence, held the first Prime Minister’s Questions and drafted the first constitution of the House. In August, there was widespread inactivity amongst MPs, triggering a by-election. UKIP and the Greens were formed during this time, and managed to win seven seats between them. The Communist Party and the British Imperial Party formed after this by-election. /u/dems4vince was subject to a vote of no confidence during this period of time, upon losing the vonc, he ran against Remiel but was defeated massively, Remiel then lead the party for close to a year. Around Late-September, Late-October, the second General Election was held. The Communist Party exceeded expectations by winning fifteen seats, on par with the Conservatives, who also won fifteen seats. Labour suffered massive losses by winning only five seats and activity in the party soon dwindled. The Greens won eleven, UKIP won 6, BIP won 4, CWL won 4 and two independents won. The resulting coalitions were the Conservative-UKIP coalition and the Traffic Light Coalition (Greens, Liberal Democrats, Labour) formed, with the former being the governing coalition and OllieSimmonds becoming Prime Minister. The second government lasted around four months (November-February) after collapsing due to the increasing differences between UKIP and the Conservatives, causing the TLC Coalition to go into power, with whigwham as Prime Minister. CWL disbanded during this time and some members moved to the newly formed SDCN, likewise, the BIP disbanded and became the Vanguard Party. The Socialist Party also formed after fears that Labour leader, /u/Can_Triforce would drive the party “too centrist.” General Election III was the most recent General Election. The Conservatives won seventeen seats, UKIP won 14, Communists won 13, Green 13, Labour 11, (after recovering from their huge GEII crash) LDs won 10, Socialists 9, Vanguard 7, SNP 4, SDCN 2. It’s interesting to note that there were no successful independent candidates. The Communists, Greens, Labour and Socialists formed the Broad Left Coalition and became the governing coalition, and the Conservatives, UKIP and the Liberal Democrats formed the Opposition coalition, with the Vanguard, SDCN and the SNP not falling into any coalition, becoming the unofficial opposition.
H I S TO RY: I N D E P T H This government was arguably the most successful. They didn’t have any major issues until the end of the government. Despite the successes of the fourth government, they were unable to pass many of their controversial bills due to inactivity on the government benches, mostly from the Communist Party, the first government bill, which would outlaw private schools, failed, partially due to MP inactivity or whip-breaking and /u/theyeatthepoo famously saying, “My parents had the good sense and morals not to put me into a private school.” After being asked how many private schools was the right honourable member rejected from. The SDCN decided to disband and form the Pirate Party, they were initially allowed to keep their seats but, following heavy opposition, the two seats went to a by-election, with “independent” candidates only. This resulted in parties submitting members to go independent for the duration of the by-election campaign, then joining said party, for example, /u/AlbrechtVonRoon, leader of the Vanguard, temporarily went independent to contest the by-election. The Pirate Party also submitted candidates for the by-election to reclaim their seats. The winning candidates were MP for Northern Ireland, /u/SPQR1776, the former Communist leader who remained independent for a short while, before joining the Socialists Party, and /u/HaveADream, a up-andcoming member of the House, who joined the Liberal Democrats after he won the national seat. What happened shortly afterwards was that long-standing party leaders decided to step down, initially with / u/OllieSimmonds (CON) and /u/Remiel (LD), and then later /u/banter_lad_m8 (UKIP), and were replaced by / u/treeman1221, /u/bnzss, and /u/tyroncs respectively. The government at this time faced heavy pressure due to the heavy inactivity in the Communist Party, which was highlighted as the General Secretary election had only received 9 votes. The Fourth Government shortly disbanded, as the Communists voted to leave the governing coalition in fears that it was too bourgeois. the SNP joined the Fifth Government and what resulted was controversy over the fact that the Opposition was bigger than the Government, however, the government was still able to pass bills, as shown with the Exam Reform Bill. Two key events then happened, the House of Lords formed and became fully functional, which is where all bills are now sent after they pass the Commons, and /u/Timanfya, who was the Speaker for over a year, resigned from his position. He was succeeded by /u/RoryTime, who promised to implement the controversial electoral roll.
Second Edition Compiled and Designed by: RachelChamberlain Written by: Djenial Duncs11 RachelChamberlain HaveADream