Tories in the Killing Fields? The Fate of Private Members' Bills in the 1997 Parliament

Abstract

This article examines the Private Members' Bill process in the 1997-2001 Parliament when two Conservative MPs, Eric Forth and David Maclean, significantly affected Private Members' legislation. The article reaches a number of conclusions on the basis of a detailed study of the fate of all Private Members' Bills in the Parliament. First, few Bills introduced under the Private Members' procedure succeed because the procedure makes it so easy to oppose Bills. Second, most Private Members' Bills that succeed are minor and technical and often government 'handout Bills'. Third, it is very unlikely that any controversial legislation will succeed under the present procedure given recent governments' attitudes to the granting of extra time. Fourth, in studying opposition to Private Members' Bills one should not focus just on filibustering, as previous studies have tended to do, rather, the 'object' procedure is also crucial in preventing the passage of Bills. Fifth, the Government is the key actor in the process; it is particularly active in using the 'object' procedure. Sixth, the two Conservative MPs did play an increasingly important role in preventing the passage of Private Members' legislation during the 1997-2001 Parliament. Seventh, the success rate of Private Members' Bills is only likely to increase if either the procedural and structural constraints are lifted or the agents involved stop manipulating the procedure to their own ends. Neither of these changes is likely to happen. Government is unlikely to change the procedure because it does not want to cede any control of the legislative process. At the same time, there will always be backbench MPs who use the procedure to oppose, although given their elevation to the Conservative frontbench, Forth and Maclean will not be involved in the near future.