Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP

The House of Commons is made up of 646 Members of Parliament. Each is elected to represent a constituency with an average of about 70,000 electors.

MPs are elected on a "first past the post" basis which simply means that when all the votes for the candidates are counted, the one with the most wins. Often at a General Election there will be four or more candidates so many MPs will not have an overall majority.

One MP is elected by his or her colleagues to be the Speaker. This is effectively the Chairman of the Commons and that person gives up their party affiliation to take the position. Michael Martin MP is the Speaker of the House currently.

The Parliamentary year normally begins in mid-October and lasts until mid-July. The House sits from Monday to Thursday and occasionally on a Friday. The standard hours are 2.30pm until 10pm, Monday and Tuesday. From 11.30am to 7pm on Wednesday and 10:30 - 6pm on Thursday. Though there is usually other business at the end of those hours and parliament can sometimes sit right through the night!

Early Day Motions

Early day motions (EDMs) are motions tabled by a single Member or a group of MPs which are technically able to be debated in the House at the earliest opportunity. In reality, they are normally never debated but do allow Members to express their interest in a given topic and are used in all kinds of lobbying to raise issues and gauge what level of support there is for any particular issue.

The number of MPs who sign such a motion is carefully monitored by Government Departments. If more than 100 sign it will be carefully considered, if over 200 it is something the Government needs to consider looking at.

Members often receive requests from pressure groups and constituents to add their support to a particular EDM.

Members of the Government are not allowed to sign such motions as they are motions to the Government.

Private Members Bills

In addition to the public Bills introduced by the government, Parliament also considers private Members' Bills (PMBs) brought forward by backbenchers. These Bills have to go through the same legislative stages as all other Bills.

PMBs can be introduced in 4 ways: Ballot Bills, Ten minute rule Bills, Presentation Bills and House of Lords Bills.

Ballot Bills - c. 400 MPs usually enter the ballot at the start of each session. Twenty names are drawn but usually only the first seven are guaranteed a day's debate on second reading. The reason for having a ballot is simply that the time set aside for consideration of PMBs in a session is limited.

Select Committees

The House has about 40 select committees which fall into 5 different categories: Departmental Select Committees, Cross Cutting Select Committees, Legislative Select Committees, Ad Hoc Committees on Legislation and Internal Committees.

Select Committees have the responsibility of holding Government Departments to account. Each Government Department will be shadowed by a Select Committee. These are All Party committees and their membership reflects the overall proportions of the Parties in the Commons.

The Committees are often made up of Members who are acknowledged as having some expertise in those areas and have the freedom to investigate whatever issues within the Departments remit they wish to.

The Committees have significant powers. If they summons a person to give evidence to them, they must attend as in a court of law. Similarly there are penal punishments should anyone decline.

Their reports list recommendations and the relevant Government Minister must respond to each point, either to say when they will be actioned or if not, why not.