Opening of Parliament

2.01  The proclamation dissolving the old Parliament appoints a day and place of meeting of the new Parliament. Certain preliminary proceedings must take place before that day. Accordingly, the new Parliament is summoned to meet a few days, usually a week, before the Queen's Speech. During this period the House of Lords usually sits for two or three "swearing-in" days. Only business which does not require the House to take a decision on a motion may be taken on these days. The principal business is:

• proceedings relating to the election of a Speaker of the House of Commons, which takes place on the first and second days (see appendix F, page 217), and
• administering the oath of allegiance to members of the House.[38]

2.02  New members of the House of Lords may be introduced after the first day. The Lord Chancellor, if need be, is introduced first.

2.03  A notice is circulated to members before these sittings, informing them of the time of sitting and the time when the House is likely to adjourn and advising them of the need to take the oath before sitting or voting.[39] Members may attend to take the oath at any time the House is sitting during the swearing-in days. The House sits long enough (sometimes with short adjournments "during pleasure") to enable those who are present to take the oath.

2.04  The election of a Commons Speaker and the swearing-in of members occur only in the first session of a Parliament. Each subsequent session is opened with the Queen's Speech without any preliminary proceedings. The Queen usually delivers the Speech in person. In her absence the senior of the Lords Commissioners delivers it. The procedure for delivery of the Queen's Speech is described in appendix G (page 220).

First meeting after State Opening

2.05  At the time appointed for the sitting of the House the Lord Speaker takes her seat on the Woolsack. Prayers are read and members of the House may take the oath. A bill, for the better regulating of Select Vestries, is then read a first time pro forma on the motion of the Leader of the House, in order to assert the right of the House to deliberate independently of the Crown.[40] Until this has taken place, no other business is done.

2.06  Immediately after the Select Vestries Bill has been read a first time, the Lord Speaker informs the House that the Queen delivered The Gracious Speech earlier in the day to the two Houses of Parliament. She says:

"My Lords,

I have to acquaint the House that Her Majesty was pleased this morning to make a Most Gracious Speech from the Throne to both Houses of Parliament assembled in the House of Lords. Copies of the Gracious Speech are available in the Printed Paper Office. I have for the convenience of the House arranged for the terms of the Gracious Speech to be published in the Official Report."

2.07  A government backbencher chosen by the Leader of the House then moves:

"That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty as follows:

Most Gracious Sovereign,

We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, beg leave to thank Your Majesty for the most gracious Speech which Your Majesty has addressed to both Houses of Parliament."

2.08  The mover then makes a speech and at the end says "I beg to move that an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty." He then proceeds to the Woolsack with the Address and bows to the Lord Speaker, who rises and bows in return and receives the Address. When the mover has returned to his seat, the Lord Speaker rises and says:

"The Question is that an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty as follows"

and reads the text of the Address.

2.09  A government backbencher also chosen by the Leader then seconds the motion for an Address. It is customary for the speeches of the mover and seconder to be uncontroversial. After the speech of the seconder the Leader of the Opposition moves the adjournment of the debate. On this motion he and the other party leaders congratulate the mover and seconder and comment generally on the Queen's Speech. After the Leader of the House has responded, the debate on the Address is adjourned.

2.10  Certain formal business is then taken. The Chairman and Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees are nominated on the motion of the Leader of the House. Formal entries in the Minutes of Proceedings record the laying before the House by the Clerk of the Parliaments of a list of members of the House, the appointment of the Appellate and Appeal Committees and the sessional order for preventing stoppages in the streets.

2.11  The general debate on the Address is resumed on the next sitting day. The principal topics for debate (e.g. foreign affairs, home affairs, economic affairs, agriculture, transport) are taken on different days. Amendments, of which notice must be given, may be moved to the Address at any time in the debate, and are disposed of at the end of the day on which they are debated or at the end of the whole debate. If no amendment has been moved to the Address, the Lord Speaker declares the Question decided "nemine dissentiente". The House then orders the Address to be presented to Her Majesty. This is usually done by the Lord Chamberlain.

Prorogation

2.12  The prorogation of Parliament, which brings a session to an end, is a prerogative act of the Crown. By current practice Parliament is prorogued by Commissioners acting in the Sovereign's name.[41]

2.13  On the day appointed for prorogation, prayers are read and any necessary business is transacted. The procedure followed at prorogation, with or without Royal Assent, is given at appendix J (page 224). Parliament is always prorogued to a definite day. Prorogation for further periods may be effected by proclamation.[42] Parliament, while prorogued, can be summoned by proclamation pursuant to the Meeting of Parliament Acts 1797 and 1870[43] and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

Dissolution

2.14  No Parliament may continue to sit for more than five years from the day on which, by writ of summons, it was appointed to meet.[44] Parliament is nowadays dissolved by Royal Proclamation under the Great Seal.

Effect of termination of session

2.15  Prorogation has the effect of putting an end to all business before the House, except:

• judicial business;[45]
• private bills, personal bills, provisional order confirmation bills and hybrid bills which may be "carried over" from one session to another (including dissolution);[46]
• proceedings on Measures, statutory instruments and special procedure orders laid in one session, which may be continued in the next. Prorogation and dissolution are disregarded in calculating "praying time";[47]
• Command papers, statutory instruments and Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland (apart from those which may be laid only when the House is sitting). These may be laid during prorogation, but not dissolution;
• certain sessional committees which remain in existence notwithstanding the prorogation of Parliament until the House makes further orders of appointment in the next session (but this does not apply to a dissolution, when all select committee activity must cease);[48]
• impeachments by the Commons which may be carried on from one session to another and from one Parliament to another.

2.16  Government public bills may also be "carried over" from one session to the next. See paragraph 7.07.

Demise of the Crown

2.17  A demise of the Crown no longer brings a session or a Parliament to an end.[49]

2.18  The Succession to the Crown Act 1707[50] provides that in the event of the demise of the Crown, Parliament, if adjourned or prorogued, must meet as soon as possible[51] and if sitting must immediately proceed to act without any summons in the usual form.

2.19  By the Representation of the People Act 1985,[52] in case of the demise of the Crown after the dissolution of one Parliament and the proclamation summoning the next, but before the election, the election and the meeting of Parliament are postponed by fourteen days. If the demise occurs on or after the date of the election, Parliament meets in accordance with the proclamation summoning the next Parliament.

2.20  When Parliament meets under either of these Acts, there is no speech from the Throne. All members of both Houses take the oath of allegiance to the new Sovereign. In the course of a few days a message under the Sign Manual is sent formally acquainting the House with the death of the Sovereign, and stating such other matters as may be necessary. The House votes an Address to the new Sovereign in answer to the message, expressing condolences upon the death of his predecessor and loyalty to him upon his accession.

2.21  If the demise of the Crown has taken place during the session, business is resumed and proceeds as usual; but if it has occurred during an adjournment or prorogation, both Houses again adjourn as soon as the Addresses have been presented.

Emergency recall of the House

2.22  The Lord Speaker, or, in her absence, the Chairman of Committees, may, after consultation with the government, recall the House whenever it stands adjourned, if she is satisfied that the public interest requires it[53] or in pursuance of section 28(3) of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

2.23  The Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary may recall the House for judicial business during an adjournment by giving notice to such Lords as he thinks fit.[54]

Addresses to the Crown

2.24  The ordinary method by which the Houses communicate with the Sovereign is by Address. Addresses may be agreed by both Houses and jointly presented, or agreed separately but presented together, but are more commonly agreed and presented separately. From the House of Lords, they may be presented by certain designated members, by members who are members of the Royal Household or Privy Counsellors, or by the whole House. The most common form of Address occurs at the beginning of every session in reply to the Queen's Speech. Other forms of Address are those requesting the Queen to make an Order in Council in the form of a draft laid before the House or praying the Queen to annul a negative instrument. There has been an Address for the exercise of the prerogative of mercy.[55] There are also Addresses of condolence or congratulation to the Sovereign on family or public occasions. An Address may also be presented in response to a Royal Message, concerning for example the Civil List or the declaration of a State of Emergency.

2.25  The Sovereign's reply is communicated to the House on the first convenient occasion. The member reporting the reply to the House (usually the Lord Chamberlain or another member of the Royal Household) does so at the beginning of business.

MESSAGES TO MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY

2.26  The congratulations or condolences of the House are communicated to a member of the Royal Family other than the Sovereign by a message, and not by an Address. In such a case certain members of the House are ordered to present the message, and one of them reports the answer.[56]

ADDRESS PRESENTED BY THE WHOLE HOUSE

2.27  On occasions of particular importance an Address may be presented by the whole House. Until 1897 (the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria's accession) such Addresses were presented at Buckingham Palace or another royal residence. Since then Addresses by the whole House have been presented, together with Addresses from the House of Commons, within the Palace of Westminster. Thus Addresses were presented in Westminster Hall to mark the 50th Anniversary of the end of World War II (1995) and the Queen's Golden Jubilee (2002).[57]

2.28  After prayers on the day appointed for the presentation of the Address, the House proceeds to the designated place. The Lord Speaker and the Commons Speaker either lead their respective Houses or arrive with their processions after the members of both Houses are seated; in either case the Commons Speaker arrives first. Both Houses sit facing the Queen, the Commons on Her left and the Lords on Her right. As soon as the Queen has arrived, the Clerk of the Parliaments hands to the Lord Speaker the Lords' Address, which the Lord Speaker reads and presents kneeling to the Sovereign. The Clerk of the Commons hands the Commons' Address to the Speaker, who likewise reads and presents it. The Queen delivers Her reply to the Addresses and withdraws. The Lords withdraw followed by the Commons. The House then adjourns during pleasure and resumes its sitting later in the Chamber.

Messages from the Crown

2.29  Messages from the Crown are rare. They are formal communications relating to important public events that require the attention of Parliament, for example, the declaration of a State of Emergency. A message from the Crown is usually in writing under the Queen's Sign Manual. It is brought by a member of the House who is either a minister, for example the Leader of the House, or one of the Queen's Household. A message from the Crown has precedence over other business, except for introductions, oaths and the Lord Speaker's leave of absence.

2.30  The member bearing a message announces to the House that he has a message under the Queen's Sign Manual that the Queen has commanded him to deliver to the House. He reads it at the Table, and then gives it to the Lord Speaker at the Woolsack, who hands it to the Clerk of the Parliaments. When the message has been read, it is either considered immediately on motion or, more usually, a later day is appointed.[58] An Address is then moved in reply, usually by the Leader of the House. However, the House takes no further action on messages from the Crown in reply to an Address from the House.[59]

39   Procedure 1st Rpt 1970-71. Back

40   SO 76(2). Back

41   Parliament was last prorogued by the monarch in person in 1854. Back

42   Prorogation Act 1867 s. 1, amended by the Statute Law Revision Act 1893. Back

43   As amended by the Parliament (Elections and Meeting) Act 1943. Back

44   Septennial Act 1715, as amended by s. 7 of the Parliament Act 1911. A bill containing any provision to extend the maximum duration of Parliament beyond five years is exempted from the restrictions imposed on the powers of the House of Lords by the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949. Back

45   During prorogation the House may sit to determine appeals, and the Appellate Committee (but not the Appeal Committee) may meet (SO 87(5)). During dissolution provision may be made by a Writing under the Sign Manual for the Lords of Appeal to act in the name of the House; and the House may use the same system for hearing and determining appeals as it uses while Parliament is sitting in the ordinary way. Back

46   The procedure by which this is done provides for the waiving of certain Standing Orders by agreement between the two Houses in order that the bills may be taken pro forma up to the stage that they had reached in the previous session. Back

47   See paragraph 9.17. Back

48   SO 65. Back

49   Representation of the People Act 1867, s. 51. Back

50   s. 20(2). Back

51   Notice of the time of meeting is given by any means available. Back

52   s. 20. Back

53   SO 17(1), (2). Back

54   SO 17(3). Back

55   The case of Guardsmen Fisher and Wright, HL Deb. 20 July 1998, cols 653-72. Back

56   eg HL Deb. 13 July 2001 col. 379, 19 July 2001 col. 1003 (100th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother). Back

57   LJ (1994-95) 387, LJ (2001- 02) 657. Back

58   SO 42(1). Back

59   e.g. at the end of the debate on the Queen's Speech or on an Address to annul a statutory instrument. Back