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38-548: The party leadership may allow members to have a free vote , based on their own decision, rather than party policy, which means the chief whip is not required to influence the way members vote. The role of Chief Whip is regarded as secretive, as the Whip is concerned with the discipline of their own party's Members of Parliament. By convention, Chief Whips do not sign early day motions or table questions to Ministers. Nor do they give media interviews in their capacity as whip. This

76-633: A Māori cloak . The current Speaker is Gerry Brownlee, a member of the National Party . Since the creation of Parliament, 32 people have held the office of speaker. Two people have held the office on more than one occasion. A full list of speakers is below. † indicates Speaker died in office.     Independent     Liberal     Reform     United     Labour     Democratic Labour     National There are currently four presiding officers appointed to deputise for

114-463: A free vote include abandoning the experiment with permanent summer time and bringing television cameras into Parliament. In the United States, parties exercise comparatively little control over the votes of individual legislators. However, the parties' whips offer varying amounts of incentives or disincentives to unite the party on major votes. As an extreme case, Democrat James Traficant

152-469: A matter on which the members of any single party differ in their opinions, thus making it difficult for parties to formulate official policies. Usually, a conscience vote will be about religious, moral or ethical issues rather than about administrative or financial ones. Matters such as the prohibition of alcohol , abortion , homosexuality law reform and the legality of prostitution are often subject to conscience votes. Conscience votes have been held in

190-418: A party does not dictate an official party line to follow and members may vote as they please. Sometimes a vote may be free for some parties but not for others. In countries where party discipline is less important and voting against one's party is more common, conscience votes are generally less important. In most countries, conscience votes are quite rare and are often about issues that are very contentious, or

228-405: A vote will be a personal vote. They may do so after any MP requests it following a contested voice vote. The Speaker usually agrees to such a request, but not always. A personal vote differs from a party vote in that MPs must physically enter a lobby to vote on a motion, rather than a party's whip calling out the votes on behalf of its MPs. Legislation that was treated as a conscience issue includes

266-618: Is a list of those people who have served as Chief Whip of the Labour Party in the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Conscience vote A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party . In a parliamentary system , especially within

304-607: The Australian Parliament and in State Parliaments on issues of becoming a republic , abortion , euthanasia, homosexuality, sex discrimination, prostitution, and bioethical issues like assisted reproduction and stem cell research, besides other issues. The decision to grant a free vote lies with party leaders in Canada. Sometimes a vote may be free for some parties but not for others. For instance, when

342-717: The Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper proposed a motion to re-open the debate on Canada's same-sex marriage laws , his Conservatives and the opposition Liberals declared it a free vote for their members, while the Bloc Québécois and the New Democrats both maintained party discipline to defeat the measure. In the New Zealand Parliament , the Speaker decides if

380-548: The Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 , Prostitution Reform Act 2003 , Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 , Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 , End of Life Choice Act 2019 and Abortion Legislation Act 2020 . The most common topic for conscience votes in New Zealand has been alcohol; a conscience vote relating to alcohol has happened every decade since the 1890s. In

418-476: The New Zealand Parliament . Under the Westminster system, MPs who belong to a political party are usually required by that party to vote in accordance with the party line on significant legislation, on pain of censure or expulsion from the party. Sometimes a particular party member known as the party whip is responsible for maintaining this party discipline . However, in the case of a conscience vote,

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456-582: The Westminster system , it can also be used to indicate crossbench members of a hung parliament , where confidence and supply is provided to allow formation of a minority government but the right to vote on conscience is retained. Free votes are found in Canadian and some British legislative bodies; conscience votes are used in Australian legislative bodies; personal votes can be held in

494-471: The potential disapproval of the Iran nuclear agreement . Similarly, when House Republican leadership decided not to whip votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump , Liz Cheney —the third-highest-ranking Republican—referred to the matter as a "vote of conscience". At other times the terms are used to describe a vote based on personal morals rather than political considerations. Speaker of

532-698: The Government, trying to placate the Lords and other opponents of a ban, proposed only restriction and licensing of hunting, but anti-hunting MPs (mostly Labour backbenchers ) forced through an amendment that would effect a total ban. Seconds after the vote on the amendment, the Government bowed to pressure and agreed to force the ban through the Lords under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 . It passed in November 2004. Other decisions that were taken by

570-495: The House. That year, the position of Deputy Speaker was made official, and the role of Chairman of Committees was discontinued. The first Deputy Speaker was appointed on 10 November 1992. Additionally, two Assistant Speakers are usually appointed. The first Assistant Speaker was appointed in 1996, replacing the position of Deputy Chairman of Committees, which had been established in 1975. The Deputy Speaker and Assistant Speakers take

608-499: The Labour Party in 1940 but retained his position. Historically, a speaker lost the right to cast a vote, except when both sides were equally balanced. The speaker's lack of a vote created problems for a governing party – when the party's majority was small, the loss of the speaker's vote could be problematic. Since the shift to MMP in 1996, however, the speaker has been counted for the purposes of casting party votes, to reflect

646-589: The New Zealand House of Representatives In New Zealand, the speaker of the House of Representatives , commonly known as the speaker of the House ( Māori : te mana whakawā o te Whare ), is the presiding officer and highest authority of the New Zealand House of Representatives . The individual who holds the position is elected by members of the House from among their number in the first session after each general election. They hold one of

684-664: The Speaker's arrival and places the Mace on the Table of the House. As of 2020 , the annual salary is NZ$ 296,007. The office is third most important constitutionally, after the governor-general and the prime minister . (See New Zealand order of precedence .) Originally, speakers wore a gown and formal wig in the chamber. This practice has fallen into disuse since the 1990s. Speakers now generally wear what they feel appropriate, usually an academic gown of their highest held degree or

722-773: The Speaker: Between 1854 and 1992, the Chairman of Committees chaired the House when in Committee of the whole House (i.e., taking a bill's committee stage) and presided in the absence of the Speaker or when the Speaker so requested. These arrangements were based on those of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom . Until 1992, the Chairman of Committees was known as the Deputy Speaker only when presiding over

760-620: The administration and security of the buildings and grounds of Parliament (including the Beehive, Parliament House, Bowen House and the Parliamentary Library building), and the general provision of services to members. In doing so, the speaker consults and receives advice from the Parliamentary Service Commission, which comprises MPs from across the House. As the most senior office of Parliament,

798-511: The case of a party vote, a party can decide to allow its members to vote differently from one another, in a split party vote. Thus individual parties can allow their members a conscience vote even when the Speaker has not declared a personal vote. In the British House of Commons there used to be a conscience vote every few years on the restoration of the death penalty , which had been abolished in 1964 (except for treason , for which it

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836-521: The chair and may exercise the Speaker's authority in his or her absence. Notably during the 53rd New Zealand Parliament a succession of temporary Assistant Speakers were appointed. Ian McKelvie was appointed as a third Assistant Speaker from 1 March 2022 but only while the House was sitting with some members participating remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic . Two further temporary Assistant Speakers ( David Bennett and Greg O'Connor ) were added for

874-426: The complaint is just. Earlier Speaker's rulings on similar points of order are referred to in considering the point raised. The clerk of the House , who sits directly in front of the speaker, assists the speaker in making such rulings. By convention, speakers have traditionally been addressed inside the debating chamber as "Mr Speaker" or "Madam Speaker". The speaker is also responsible for directing and overseeing

912-485: The highest-ranking offices in New Zealand. The current Speaker is Gerry Brownlee , who was elected on 5 December 2023. The speaker's role in presiding over New Zealand's House of Representatives is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system . The speaker presides over the House's debates, determining which members may speak; the speaker is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, and may discipline members who break

950-445: The lobbies for their preferred candidate. In the case of three or more candidates, a roll-call vote is conducted and the candidate with the fewest votes eliminated, with the process continuing (or reverting to a two-way run-off) until one candidate has a majority. Members may vote only if they are present in person: no proxy votes are permitted. It is traditional for the newly elected speaker to pretend he or she did not want to accept

988-694: The office despite not being from the governing party. In 1923, Charles Statham (an independent, but formerly a member of the Reform Party ) was backed by Reform so as not to endanger the party's slim majority, and later retained his position under the United Party . In 1993, Peter Tapsell (a member of the Labour Party) was backed by the National Party for the same reason. Bill Barnard , who had been elected Speaker in 1936, resigned from

1026-433: The order in which business is conducted, and determining who should speak at what time. The speaker is also responsible for granting or declining requests for certain events, such as a snap debate on a particular issue. An important part of the speaker's role is enforcing discipline in the House. They are expected to conduct the business of the House in an impartial manner. The speaker defers to 'Standing Orders', which are

1064-424: The position (via a vote of no confidence ) intra-term. The election of a speaker is presided over by the clerk of the House. It is unusual for an election to be contested, with only six votes since 1854 having more than one candidate. The first such contested vote did not occur for 69 years until 1923 . It took 73 years for the second contested vote for Speaker in 1996 . If there are two candidates, members vote in

1102-400: The position; the speaker feigns resistance as they are 'dragged' to their chair, in a practice dating from the days when British speakers risked execution if the news they reported to the king was displeasing. After being elected by the House, the speaker-elect is formally confirmed in office by the governor-general . At the start of a term of Parliament, the newly confirmed speaker follows

1140-413: The proportionality of the party's vote in the general election. The practice has also been for the speaker to participate in personal votes, usually by proxy . In the event of a tied vote the motion in question lapses. The speaker is always a member of Parliament (MP), and is elected to the position by other MPs at the beginning of a parliamentary term , or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from

1178-416: The rules of the House. Aside from duties relating to presiding over the House, the speaker also performs administrative and procedural functions, and remains a member of Parliament (MP). The speaker's most visible role is that of presiding over the House of Representatives when it is in session. The speaker presides from an elevated chair behind the Table in the debating chamber . This involves overseeing

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1216-459: The sitting week of 9 to 11 August 2022, to cover absences. Barbara Kuriger was added for the period of 22 to 26 November 2022, when the government accorded urgency to business as a result of the sitting time lost from the death of Elizabeth II . Poto Williams was reappointed as Assistant Speaker during the final week of the Parliament, from 29 to 31 August. A review of standing orders at

1254-504: The speaker controls the organisation of the business of the House. Also on the committee, established after the first mixed member proportional (MMP) election in 1996, is the leader of the House , the Opposition shadow leader and the whips of each party. The speaker is expected to conduct the functions of the office in a neutral manner, even though the speaker is generally a member of the governing party. Only three people have held

1292-589: The speaker has other statutory responsibilities, for example under the Electoral Act 1993 . In this role a portion of the Parliament Buildings are given over to the speaker. Known as the Speaker's Apartments these include his personal office, sitting rooms for visiting dignitaries and a small residential flat which the speaker may or may not use as living quarters. The speaker chairs three select committees : The Business Committee chaired by

1330-412: The tradition of claiming the privileges of the House. Each day, prior to the sitting of the House of Representatives, the speaker and other officials travel in procession from the speaker's personal apartments to the debating chamber. The procession includes the doorkeeper, the serjeant-at-arms , the speaker and the speaker's assistant. When the speaker reaches the chamber, the serjeant-at-arms announces

1368-436: The written rules of conduct governing the business of the House. Included in these rules are certain powers available to the speaker to ensure reasonable behaviour by MPs, including the ability to order disruptive MPs to leave the debating chamber . MPs who feel one of these rules has been breached by another member can interrupt a debate by using a procedure known as a ' point of order '. The speaker must then determine whether

1406-558: Was abolished in 1998 in the Human Rights Act ). It had always been rejected and this practice has now been abandoned. In Britain, laws concerning abortion have always been subject to a free vote. The proposed bans on hunting with dogs proposed by Tony Blair 's government were the subject of several free votes in Parliament from 2001. On each occasion the Commons voted for a ban and the House of Lords rejected it. In 2004

1444-620: Was stripped of his seniority and committee assignments in 2001 when he voted for a Republican, Dennis Hastert , to be Speaker of the United States House of Representatives . When a party's leadership declines to whip votes in a situation where they normally would, this is sometimes called a "conscience vote," "vote of conscience," or members "voting their consciences." For instance, an aide to Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin said that "Decisions about war and peace are conscience votes and they aren’t whipped traditionally," regarding

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