ABSTRACT
The party political control of Members of Parliament is in the hands of the party whips. On the government side, all whips receive salaries18 and are ministers of the Crown. The Chief Whip19 is assisted by up to 12 other Members. The Chief Whip organises the details of business of the House. The Opposition has a Chief Whip, two salaried assistants and eight to ten nonsalaried assistants. The task of the government Chief Whip is to act as contact between the Prime Minister, the Leader of the House (to both of whom he is responsible) and Members. The whips (of all parties) keep Members informed about the House’s business, and inform Members when they are obliged to attend the House. The degree of coercion of Members will depend on the importance of the matter in hand. When attendance is required – and when political consequences will flow from non-attendance – a ‘three line whip’ is announced. Where attendance is necessary, but not essential, a ‘two line whip’ is applied. In order that Members are not unduly pressured by the need for attendance in parliament, the whips arrange ‘pairing’. Pairing is the arrangement whereby Members of government and opposition parties will be linked together: if one is absent the other may abstain from voting. Thus, the non-attendance of one Member will be off-set – in the counting of votes – by the absence of the other. It is this arrangement which is most frequently threatened when relationships between the government and Opposition break down.
