ABSTRACT
A representative role to represent and refl ect the will of the people As each MP is directly elected by his own constituents, the House of Commons performs a representative function refl ecting the will of the people. How accurately that will is refl ected is determined by the electoral system (see section 9.4). In the context of the representative function, in 2004 the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons issued a report entitled: ‘Connecting Parliament with the Public’. It opened its report in the following manner:
QUOTATION ‘The legitimacy of the House of Commons, as the principal representative body in British democracy, rests upon the support and engagement of the electorate. The decline in political participation and engagement in recent years, as well as in levels of trust in politicians, political parties and the institutions of State should be of concern to every citizen. But it should be of particular concern to the House of Commons.’
