Each political party in Parliament appoints a team of MPs as whips. Each of the two main parties will have about fourteen MPs appointed to their whips office. The smaller parties may only have two or three whips. There are also smaller teams of whips working in the House of Lords.
Whips have two key tasks.
First, by communicating through the 'usual channels', they seek to ensure that all parties in the House of Commons are satisfied with its business timetable. It is this latter function which is believed to give the whips their unusual name. Key votes on 'the whip' will be underlined three times. These are known as 'three-line whips' and members must attend. Whips do not take part in debates in either the chamber or in committee, although there is a whip from each main party in the chamber during all proceedings.