Guidance Document

The **MHoC Guidance Document** (also known as the **Guiding Document**) is a document containing suggestions of how the Model House of Commons should operate. Unlike the MHoC Constitution, the Guidance Document is not binding on the Speaker, except parts which are specifically referred to in the MHoC Constitution. The content of the MHoC Guidance Document can be altered through an amendment.

*Accurate as of November 2020. If you spot any inaccuracies, please contact the Speaker.*

## Elections

#### **General Elections**

1) The Speaker is responsible for everything surrounding the
HoC elections,

2) Manifestos are to be submitted to the speaker by the
deadline, any received after this time will be accepted at the Speaker's discretion

3) In a general election a maximum of 16 parties and
independents can stand, parties and independents from a previous election will get priority over anyone else. The Speaker again has the discretion to remove people from standing in the general election.

4) Manifestos submitted must be less than 600 words.

i) Manifestos may not contain more than two image files.
ii) Manifestos may contain one audio or video file:
a)lasting less than 90 seconds
b)containing less than 200 words (not included in the manifesto word count)
c)not infringing on copyright law
iii) Manifestos may not contain pictures of, or quotes attributed to, any real-life figure, living or dead, political or otherwise.
iv) Where a manifesto is received with more than 600 words, the Speaker will cut the manifesto at the 600-word mark.
5) The Prime Minister holds the authority to announce his/her intention to seek a dissolution on a particular date; as long as parliament does not expire in between.

6) The formal duration of an election will be 21 Days.

Day 0 – Election is called by the Prime Minister or the Speaker if parliament has expired. A wash-up period of seven days will take place and the Speaker will not accept any new items.
Day 0 – The Speaker will inform parties to submit their manifestos.
Day 7 – All manifestos should have been received by the Speaker who shall admit them subject to them meeting the criteria to stand. The Speaker will formally declare the previous parliament dissolved and shall remove all MPs from the Division Lobby forum.
Day 7 – The Speaker will post a thread containing all manifestos in the Model House Of Commons subforum and add a secret poll for 7 days with an option for each candidate/party and an option for 'Spoilt Ballot'.
Day 14 – Results of the election are declared by the speaker, the Speaker will then inform party leaders they have 7 days to form any coalitions.
Day 21 – Details of formed coalitions are formally announced by the Speaker who invites the leader of the largest coalition/party that fulfills article 6.1 to form a Government and nominate a Prime Minister for appointment. The Speaker invites the leader of the largest party that does not take part in the Government and that fulfills article 7.1 to form a Shadow Ministry.
Day 21 - The Speaker formally declares parliament open and announces details of parliament's expiration date.
7) During elections unsolicited PMs cannot be sent to members of TSR who are not a member of the same party as the sender, this includes campaigning for votes and telling people to go and vote. However, the
Speaker may request the Community Team to send out a mass PM on behalf of the Speaker, encouraging people to vote in the General Election.

8) Independent candidates are allowed to join a party at any point during parliament, in doing so they take their seat with them and bolster the party’s seats. This however will not affect the party in power.

9) If for any reason extra seats are required due to the d’Hondt method of calculations then it is permitted.

10) All TSR members with more than 100 posts and 3 months experience may vote.

11) At the opening of each Parliament, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker shall each undergo a vote of confidence by MPs.

i) The motion for each poll shall read 'I move that Speaker/Deputy Speaker's name do take the Chair of this House as Speaker/Deputy speaker.'
ii) The options shall be: aye, no, abstain.
iii) The motion will be passed if more MPs vote Aye than No
iv) If the motion fails a Speakership, or Deputy Speakership election will start.
v) Both confirmation motions shall take place at the same time.
#### **By Elections**

1) The Speaker is responsible for everything surrounding TSR by-elections.

2) Manifestos are to be submitted to the Speaker by the deadline, any received after this time will not be accepted.

3) The election rules for normal TSR General Elections, including rules on the voting system, voter eligibility, and manifesto length and content, apply.

4) No candidate may be a sitting MP during the period of voting.

5) No person wishing to stand as an independent may be a member of any party during the period of voting, or advertise their affiliation to any party during the period of voting.

6) The results will not affect the composition of the government, but may affect which party forms the Official Opposition.

7) The duration of an election shall be 8 days.

Day 0 – Election is announced by The Speaker.

Day 0 - The Speaker will inform interested candidates/parties to submit their manifestos

Day 4 – All manifestos should have been received by The Speaker.

Day 4 - The Speaker will post the manifestos in a thread in the Model House of Commons forum, add a secret 4 day poll with the option of “Spoilt Ballot”.

Day 8 – The election closes and seats are assigned.

#### **Speaker and Deputy Speaker Elections**

1) The election process for a Speaker and Deputy Speaker should last no more than 28 days.

Day 0 – The Speaker announces the election and asks for manifestos to be submitted to them.

Day 3 – The Speaker will create a question and answer thread, and will post the candidates who wish to run in the election for speaker along with their manifestos.

Day 5 – The Speaker will open a secret poll (for MPs only in the Division Lobby) with the candidates’ names and the option for Re-Open Nominations.

Day 10 – Poll closes. If a candidate has gained more than 50% of the vote, they are elected. If not, the two candidates with the most votes, plus ties, are put into a second three day ballot with no R.O.N. option. If at any point during the runoff vote a candidate withdraws the runoff is rerun between the remaining candidate and the next highest placed candidate on the first round ballot excluding the candidate who has withdrawn. The runoff may be rerun a maximum of three times. In the event there is no next placed candidate from the first round the remaining candidate undergoes a Speakership Confirmation motion procedure lasting three days. If three runoffs all result in withdrawals the candidate left undergoes a Speakership Confirmation motion.

Day 13/16/19 - If a runoff election was needed, results of the election are announced and the candidate with the most votes is elected.

Day 22 - If a Speakership Confirmation Motion was called, the results are announced.

2) The candidate with the highest number of votes will be elected.

3) In the event there is a draw, all candidates will be outlined to the administration team and they will pick the next Speaker or Deputy Speaker.

4) In the event no member is elected due to Re-Open Nominations being elected, a new election process will begin.

5) Manifestos must be no longer than 250 words.

#### **Party Leadership Elections**

1) Parties can run leadership elections themselves or request the Speaker to run them.

2) Outgoing Leaders and Deputy Leaders may wish to run these how they like.

#### **Other Elections**

The party or Speaker shall run any other elections as they
see fit; this is entirely at their discretion.

## MPs

1) A party may appoint as many users to the MP usergroup as they had won seats in the previous general election; it is the prerogative of each party to choose the users they want as representatives.

2) MPs may be instructed by their Chief Whip to vote in a specific way and they should oblige but do not have to vote as they have free will.

3) MPs can have titles, they can be cabinet positions in the Government or Shadow Cabinet positions if they are in the opposition. All other MPs will have no title unless they are a Party Leader /Deputy Leader/Chief Whip.

4) As an MP you would be expected to attend all bill discussions and voting on bills.

5) Any MP or party leader can have a motion of no confidence called against them at any given point in time by a party members (assuming the VoNC has been seconded) at which point the Speaker will offer assistance.

6) If an MP decides to leave a party then their seat is available to be filled by another member of the party.

7) If a independent MP wishes to join a political party any time after a general election they can do so and take their MP seat with them and will automatically bolster a party’s number of seats, though it won’t change who the ‘government is’.

8) An independent MP can leave a political party they have joined and take their seat with them.

9) Any MP holding a seat defecting parties cannot take their seat with them, the seat at all times remains within the party it was assigned.

10) If an MP is away from the House temporarily, a party or independent MP may appoint a proxy (temporary) MP. A proxy MP should be announced in the usual manner, and will be given access to the MP usergroup for the duration of their proxy period. The permanent MP who is being proxied may leave instructions to the proxy MP on how to vote, and these instructions should be followed.

11) All MPs and proxies are entitled to join the MP group.

12) All MPs are entitled The Honourable.

13) All MPs, including proxies, must have a dupe check carried out, either by the Speaker or the relevant Party Leader. If the Party Leader has already carried out a dupe check prior to the member becoming an MP, no further checks are necessary.

14) If the MP or proxy has had no prior check, the check should be requested immediately when they are announced as MP or proxying, and the MP or proxy can fulfil their duties whilst awaiting the check to be completed. If the check comes back with a match to any other member of the MHoC, then normal appropriate action will be taken.

15) Any Party Leader can ask the Speaker to investigate whether an MP has had a dupe check carried out.

16) The Speaker should make a spreadsheet showing which members have been dupe checked, and the date of completion, viewable to the MHoC.

17) In a given parliamentary term, an MP shall be granted membership to the MP usergroup only if they take the Oath of Allegiance or make a Solemn Affirmation as per Clauses 19 and 20.

18) At the start of each parliamentary term, the Speaker shall open a thread for MPs to take the Oath of Allegiance or solemn affirmation.

19) The wording of the Oath of Allegiance shall be 'I, <username>, swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.'

20) The wording of the solemn affirmation shall be 'I, <username>, do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law'.

## Procedures

#### **MP Activity & Voting Reviews**

1) Four weeks after the State Opening of Parliament, and every Four weeks thereafter the Speaker will publish a voting review outlining the turnout of each MP to all Division Lobby votes so far that term excluding amendments.

2) Seats with an attendance strictly less than 60% will be highlighted as under consideration for removal.

3) A highlighted seat which was also highlighted in any previous voting review during the same term will be put up for by-election; normal by-election procedures apply.

4) Seats with an attendance strictly less than 40% in the votes since the previous review will be put up for by-election; normal by-election procedures apply.

5) Parties whose seat(s) were put up for by-election as the result of a voting review are prohibited from participating in the resultant by-election.

6) In exceptional circumstances, the Speaker may choose not to conduct a voting review or not to carry out a by-election, and should inform the House of such intention.

#### **MP Seat Allocation**

1) The Speaker shall allocate each MP a seat number.

2) Party leaders have until the first Division Lobby results are announced at the start of a new term to change the seat number allocated to their MPs.

3) The Speaker shall conduct voting reviews in accordance with the section above.

4) No user may transfer from being the permanent MP for one seat number to being the permanent MP for another seat number in a single day (= time between two daily updates).

5) No seat may undergo more than one change of permanent occupant in a single day (= time between two daily updates).

#### **Party Formation**

1) If wanting to form a party, someone should put a thread in the Model House of Commons forum spelling out their main principles.

2) Interested people should PM the Speaker and proposer.

3) In deciding whether to allow a party to form, the Speaker should be primarily mindful of the support for the party. The Speaker may want to consider other factors, such as whether those voters are active House of Commons members and whether or not the proposed party fills an ideological niche in the structure of the game.

#### **Government**

1) The Speaker shall ask the party or coalition that fulfils the criteria in article 6.1 of the MHoC Constitution to form the Government.

2) One of the party leaders, as agreed by all coalition parties, becomes Prime Minister.

3) The Government shall consist of a Prime Minister, ministers with responsibility for the Treasury, Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and any number of further Cabinet or ministerial positions.

4) If the Prime Minister initially elected following a general election resigns or is removed, and there is any contention within the Government as to the appointment of a permanent replacement, the Speaker shall hold a poll of Government MPs to resolve this. If the Government has not submitted in advance a system by which a temporary replacement will be appointed, the Speaker will make a decision in case of contention as to who an Acting Prime Minister will be.

5) Responsibility for the appointment of all other
ministerial positions ultimately resides with the Prime Minister, though the Speaker or moderation team may prohibit a member from holding ministerial office.

#### **Opposition Formation**

1) The Speaker shall ask the Party Leader of the party that fulfils the criteria in article 7.1 of the MHoC Constitution to form an Opposition.

2) The Opposition shall consist of a Leader of the Opposition and any number of Shadow Cabinet or shadow ministerial positions.

#### **Coalition Breakup**

1) If a party providing more than three seats to a coalition government withdraws from the coalition leaving the Government without an absolute majority, the Government disbands.

a) Parties providing three seats or fewer to a coalition government will not collapse the Government upon withdrawal from the coalition
b) Independent MPs will not collapse the Government upon withdrawal from the coalition
2) Following the dissolution of a coalition government the Speaker shall inform the House of such a dissolution, whereupon:

a) Parties shall have 7 days to form alternative coalitions
b) Provided there is no intervening General Election, the dissolved coalition government is ineligible to form the next Government
3) After the 7 days have passed, the Speaker shall ask the Party Leader(s) of the party or coalition that satisfy article 6.1 of the Constitution to form a government, and

4) They shall ask the Party Leader(s) of the party or coalition that satisfy article 7.1 of the Constitution to form the Official Opposition.

5) A General Election shall be called, using the applicable procedures, if:

a) A Government that satisfies article 6.1 of the MHoC Constitution cannot be formed, or
b) This is the second Government collapse of the parliamentary term.
#### **Privy Council**

1) The Privy Council is made up of all past and present Cabinet ministers, Leaders of the Opposition, Speakers and Deputy Speakers.

2) Privy Counsellors are entitled The Right Honourable.

## Item Procedure

1) This section covers the procedures for bills, motions, ministerial reports and amendments. The procedures for petitions and statements are given in those relevant sections.

2) A maximum of one government bill, one non-government bill, one motion, one ministerial report and one amendment per day may be published, excluding joke items.

3) Each item will be assigned a number, this number will continue throughout the bill from reading to voting, a bill under discussion will be denoted as Bxxx, a motion as Mxxx, a ministerial report as Rxxx and an amendment as Axxx.

4) Each item can undergo a maximum of 3 readings:
 i) First reading – two days minimum, six days maximum (with an additional 48-hour extension if requested)
 ii) Second reading – one day minimum, four days maximum (with an additional 24-hour extension if requested)
 iii) Third reading – one day minimum, three days maximum

5) After each reading, the item is put into cessation for up to 7 days, unless the proposer has asked for it to go to a new reading or to vote.

6) An item can be withdrawn at any point. Once an item has been withdrawn it cannot be re-submitted, submitted for a further reading or sent to vote during the same term.

7) Joke items may not be sent to vote. Items are considered to be joke items if the Speaker rules them to be joke items, or if the proposer declares them to be joke items on initial submission.

8) Bills, motions and amendments may be sent to vote by the proposer at any point, provided the minimum time for the relevant reading has elapsed.

9) Ministerial reports may only be sent to vote during their cessation period, in line with the provisions in the relevant section.

10) Votes on all items last four days. Votes on bills, motions and ministerial reports are public, and count towards MP turnout for voting reviews. Votes on amendments are private, and do not count towards MP turnout.

11) If the proposer of an item has been temporarily or permanently banned from the community and/or MHoC, or they have deleted their account, any of their pending items which have not been designated as a 'joke item' will automatically be sent to division by the speaker.

a) The speaker must send the latest reading of that item to division within its cessation period.
b) If the item has a seconder, that individual will assume responsibility for either withdrawing the item, or sending it to division without further amendment.
1) The seconder will be the individual or party listed immediately after the primary author of the item.
2) If the seconder is a party, the party leader will assume the responsibility of the seconder.
## Bills

1) Acts of Parliament or EU laws passed in real life will apply to the Model House of Commons, so long as they do not contradict bills passed in this House. Legislation passed here always takes precedence over legislation passed in real life. This House may act as the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, Northern Ireland Assembly or any English devolved regional assembly in passing legislation on devolved issues relating to those constituent parts of the country. Powers may of course be transferred between the House of Commons and devolved institutions by means of appropriate legislation.

2) Party Leaders or members (submitting private members bills) will send the bill to the Speaker.

3) The Speaker will acknowledge they have received the bill and post the bill title and post the date the bill will go up for discussion in the Hansard.

4) The Speaker will then post the bill in the Model House of Commons forum on the day a bill is to go up for discussion (as stated in the Hansard).

5) The Speaker will then PM all members to inform them that a new bill is up for discussion.

6) The speaker will be responsible for posting the final bill in the Division Lobby and sending a PM round to the MPs to inform them of a vote.

#### **Bill Formatting**

1) State first whether the bill is a Private Members Bill, or whether it is a Bill being proposed by the Party (if the latter is the case then it must be submitted by a member or members who have been delegated by their party).

2) Each bill should contain the following:

**Short Title**

Just to give the general jist of the bill, and make it easy
to pay reference to, reduce to full title (below) to something less wordy. Make it short and simple.

*Example:*

**Education Reform Bill 2006**

**Title of the bill**

Brief (but full) description of the bill, preferably in one
sentence. Expand slightly on the short title, and make sure the Title gets across briefly the nature of the bill.

*Example:*

A bill that makes the studying of History, compulsory in all
state schools up to and including Key Stage Four.

**Enacting words**

All bills should start with the enacting words as follows:

**"BE IT ENACTED by The Queen's [King's] most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-"**

**Content**

Do this however you like, there is no word limit, and you may bullet-list, paragraph, do whatever you like. Just make it simple and in plain English. No multi-coloured text, different sizes or fonts will be carried over, though.

The bill should also be in a “field” in this field must be included the bill name and party/private member submitting the bill, the way you put your bill in a field is as follows:

[field=Bill name (party/private member name)] Bill content goes here [/field]

#### Bill Summary Paragraph

All bills should provide an explanatory paragraph that outlines the aim of the legislation and a basic rationale for why it is necessary. Optionally, further points that could be used to justify the legislation can be entered here. To keep the bill tidy, the notes section
should be wrapped with a spoiler tag as follows:

[SPOILER]Summary Paragraph and additional notes goes here[/SPOILER][/QUOTE]

## Motions

1) Motions are used to debate a statement, as opposed to bills which are detailed and change law.

2) Party Leaders or members (submitting private members bills) will send the statement to the Speaker.

3) The Speaker will acknowledge they have received the motion and post the motion title and the date the motion will go up for
discussion in the Hansard.

4) The speaker will then post the motion in the Model House of Commons forum on the day a motion is to go up for discussion (as stated in the Hansard).

5) The speaker will then PM all MPs to inform them that a new motion is up for discussion.

6) The Speaker will be responsible for posting the final motion in the Division lobby and sending a PM round to the MPs to inform them of a vote.

## Petitions

1) Registered members of The Student Room (barring MPs and The Speaker) may post a petition in the Model House of Commons forum. Alternatively registered members of The Student Room (barring MPs and The Speaker) may send the petition directly to the speaker in order to submit it anonymously.

2) A petition must call upon either the TSR Government or the House as a whole to do something which can be implemented through legislation.

3) Petitions do not require seconders and may be debated by any member of The Student Room except The Speaker.

4) The Speaker may remove petitions which do not meet the criteria in 1.2 or are duplicates of petitions already posted.

5) The Speaker will format petitions appropriately if required.

6) The Speaker will send a message to MPs to inform them of a new petition.

7) The Speaker will put petitions to vote in the Division Lobby after 4 days' discussion unless legislation (whether a Bill or Statement of Intent) which would validly enact the content of the petition has been proposed since the petition came before the House.

8) Petitions pass if more MPs vote Aye than No.

9.1) If a petition which calls upon the TSR Government do something is passed, the Prime Minister or responsible Minister will make a statement to the House within 7 days of its passing to outline their intentions on fulfilling the petition through legislation.
9.2) A further statement will be required if a bill fulfilling the petition is not brought before the House within 3 weeks of the first statement (not including when the House isn’t sitting).
9.3) If a petition which calls upon the House to do something is passed, The Speaker will appeal to the House for a coalition, party or MP to fulfil the petition.
10) The Speaker will create and maintain a list of petitions submitted to the House.

11) If by the judgement of the Speaker, the petitions system becomes unmanageable, he may impose restrictions as he sees fit in order to allow petitions to proceed in an orderly way.

12) Joke Petitions may not enter division. A petition shall be considered a joke petition if the proposer of the petition or the Speaker of the House determines it to be submitted without serious political intent.

## Referendums

1) Referendums should relate to real life constitutional matters.

2) Referendums will have to be approved by the Speaker and Community Team before taking place.

3) A thread will be posted in Current Affairs along with a poll posing the question to the members of TSR.

4) All TSR members with more than 100 posts and 3 months experience may vote.

5) Referendums will pass if more votes are cast in favour than against (excluding abstentions), but a bill may stipulate a higher percentage.

6) Voting for a referendum will last 4 days.

7) No more than 1 referendum may be called in a single term of parliament.

i) The Speaker may reject a referendum on the grounds that it is significantly similar to a previous referendum that has been held within the last three parliamentary terms (including the current term).
8) The Model House of Commons may not overturn a decision made in a referendum that has taken place within the last three parliamentary terms (including the current term), with the exception that TSR shall remain a member of the EU only if and insofar as the UK in real life does.

9) The Speaker will be the returning officer during a referendum.

10) Referendum Petitions –

i) can be submitted by a party, an MP or a non-MP when seconded by an MP.
ii) shall be in the following format: "We the undersigned call for a referendum on..... with the question......"
iii) will follow the procedure of normal petitions.
## Amendments

1) Amendments are to change the Guiding Document and the MHoC Constitution.

2) To change the MHoC Constitution you will need to highlight what you want to be changed using its numerical system.

3) Additions can be made by continuing the number pattern, and removals can be made and the numbers listed will change.

4) Any major changes being made must contain exact details to ensure there is no confusion.

5) Please make it clear what needs to be changed by saying “remove x” and “replace with y”.

6) The same time scale procedures as bills apply

7) Any amendments proposed will have a number associated
with them and will be Axx throughout the entire process.

8) The Speaker will reject an amendment if it has a practical effect which is substantially the same as a previous amendment submitted in the term which has been voted on.

## Ministerial Reports

1) Should a minister wish to change government policy using their executive powers, they must do so by submitting a Ministerial Report detailing the changes they wish to make.

2) Ministerial Reports may cover one aspect of the minister’s portfolio, or a wider overview of it. The Chancellor of the Exchequer may produce one Budget Report per term, which shall be treated as any other Ministerial Report.

3) The nature of policy-making means some policies included within a Ministerial Report may fall outside executive powers. The Speaker will identify any such policies, and they cannot be implemented unless an appropriate bill is passed.

4) A Ministerial Report may be sent to vote at any point during its cessation period. The people who may do so are the relevant minister, the Prime Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition.

5) Should a Ministerial Report not be sent to vote, it will pass at the end of its cessation period.

6) Any Ministerial Report that does not pass its vote is deemed to have failed, and the policies set out within it will not be implemented.

7) The Leader of the Opposition may at any point during the debate or cessation period 'wave through' a ministerial report, and indicate that they do not wish to call a vote. They can do this by informing the Speaker, who will in turn inform the Government of this decision. The report may then pass without a vote at the start of its cessation period, or at the next update if the report is already in cessation, provided the Government confirm they are content for this to take place.

## Statements

1) Any user may make a formal statement to the House with the permission of the Speaker.

2) Statements will be debated for six days.

3) No votes may be taken on statements, and they will not directly alter government policy.

## Voting

1) Each bill going to vote will have the question “Should this bill be passed into law?”

2) Each amendment going to vote should have the question “Should this amendment be passed into the MHoC Constitution (and/or) Guidance Document?

3) Each motion going to vote will have the question “Do you agree with this motion?”

4) Each petition going to vote will have the question “Do you support this petition?"

5) Each treaty going to vote will have the question: "Should this treaty be ratified by this House?"

6) Each statement of intent going to vote will have the question “Should this statement of intent be approved?”

7) Voting on bills, amendments, motions and petitions should have the following 3 options:

i) As many as are of that opinion, Aye
ii) On the contrary, No
iii) Abstain
8) Voting should always last for 4 days.

9)Voting on bills, motion, treaties, petitions and statements of intent should be made public.

10) Voting on Amendments should remain secret.

## Motions of No Confidence

#### **Motions of No Confidence against the Government**

1) A motion of no confidence can be called against the Government at any point during a term of governance, subject to the conditions outlined in the Constitution.

2) The Speaker will post the Motion of No Confidence and allow a 3-day discussion where both sides may argue their side.

3) After the 3-day discussion a 4-day private poll will be opened in the Division Lobby to be voted on by all MPs.

4) If the result of the poll is in favour of the Motion of No Confidence, then a period of 7 days shall be allowed for other parties to form a new government (following the usual coalition formation procedures).

5) If the result of the poll does not favour the Motion of No Confidence then usual business will resume in the House of Commons.

6) The result is determined by a simple majority.

#### **Motions of No Confidence against a Party Leader**

1) A motion of no confidence can be called against a Party Leader by any member of the party, seconded by at least one other party member.

2) Parties can run motions of no confidence themselves or request the Speaker to run them.

3) Parties may have their own procedures for motions of no confidence, but may not contradict clause 1 this section. Where this is the case then clause 4 of this section is applicable.

4) Where parties do not already have their own procedure in place, motions of no confidence will proceed as follows: the returning officer will create a thread with the reasons for the Motion of No Confidence and add a 4-day private poll to decide the future of the Party Leader.

5) If the result of the poll is in favour of the Motion of No Confidence, the Party Leader will be removed from power and the Deputy Leader will assume the position of Acting Leader. The returning officer will then run a party leadership election.

6) Clause 4 of this section is also applicable where the Speaker deems the terms of the party motions of no confidence procedure as unduly arduous, i.e. the restrictions are such that calling a motion of no confidence in the Party Leader is so difficult as to be almost impossible.

7) The result is determined by a simple majority.

#### **Motion of no Confidence against the Speaker / Deputy Speaker**

1) A motion of no confidence can be called against the Speaker or Deputy Speaker(s) at any point, subject to the conditions outlined in the Constitution.

2) The person proposing the Motion of No Confidence must then submit the motion to the Speaker (if against the Deputy Speaker) or the Deputy Speaker (if against the Speaker).

3) The Speaker will then include the Motion of No Confidence in the daily update.

4) There will be a period of 3 - 4 days where the members of the House can ask questions to both the member calling the Motion of No Confidence and the member subject to the Motion of No Confidence.

5) If the Speaker (or Deputy Speaker) does not want to oversee the Motion of No Confidence, they can appoint a moderator to oversee the Motion of No Confidence.

6) After the debating has finished, the Speaker/Deputy Speaker/appointed moderator will set up a 4-day private poll in the Division Lobby where the MPs may vote on the future of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker.

7) If the results are in favour of the Motion of No Confidence, the defeated member of the speakership team will remain in post while the other member of the team automatically starts an election to find their replacement, which either they or an appointed moderator will oversee. Once the election is concluded, the newly-elected member replaces the defeated member of the speakership team.

8) If the results are not in favour of the Motion of No Confidence then the member subject to the Motion of No Confidence will return to their duties but are expected to make a formal statement to the House.

9) The result is determined by a simple majority.

## Polling

1) All polls created in the MHoC, unless created by a Moderator or Community Team member, will need to be authorised by the Speaker or Deputy Speaker beforehand.

2) Any polls created without authorisation may be locked or deleted.

3) A poll may be created without the Speaker’s permission if it has cross-party support from every party leader, or at least 2 MP’s from every party, supporting it.

4) There may be a maximum of 3 non-MHoC related polls created per term.

#### **Polling Notes**

1) "MHoC-related" applies to polls which affect the running of the MHoC.

2) This does not extend to separate party subforums.

## Question Sessions

1) Prime Minister's Questions can take place on any day by mutual agreement of the Prime Minister and Speaker, having consulted the Leader of the Opposition.

2) The Speaker will create a Prime Minister’s Questions thread in which people may ask the Prime Minister questions. These should, at least roughly, relate to government actions, policies, aims or ideals. The Prime Minister should endeavour to be online as much as possible in the 48 hours after the update on that day.

3) Members have a limit as to how many questions they can ask the Prime Minister.

i) The Leader of the Opposition may ask six questions, which they may divide up between new and follow-up questions as they wish.

ii) Leaders of other parties may ask three questions, which they may divide up between new and follow-up questions as they wish.

iii) MPs may ask two questions, plus two follow-up questions.

iv) Ordinary users may ask one question with one follow-up.

4) The Speaker will close the thread 48 hours after opening it, unless the Prime Minister requests them to keep it open a little longer.

5) The Prime Minister may additionally nominate other government ministers to take Ministerial Questions, subject to the agreement of the Speaker. This will be run like Prime Minister’s questions, but the Shadow Secretary will be treated like the Leader of the Opposition.