Debates in the House of Commons

In the Commons, the Speaker (or chair) plays a crucial role in debates: MPs may only speak in a debate if called by the Speaker, or deputy speaker, to do so. The Speaker is responsible for making sure that order is maintained in the Chamber and that the rules, conventions and courtesies of debate are followed there. The most important of these conventions are set out for MPs by the Speaker in guidance that is updated periodically. 

Read the Speaker’s latest Guide to the rules of behaviour and courtesies of the House of Commons. 

What happens in a Commons debate? 

For a debate to take place, a motion must be put the House: this takes the form of a proposal with which the House can either agree or disagree. A motion for debate can be very brief - such as ‘That the bill be read a second time.’  - or much longer, but it must be expressed in a single sentence and follow a standard format.

At the start of a debate, the Speaker calls the MP responsible for tabling (submitting) the motion (or any minister for a government motion) to move it, often by making an opening speech. Once this has been done, the Speaker proposes the question to the House by saying “The question is as on the Order Paper”. This opens the debate and a spokesperson for the opposing side is usually called to speak next.  

In the Commons, there is no advance list of MPs who will take part in a debate and the order in which MPs are called is for the Speaker to decide. 

The Speaker is impartial in debates and, where possible, ensures that opportunities to speak are balanced, with MPs from each side of the House being called in turn. Commons debates can be lively, with speeches often punctuated by MPs attempting to interject to agree with or challenge what is being said. 

At the end of its allocated time, or when everyone wishing to speak has spoken, the Speaker ‘puts the question’. This asks the House to decide—through a vote, if necessary—on the motion.

Read more about the Speaker and the Chamber.

Timing of debates  

On a typical sitting day, up to six hours can be devoted to debating in the Commons Chamber: the time may be taken up by one long debate or divided into two three-hour (half-day) debates or a series of 60- or 90-minute debates. 

Debates can begin only after oral questions and any urgent questions or statements have been dealt with. They must normally end at the moment of interruption – which is at a fixed time on each day of the week. If urgent questions or statements take place on that day, the scheduled debates will start later and their total time may be reduced, unless a business motion is agreed allowing proceedings to continue after the moment of interruption. 

Find out more about the moment of interruption in the MPs’ Guide to Procedure. 

The government sets time limits for debates on its own business, while time allocations for some types of business are set out in the standing orders of the House.  

You can read the House of Commons standing orders online or learn more about Parliamentary sittings and sessions. 

More information about the daily business in Parliament is given at: Daily business.

The MPs’ Guide to Procedure sets out a Typical day in the Chamber.

Types of debates in the House of Commons  

Government debates 

The House’s standing orders allow the government of the day to set the agenda on most sitting days in the Commons. This means that the bulk of the House’s time is spent debating, and voting on, government priorities: legislation and policies which require the agreement of the House. 

Government-led debates include high-profile events such as the debate on the King’s Speech (Debate on the Address) and on the Budget, as well as the debates on government bills at all stages. These debates take place on substantive motions and often attract a ‘three-line whip’ which means that MPs from the governing party are expected to attend and vote, where possible.  

Find out more about the party whips: Whips 

Government debates are often opened by a senior, or Cabinet, minister whose role is to make the government’s case for their proposal and encourage the House to support it. A shadow minister from the official opposition frontbench is then called to put forward the opposition’s view of the proposal. 

The Speaker then calls other MPs to speak in turn from alternate sides of the House. A spokesperson from the second largest opposition party and the chair of the relevant select committee will be called to speak at an early stage.  

To ensure that a range of perspectives is heard during longer debates, the Speaker calls MPs representing seats in the different countries and regions of the UK, in both rural and metropolitan areas, and MPs from minor parties. Both newly elected and long-serving MPs will be heard as well as MPs of different ethnicities, genders and ages. 

Towards the end, the Speaker will again call a spokesperson from the official opposition and then a government minister to make their closing arguments. 

At the end of a debate on a substantive motion the House is asked to vote for or against the motion, initially by shouting out ‘Aye’ or ‘No’. If the result is unclear from the ‘voices’, the decision is determined by a ‘division of the House’, where MPs file in person through the Aye or No lobbies and their votes are recorded and counted. See more about voting: About divisions in Parliament.

If an amendment to the government’s motion has been selected for a vote by the Speaker, the amendment is voted on first so that, if it is successful, the amended version of the text becomes the main question that is put to the House. 

Opposition day debates 

Opposition days allow the official opposition to table their own substantive motion for debate and ‘divide the House’ on a topic of their choice. 

Twenty days in each parliamentary year are set aside for opposition days, up to three of which are, by convention, offered to the second largest opposition party. You can see the current composition of the House of Commons by party at: State of the parties .

Opposition day motions often express a lengthy opinion that can run to hundreds of words. However, the government may table their own amendment to the motion which, if successful, would replace most of the opposition’s text with their own. For this reason, on these days the opposition motion is put to the House first, before the government’s proposed amendment to it, in a reverse of the normal practice. 

You can see the topics and the outcome of all opposition day debates since 1992 in the House of Commons Library briefing: Opposition day debates in the House of Commons since 1992 

Read more about the procedure for opposition days in the MPs' Guide to Procedure.

General debates 

Most general debates are led by backbench MPs. They take place throughout the week in the Westminster Hall debating chamber, where divisions of the House are not possible, and on Thursdays in the Chamber.  

A wide range of topics is raised and brought to the attention of the government by these debates: they are one of the main ways in which MPs can represent the interests and concerns of their constituents in Parliament. 

General debates in the chamber are often chaired by a deputy speaker; in Westminster Hall they are chaired by a member of the Panel of Chairs. 

If there is high demand, the government will occasionally make its own time available for a general debate in the main Chamber, but regular time on Thursdays is allocated there to debates that have been scheduled by the Backbench Business Committee and these are often on a neutral motion.  

Backbench Business Committee debates 

The Backbench Business Committee meets each Tuesday, when the House is sitting, to hear representations from MPs who wish to secure time for a debate on a specific topic. 

Topics raised might be inspired by a particular national campaign, or an issue that is being raised with MPs by their constituents, or an issue affecting a particular region or sector of the economy. Applicants also need to persuade the cross-party committee that there is sufficient interest in their topic from MPs across the House.  

The committee can allocate debate slots lasting either 90 minutes or three hours, in Westminster Hall or the Chamber. The debates are typically on a general motion. If a debate on a substantive motion is scheduled by the Backbench Business Committee, it must take place in the main Commons Chamber as divisions are not possible in Westminster Hall.  

Read more about how the Backbench Business Committee works.

Backbench Business Committee debates are normally opened by one of the MPs who secured the debate. Other backbench MPs are then called in turn to share their views, or their constituents’ experiences of the issue; they may try to impress upon the minister that some action should be taken in the hope of securing a commitment from them. A government minister then responds to the points that have been raised during the debate and sets out the government’s position.  

You can find transcripts of MPs’ representations to the Backbench Business Committee on the committee’s publications page.

See a full list of subjects debated during backbench time in the last session of Parliament.

Read more about the procedure for Backbench Business Committee debates in the MPs' Guide to Procedure.

Westminster Hall debates on Tuesdays and Wednesdays   

MPs can apply to hold a 30, 60 or 90-minute general debate in Westminster Hall on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Application forms are submitted by the end of Monday for a debate two weeks later and the successful candidates are drawn by ballot. 

There are normally nine Westminster Hall debate slots per week that are allocated in this way: MPs may use a short half-hour debate to raise a specific local issue or an individual case directly with a minister, while a 90-minute debate can be used to raise a broader national or regional topic allowing other MPs to contribute before the minister replies. 

You can find the topics of Westminster Hall debates that have been scheduled in advance on the parliamentary calendar at: What's on and in the future business section of the daily Order Paper. 

Read more about what happens in a Westminster Hall debate. 

Westminster Hall debates on Thursdays

On Thursdays when the House is sitting,  general debates take place in Westminster Hall for up to three-hours on topics chosen either by the Backbench Business Committee or by the Liaison Committee, who share the time equally across the year. Liaison Committee debates focus on particular select committee reports which they have chosen for debate and are led by the chair (or another member) of the relevant committee.

End of day adjournment debates 

Each sitting day in the Commons ends with a half-hour debate that takes place on the motion: ‘That the House do now adjourn’. By convention, this allows MPs to raise any topic they choose, one-to-one with a minister, in the Chamber before the House rises.  

MPs enter a ballot by Wednesday evening for one of the adjournment debates during the following week. This may be an opportunity to alert the minister to an issue of local concern, or perhaps to follow up on an earlier commitment made by the minister and find out if any action has been taken. 

At the end of the debate, the neutral motion is agreed to without a vote and the House rises for the day.  Find out more about adjournment debates.

Debates on E-petitions  

E-petitions to Parliament that attract 100,000 public signatures or more are automatically considered by the Petitions Committee for a debate in the House of Commons.  

Petitions debates do not change the law or result directly in a change of policy. They can, though, raise awareness of an issue among MPs and the wider public, and help to put pressure on the Government They are designed to ensure that issues which are of wide public concern receive proper attention by MPs. 

E-petition debates take place on Monday afternoons in Westminster Hall. They are held on a neutral motion ‘That the House has considered e-petition[number] relating to [topic]’. 

The debate is opened by a member of the Petitions committee who is expected to present the different sides to the issue. This is followed by speeches from other MPs, usually with a range of viewpoints.  

After backbenchers’ contributions, and those of the two main opposition parties, a government minister responds to the points made. The MP who opened the debate will often have a few minutes at the end to sum up. The neutral motion is then agreed without a vote. 

Ahead of the debate, the petitions committee contacts all those who signed the petition to let them know that the debate is taking place. E-petitions can attract wide public attention to an issue and MPs may be asked by their constituents to attend the debate and speak on their behalf.

You can find information about recent petitions that have been scheduled for debate on the petitions committee pages at: Petitions Committee - News.

Read more about the procedure for debates on e-petitions in the MPs' Guide to Procedure.

Emergency debates   

An emergency debate is one allowed at short notice on a “specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration” [Standing Order No 24] 

Any MP can apply to the Speaker for an emergency debate in the Chamber. Occasionally, the Speaker will agree that the issue is of such urgency that the application can be put to the House. If the House agrees to the application, the debate can take place immediately or, more often, on the next sitting day. It takes precedence over the existing business scheduled for that day. 

Emergency debates take place on a motion ‘That the House has considered the matter of…’ and can last for up to three hours. Find out more about the process for emergency debates in the MPs' Guide to Procedure. 

Details of all applications for emergency debates in the House of Commons since 1979 can be seen at: Emergency debates in the House of Commons since 1979.