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<\/p>\nCommons Clerk: I Had No Idea How Hard MPs Worked Until I Came To Parliament<\/b>
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As an MP, if you\u2019re not on the government\u2019s frontbench it can be difficult to effect real change.<\/p>\n
Private Members\u2019 Bills and Ten Minute Rule Motions allow those on the backbenches to bring the issues they care passionately about to the Commons chamber – and if they\u2019re lucky, onto the statute book.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the process – aspects of which are based on pot luck – can be complex and PMBs are only ever debated on Fridays, so time is very limited.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where a dedicated team of Commons clerks, part of a vast army of behind-the-scenes staff who keep Parliament ticking over 24 hours a day, come in.<\/p>\n
And after speaking to senior doorkeeper Sarah Binstead-Chapman on her <\/a>unique role, HuffPost UK caught up with Farrah Bhatti, the Clerk of the Private Members\u2019 Bill, to find out what her job entails.\u00a0<\/p>\n As well as a weekly cycle of Ten Minute Rule motions, which allow backbenchers to make their case for potential new bills, Farrah also oversees the notorious ballot process which determines who will get the chance to debate their potential bill in Parliament.\u00a0<\/p>\n She said: \u201cWe are limited to only 13 sitting Fridays in each Parliamentary session – not per year – so when we are in a two-year session like we are in now, it\u2019s technically still only 13 sitting Fridays.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main issue is because time is so limited on Fridays, there\u2019s a real premium on being able to be the first person to present your bill, because if you are first to present it means you\u2019re first to pick your second reading date, which means you\u2019re at the top of the queue, which means you are more likely to get time for debate, which means you\u2019re more likely to get to committee stage and hopefully get through all the later legislative stages.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ballot happens at the start of the session and it\u2019s essentially just like a lottery – the Chairman of Ways and Means Lindsay Hoyle will read out 20 names.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a big goldfish bowl in the office filled with little wooden balls that are numbered.\u00a0 Members come and sign a book, pick their number and put their name next to it, and then the draw happens.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a \u2018who\u2019s going to host the football world cup\u2019 type of draw.<\/p>\n \u201cYou often get someone from the government and opposition whips office attending to see which of their members has come top, and it\u2019s also webcast live<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was tense this time because it was the first time I was overseeing it, but it\u2019s usually over pretty quickly.\u00a0 We have about three people checking the names as the numbers are read out – because obviously you don\u2019t want to mess that up.\u201d<\/p>\n The 20 names drawn are the lucky members who get to present their bills at the start of a Parliamentary session and face the best chance of changing the law.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those who aren\u2019t quite so fortunate face a more arduous task.\u00a0<\/p>\n Farrah said: \u201cSometimes during the ballot week, members sleep overnight to be first in the queue the next day to come in and give notice of presentation of their bills.<\/p>\n This year just gone we had a couple<\/a> of members who camped out on rotation for about four nights, so they were there the whole week to be first in the queue to get going.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a little conference room that we usually use for meetings, but sometimes it\u2019s taken over by those members.<\/p>\n \u201cSo ballot week is just horrendously busy for us.\u201d<\/p>\n A key part of Farrah\u2019s job is helping MPs think of new and inventive ways to move the issues they are passionate about up the agenda.<\/p>\n \u201cI am one of those lucky people who works here who gets to be in a position where I am genuinely helping members do the things they really, really care about,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously they all care about their constituencies and party politics – they wouldn\u2019t be here if they didn\u2019t – but often the things they get really passionate about are the things they have been campaigning on for a long time, or something that has been triggered by a really unexpected event in their constituency.<\/p>\n \u201cThey obviously have the option of applying for time to debate things in the chamber, but where PMBs really make a difference is it\u2019s an opportunity for them to actually set the legislative agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n One MP who utilised the power of Twitter and Facebook to help further his cause was Labour\u2019s Chris Bryant, whose PMB on clamping down on assaults on emergency service workers<\/a> won cross-party support.<\/p>\n Farrah said: \u201cHe used a Twitter poll to engage his constituents and the wider community on what bill he should introduce.<\/p>\n The winning Bill \u2013 in both the Rhondda and the UK \u2013 was the Assaults on \u2014 Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) July 12, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHe put out a shortlist of different bills and the one that won was assaults on emergency workers.\u00a0 That was a bill similar to one introduced by another member in the previous session before the election.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou will often find that with PMBs it takes a few iterations.\u00a0 Someone might do it under the Ten Minute Rule in one session, or it doesn\u2019t get very far because it\u2019s too far down the list on a Friday, but it builds up some enthusiasm among stakeholders and political parties, and someone else might pick it up in the next session.\u201d<\/p>\n Farrah spends most of her time talking to members and their staff to work through the details of proposed bills, including their titles and content.<\/p>\n \u201cI also brief members on the choreography of the chamber, because for Ten Minute Rule bills there can be a lot of bowing involved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI have only been doing this job since April, and since that time I have had both really, really experienced members – former ministers – coming to me, as well as brand new 2017 members about Ten Minute Rule bills or presentation bills.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBoth sets, no matter how experienced they are in more general Parliamentary terms, can still find the PMB procedure quite baffling.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t necessarily make a difference how long you\u2019ve been here.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s still early days, but I think in due course the thing that will be most memorable for me is having supported a member in getting something onto the statute book.\u00a0\u00a0There are a few bills this session that seem likely to make it through.\u201d<\/p>\n Farrah, who studied chemistry at university and worked for a brief period in a laboratory before deciding a career in Parliament was for her, enjoys getting to know each MP and what makes them tick.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ballot members are 20 different backbenchers, they\u2019ve all got completely different personalities,\u201d\u00a0she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many lovely members here and\u00a0 I don\u2019t think anyone should be surprised by that.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOn the whole, they are really, really appreciative of the support that they get from us, and it\u2019s just so nice to be able to work with them on things that they care so much about.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, that\u2019s the most rewarding part of this job.\u00a0 You really get to understand what motivates people, the things that make them feel passionate.\u00a0 I genuinely don\u2019t think I have a favourite MP, because there\u2019s so many I love.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s really hard for anyone out there to actually understand how hard MPs work until you see it up close and personal.\u00a0 I had no idea until I started working here.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLooking at what they have to do is enough to put me off doing it as a career.\u00a0 You have to be so dedicated.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she get frustrated when she sees PMBs she has worked with members on being filibustered?<\/p>\n \u201cI imagine it\u2019s probably more frustrating for the members than it is for me.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t experienced much of it so far in this Parliament.\u00a0 We have had three sitting Fridays so far.<\/p>\n \u201cI can see it from both sides though – on the one hand, the members who are pushing for this legislation to go through are really keen to have a quick debate so they can draw a line under the second reading stage and move on, and give others further down the list the chance to be debated.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the same time, a lot of these bills are making quite substantive changes, and the whole point of Parliamentary procedure is to protect the rights of the minority and level out the playing field.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t comment on the motivations of any individual members.\u00a0 They might appear to be engaged in what others think of as filibustering because actually they really do want to have a proper hearing for the issues being raised in the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n Like many Commons staffers, Farrah\u2019s job involves a regular helping of late nights.\u00a0<\/p>\n She said: \u201cThe public bill office is one of the chamber-supporting procedural offices, so it maintains a staff during the evenings when the house is in session, so we are all on a rota system for the evening shift.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTwo of us are on on any given night until a short period of time after the house rises.\u00a0 It can involve very late nights, and often the first thing you do if you\u2019re working an evening shift is keep an eye out to see how many statements there are going to be, or how many UQs are granted, and work out how much later things are likely to go on.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd when our day ends, our colleagues in the procedural publishing unit are just getting started, because all of the material we\u2019ve been generating during the day in terms of names being added to amendments or new material to bills all has to be published overnight, and papers made ready for the morning sessions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a 24-hour operation.\u201d<\/p>\n For an hour once a fortnight, Farrah and many of her colleagues get to perform a more front-of-house role.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvery two weeks I get to do Table Duty – essentially acting as one of the three clerks that sit in front of the Speaker,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the start of the day it\u2019s always the most senior clerks who will do it, but for the rest of the day we are all on shift.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI get my gown and ribboned collar on\u00a0\u2013 we no longer wear the wigs –\u00a0and sit there for an hour and experience what it\u2019s like to be right in the centre of those debates.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re there to maintain a watching eye on what\u2019s going on, brief the Speaker on any relevant issues, keep records of what\u2019s happening, and if it\u2019s a debate that requires time limits, to operate the clock as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing anyone visiting the chamber for the first time always says is that it\u2019s a lot smaller than it looks on TV, and it feels even smaller when you are sat there at the table and it\u2019s really full of members.\u00a0 That\u2019s quite nerve-wracking.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve done it once solo and that was the most terrifying thing I\u2019ve ever done.\u00a0\u00a0It all went really smoothly, but the first time you\u2019re there as the sole person responsible, in the back of your mind you\u2019re thinking \u2019Oh my goodness, what happens if something terrible happens or you make a mistake?\u201d<\/p>\n Table clerks also get to administer divisions – when MPs vote.<\/p>\n Farrah added: \u201cBecause I sit in the chamber on Fridays when PMBs are being debated – I was in there recently for the Parliamentary Constituencies (Amendment) Bill\u00a0– I was the person stood there with the gown on taking the piece of paper with the result of the vote on it from the tellers to the Speaker.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat was quite fun.\u00a0 Obviously the first thing I did was send the video<\/a> clip round to everyone I knew.\u201d<\/p>\n \nwww.huffingtonpost.co.uk\/entry\/commons-clerk-i-had-no-idea-how-hard-mps-worked-until-i-came-to-parliament_uk_5a392cd4e4b0860bf4ab408f<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Commons Clerk: I Had No Idea How Hard MPs Worked Until I Came To Parliament As an MP, if you\u2019re not on the government\u2019s frontbench it can be difficult to effect real change. Private Members\u2019 Bills and Ten Minute Rule Motions allow those on the backbenches to bring the issues they care passionately about to … Continue reading Commons Clerk: I Had No Idea How Hard MPs Worked Until I Came To Parliament<\/span> ![\"Deputy](\"http:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/5a3bc948150000144449cf14.jpeg\")
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