Most of the Mps represent one of the main political parties. The Government is usually formed by the party that wins the majority number of seats in the General Elections. The party that wind the second highest number of votes become the Opposition Party. In case a MP does not belong to any political party, he is known as an independent candidate. The Members of the House of Lords are organized in a similar basis like that of the Members of the House of Commons but in a different manner whatsoever. The Members of the Lords do not belong to any particular constituency and many are not even the Members of any political party. Those Member of the House of Lords, who do not belong to any political party are known as Crossbenchers or Independent Peers. There are also a a small number of members who are not attached with any of the main political groups.
The Opposition Parties
The Opposition party usually aim to:
Contribute to the development of policy and legislation through constructive criticism
Disagree and oppose Government proposals
Try to win the next General Election by highlighting their own policies.
Seats of the MPs in the House of Commons
In the House of Commons, MPs of the same party tend to sit together. The Government and the Opposition face each other. The Speaker sits to the left of the Government. The Speaker sits to the right of the Opposition and the other MPs
Frontbenchers and backbenchers
Both, in the House of Commons as well as in the House of Lords, the Government Ministers and the Opposition shadow ministers sit on the front benches and are known as the “frontbenchers” MPs and Ministers who do not hold any ministerial positions sit towards the back of the Chamber and are known as “Backbenchers”.
