According to new reports, Members of Parliament’s working hours have reached a 25-year low under the supervision of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Parliamentary Critique
Concerns have sparked over a so-called “Zombie Parliament,” which implies that MPs aren’t bothering to turn up to the benches for important discussions.
Reports claim that working hours for Members of Parliament in the House of Commons have reached a 25-year low under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government.
The average duration of a sitting day in the House of Commons during the present parliamentary session stands at 7 hours and 9 minutes.
Decline in Hours Since New Labour
The new hours mark a notable decrease compared to the average duration observed since 1997 when New Labour assumed power. Observations indicate that parliamentary sittings are concluding earlier than usual, with instances of adjournment from the Speaker occurring hours ahead of the customary schedule.
Despite these revelations, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt stressed how the main matter of importance is whether the MPs are working hard in their constituencies rather than in the Houses of Commons.
Hunt insisted that “the most important thing is how hard MPs are working in their constituencies,” before claiming that, from his experience, MPs have never worked harder.
Hunt claimed that “certainly when it comes to Conservative MPs, I’ve never seen a Parliament where Conservative MPs have worked harder than this Parliament.”
Prime Minister Defends Workrate
Despite the Prime Minister declaring in a statement that his government were focusing their days on “a packed legislative agenda,” some recent days in the House of Commons have lasted less than 4.5 hours.
Confidence in the Prime Minister and his Party has reached significant lows in recent weeks as shown by a recent Ipsos poll that revealed a landslide Labour victory is on the cards.
The Ipsos poss revealed that only 20% of the public would vote for the Conservatives if the general election was called this month. Questions among Tory MPs have been raised about the Party’s confidence in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his ability to fight off a predicted Labour landslide.
Potential Care-Taker Prime Minister
Recent reports declared that discussions had been in place by certain Tory politicians to discuss a potential caretaker Prime Minister as a replacement for Sunak before the election.
Penny Mordaunt was recently asked by the Shadow Leader of the House about the lack of motivation from Conservative MPs to pass new legislation in the House of Commons.
Shadow Leader of the House, Lucy Powell, said: “Despite the King’s Speech being only a few months ago, the government seem to be running scared from their own legislative programme.”
Powell went on to ask Mordaunt, “Where have all their flagship Bills gone?” to which Mordaunt flipped the question onto Labour’s side.
Mordaunt Flips the Coin
When asked about the government’s “energy” towards passing new legislation, Mordaunt replied, “I am afraid that it is the Opposition (Labour) who are the zombies in this Chamber.”
In response to Powell’s inquiries, Penny Mordaunt dismissed allegations of legislative inertia, asserting that the government remains committed to its legislative program.
According to Mordaunt, the Opposition’s lack of engagement and opposition during parliamentary proceedings has led to early adjournments, not the Conservatives.
With the blame of a “Zombie Parliament” being thrown from one party to the other, the only question the public wants to know is when will MPs get back on their benches.
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