What is "the whip" in politics?

[Dilbertian]

What does it mean? Also "three line whip" and "losing the whip", what do these mean?

ALL Mumsnet threads are opportunities for the internet police to berate people with their special made up thread rules.... didn't you know?

seriously OP thanks for starting the thread, it's a good discussion point!

Don't MPs have to turn up to vote on every thing that is debated, whether or not there join in the debate?

No they don't. There are lots of other things happening at the same time as debates like committee meetings. These will carry on during one and two line whip debates.

MPs might also be elsewhere attending conferences or be in their constituencies.

A three line whip means that turning up to vote overlies all these other things.

Is the assumption that MPs will vote according to the party line

Yes. They are elected on a party ticket to do just that.

Thank you, OP, for starting this thread, I had no idea about it all either. Also, thank you to the PP who explained the question "how can it be democratic if it's mandatory?" It's been a very enlightening read.

Quite often this can mean MPs voting against their own personal feelings for the good of the party and that where having PMs who are extreme right or left and having a whip can cause damage to a country.

Perfect example is Rishi voted for fracking last week and banned it again yesterday.

😂😂

I only knew vaguely the meaning behind "whips" but not the specific details.

Can a PM force a three line whip on something that wasn't in their government manifesto but had happened in the interim?

Thinking COVID as an example - that obviously happened after Boris was elected so nothing about it would have been in his election promises, could he have forced a three line whip vote on a lockdown? Or would that have not been possible as it wasn't in the manifesto when he was elected?

You have to have a whipping system of some sort to protect democracy. Constituents elect an MP on the basis of a party manifesto ( generally speaking) and so you can’t have an MP going off piste on important manifesto issues.

How frequently do three line whips happen? Is it every week, once in a blue moon?

Yes they can and do. The manifesto is the essential justification for the whipping system but it's not the only thing it's used for. In particular the fracking vote was heavily whipped by the Conservatives despite arguably being the opposite to their manifesto commitment (still don't really understand what Truss was thinking of - must go and read other thread).

Was the vote on fracking a three line whip, obliging him to vote according to the then PM's direction, whereas now he's PM he can vote more freely? Does the whip affect all MPs equally?

Does a three line whip happen frequently? Or is it reserved for the most pivotal tasks? I think I'd get annoyed at constantly being told how to vote! Shouldn't your vote be for your constituents, not party?

It’s whenever an issue comes up that is important to the Government and must get through ( such as a manifesto promise) and may not otherwise. I think it’s relatively rare when you have a large majority but more frequent when you don’t?
The whips hopefully know what their MP ‘s think about issues generally and so know who is likely to rebel ( or not)
With a huge majority most votes get through without a 3 line whip but on closer votes it might not

@elephantseal you do realise that not everybody on here grew up in the UK, right? Not everyone necessarily had the same exposure to information that you did.

Jesus. On this thread of 64 posts, 30 are berating me for my posts or are related to my post.

OK, I get it. There's no need for the pile-on. 🙄

For the curious and my fellow politics nerds, I highly recommend the excellent play This House, about life in the Whips offices during the political turmoil of rhe 1970s. Available on demand for a ten pound one month subscription to National Theatre at Home.
www.ntathome.com/this-house?webSyncID=17a97ba4-8ed9-97c7-a038-6647a431edab&sessionGUID=63c2b051-2c88-bd9c-1e08-0be0d8586dde

Heaven forbid someone takes the opportunity to educate themselves and start a discussion! Fair play to the poster who called them out for their snide comment 🤣

My husband has a degree in political anthropology and people here have explained the whip in a much easier to understand way than he does! Sometimes you need people to describe things in a way that clicks and that’s easier with lots of people chipping in.

I love the fact that I’ve learnt something about the whip - I didn’t know what it meant to lose the whip but conversely did know it came from “whipper-in” and knew MPs would be sanctioned for going against it, but didn’t know that votes were underlined according to how MPs can vote

my favourite bit was watching@elephantseal get their arse handed to them. Bravo vipers

Here's your arse @elephantseal 😂

🤣🤣🤣

my favourite bit was watching@elephantseal get their arse handed to them. Bravo vipers

How lovely. Well done, you. How kind 🙄

Well I've learnt something from this thread so thank you. I hear the terms on the news enough for them to make sense in context, but if someone asked me for a definition of them all like the first reply I couldn't have answered, so thanks.

Don’t respond to the threads that don’t interest you. Find other means to let out your difficult emotions in passive aggressive ways.

I know a lot about politics and still found this thread interesting despite @elephantseal sneering.

Good question OP!

You can't really expect kindness when your first response was so unkind.