What is "the whip" in politics?

[Dilbertian]

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

Agree actually.

What a fabulous, informative (and polite) thread.

You might not necessarily get the right answer from Google, but if you ask here chances that even if you het a wrong answer someone will be along to correct it, whereas with Google you left with page after page of results that might or might not be right.

Also, what does it matter? Isn't it a wonderful thing when people ask questions instead of ignoring an issue?

@elephantseal

Mumsnet is a form of google, unfortunately with a side order of human commentary.

I’ve actually googled what the whip is before and I couldn’t find a helpful answer. if people stopped asking questions then the internet would end up just being all old and out of date, like an old encyclopaedia.

This thread has explained it much better than I could find before, with the newsletter explained. Is it a real newsletter, is it an email these days?

I think I got confused before because the whip means different related things. The Whip is a person but the three line whip is not a person. And losing the whip isn’t losing a person.

Me too. I vaguely knew but had no idea if the origin of the word, very interesting.

Thanks @TokyoSushi concise and useful explanation 👍🏽

It's not something I would have googled but good to read when someone else raises it.

Well I've learned something new today. I never would have googled 'what is a whip in politics' or whatever. It's one of those phrases you hear on the news, and as I've managed so far in adult life with never having known what it is, have never felt the need to look it up. Having it explained on here in easy-to-understand terms is great.
So thank you to the OP for starting this thread. There's always a Google Shamer on threads like these.

Any yes, being told how to vote by your superiors, and ostracised if you don't vote that way, is the very opposite of democracy. Shocking.

Thanks for this thread OP. Is the whip changeable, if so how often and how exactly does he 'coerce' other members of the party? What would the punishment be for not adhering to the three line whip orders?

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

My first response wasn't unkind; more sharp, I suppose.

So you think I should expect a pile-on of multiple people all telling me the same thing? Okay then.

No I don't think you deserved a pile on - but I don't think you can comment on other peoples kindness, or lack of, either.

While we are at it
Those of us who use Wikipedia are we contributing to their appeal for funds. It is a genuine not for profit organisation.
I use it much. it is now reliable and as accurate as books are. They also give references to where their facts come from.
Please support it.

The whipping system is really not the opposite of democracy. It upholds democracy. Say you vote in an MP in your local area on the manifesto of a party then when the votes come round he/ she votes according to their own opinions and the opposite of the manifesto you voted for.
That’s not democratic. The MP is the MP on the basis ( generally speaking ) of the winning parties manifesto.
Imagine your local MP voting deciding to vote against a manifesto commitment close to your heart ( and a manifesto commitment that made you voted for him / her) because he/ she does not agree. Are 3 line whips democratic or undemocratic in this scenario?

You might try reading House of Cards by Michael Dobbs (or watch the brilliant U.K. TV original) about a thoroughly evil Chief Whip!

Still a classic!

Of course it was unkind. Being "sharp" is unkind.

Crossing the floor is what confuses me, is that when they switch sides?

Yes, they make a big deal of walking from one side of the House of Commons to the others, hence crossing the floor. It's when they switch from one party to another.

It happens very, very rarely!

I sort of knew what a Whip was, but I agree sometimes Google can give an answer that is too complicated and sometimes it better to be given real life examples to demonstrate.

so this thread has been really useful

Googling MPs and 'what is a whip?' can sometimes yield information your eyes cannot unsee, unfortunately.

🤣🤣

@TokyoSushi thank you so much for such a simple, clear explanation. This is something I’ve been wondering a lot too! I don’t google though, it drags me down a black hole and I never end up with the information I want.

Ah thank you, glad to put my political nerdery to good use!

I think I got confused before because the whip means different related things. The Whip is a person but the three line whip is not a person. And losing the whip isn’t losing a person.

I had this vague idea that The Whip was a person who enforced some sort of party discipline, which in turn meant that a 'three line whip' must be three of these people in a row, herding MPs into the Chamber. By extension, it also meant that ' having the whip removed' was the whip person refusing to have anything to do with you. All a bit playground and unrelated to democratic behaviour. And did not seem to make any sense, either!

And TBH I did not want to Google any combination of MPs and whips

Quite....

Great thread, so nice to just, chat, you know?

Any yes, being told how to vote by your superiors, and ostracised if you don't vote that way, is the very opposite of democracy. Shocking.
Not really. It is the equivalent of getting a job to be the manager of your local Sainsburys and then trying to fill your shelves with Tesco products. You would expect HQ to get a bit upset, wouldn't you?

Don't forget there are 1 and 2 line whips as well, depending on the importance of the vote. A 2 line whip can be missed with the permission of the whips. A 1 line whips is the least important.