Hidden in Plain Sight: The Impact of Party Organisation in Legislatures

Lord Norton of Louth, Philip

Abstract

Legislators operate in different spaces within a legislative estate. The public and scholarly focus is on behaviour in formal space – the chamber and committee rooms, where formal decisions are taken – but the utilization of informal and party (and now virtual) space can and does have consequences for legislative outcomes as well as the future of political leaders. This article addresses behaviour in party space and its consequences. Drawing on anthropological and archival research, it utilizes a case study, identifying the consequences of the Conservative 1922 Committee in the British House of Commons. The body, constituting Conservative private members, has a distinctive history, but its consequences, or functions, inherent or developed over time, provide a framework for comparative analysis and emphasize the importance of exploring how legislators use space beyond that of the formal arena of the chamber and committee rooms.

Citation

Lord Norton of Louth, P. (2024). Hidden in Plain Sight: The Impact of Party Organisation in Legislatures. Journal of international and comparative law, 11(1), 103-120

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 1, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jun 14, 2024
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 7, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 2, 2025
• Journal: The Journal of International and Comparative Law
• Print ISSN: 2313-3775
• Publisher: Sweet and Maxwell
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 103-120
• Keywords: British Parliament; Formal space; Informal space; Legislatures; MPs; 1922 Committee; Parliamentary parties; Party groups; Party space
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4705715
• Publisher URL: https://www.jicl.org.uk/journal/june-2024/hidden-in-plain-sight-the-impact-of-party-organisation-in-legislatures