Explainers
Our explainers cover key subjects relating to our work, setting out key facts and figures and answering the most important questions about government.
Explore our explainers
Whips: what is their role?
Whips are MPs and peers affiliated to a political party appointed to ensure their party colleagues vote according to the leader’s agenda.
2024 Conservative Party leadership contest
The Conservative Party leadership election has begun.
Sewel convention
How the Sewel convention works in practice and what happens when devolved consent is withheld.
What was in the 2024 King’s Speech?
The Labour government has set out 40 bills – this explainer takes a closer look at what they are.
What will Keir Starmer’s first few weeks as prime minister look like?
What will happen in the first few weeks after the general election?
Official opposition
As the second largest party in the House of Commons, the Conservative party is the current official opposition.
Payroll vote
The 'payroll vote' is the body of MPs who hold offices that require them to support the government.
King's Speech
The King's Speech is part of the State Opening of Parliament, the formal beginning of each new session of parliament.
What will Keir Starmer's first 72 hours as prime minister look like?
The first 72 hours as a new prime minister provides an early lesson in how huge the job is and how extensive the demands on their time will be.
How big is the Labour government’s majority?
There are 650 seats in parliament. At the general election, the government won 411 of them.