The House of Commons is the name of the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada and historically was the name of the lower houses of Ireland, Northern Ireland and North Carolina. Roughly equivalent bodies in other countries which were once British colonies include the United States House of Representatives, the Australian House of Representatives, and the New Zealand House of Representatives.
In the UK and Canada, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the upper house of parliament (the House of Lords and the Senate, respectively). The leader of the majority party in the House of Commons usually becomes the prime minister. Since 2010, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom has had 650 elected members. The House of Commons of Canada has 308 members. The Commons' functions are to consider through debate new laws and changes to existing ones, authorise taxes, and provide scrutiny of the policy and expenditure of the Government. It has the power to give a Government a vote of no confidence.
Read more about House Of Commons: History and Naming, Specific Bodies
Famous quotes containing the words house of, house and/or commons:
“In relation to God, we are like a thief who has burgled the house of a kindly householder and been allowed to keep some of the gold. From the point of view of the lawful owner this gold is a gift; From the point of view of the burglar it is a theft. He must go and give it back. It is the same with our existence. We have stolen a little of God’s being to make it ours. God has made us a gift of it. But we have stolen it. We must return it.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)
“What is the reason that women servants ... have much lower wages than men servants ... when in fact our female house servants work much harder than the male?”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“[I]n Great-Britain it is said that their constitution relies on the house of commons for honesty, and the lords for wisdom; which would be a rational reliance if honesty were to be bought with money, and if wisdom were hereditary.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)