Part of Oral Answers to Questions — National Finance. – in the House of Commons at on 9 September 1941.
Sir Kingsley Wood
, Woolwich West
The weekly figure for small savings during August, 1941, was 23 per cent, higher than that for August, 1940. Although for some time past it was less than in the early months of this year, the main reasons were, in my view, the holiday season and the fact that, by the end of May, the great Majority of communities had held their War Weapons Weeks. The country will, I believe, realise that the volume of savings must be raised again as quickly as possible and ascend to new high levels.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
