Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Environment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 27 March 1991.
Tim Yeo
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Environment)
12:00,
27 March 1991
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Following our introduction of a ring-fenced housing revenue account last April, there is an enormous incentive for authorities to be efficient. I am glad to say that the vast Majority of Conservative councils are responding extremely well.
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.
