Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Employment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 11 June 1991.
Mr Andrew Rowe
, Kent Mid
12:00,
11 June 1991
My hon. Friend is far too young to remember what it was like when there was last a Labour Government, but can he remind us from his records what was the usual practice for the Majority of 16 and 17-year-olds when the previous Labour Government were in power and what is now on offer for them?
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.
