Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Education – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 2 February 1993.
Mr John Patten
, Oxford West and Abingdon
12:00,
2 February 1993
I agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is extremely important that parents, governors and the local community should have the full facts put before them in the most unemotional and non-political form possible. When information is presented in that way and parents have the chance to vote, we see the result in schools in Bradford such as Oakbank, which I can announce today has just become grant maintained. In Blackburn yesterday, a school voted to become grant maintained with a 70 per cent. turnout of parents and a massive Majority in favour of grant-maintained status. Well-informed parents with the information before them should be left to make up their own minds and not be subjected to political bullying and harassment.
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.
