Oral Answers to Questions — Scotland – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 27 October 2010.
Mark Menzies
Conservative, Fylde
11:30,
27 October 2010
What discussions he has had with the Deputy prime minister on whether to hold elections to the Scottish Parliament on the same day as the proposed UK General Election in 2015.
David Mundell
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
The Government have made it clear that they will work with all the devolved Administrations and legislatures to consider the issues raised by the coincidence of elections in 2015.
Mark Menzies
Conservative, Fylde
Does the Minister agree that when we get to the 2015 elections the new equal-sized boundaries will ensure a far fairer result than those held under the current set-up?
David Mundell
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
Yes, I agree with my hon. Friend, and I am sure that he will welcome, as I do, the protection of important constituencies in Scotland such as Orkney and Shetland, and the Western Isles.
Russell Brown
Shadow Minister (Defence)
I recognise that the Minister has read the Gould report. Is he now saying that he disagrees with its central finding that two ballots on different issues in different systems should not be held on the same date?
David Mundell
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
I agree with Ron Gould's submission to the Scottish Affairs Committee, in which he said that although he would prefer the referendum on AV and the Scottish elections to be held on different days, he saw no reason why they should not be held on the same day and did not anticipate that causing the same confusion that arose in 2007.
The office of Deputy Prime Minister is one that has only existed occasionally in the history of the United Kingdom. Unlike analogous offices in other nations, the Deputy Prime Minister does not have any of the powers of the Prime Minister in the latter's absence and there is no presumption that the Deputy Prime Minister will succeed the Prime Minister.
The post has existed intermittently and there have been a number of disputed occasions as to whether or not the title has actually been conferred.
More from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom
In a general election, each constituency chooses an MP to represent it by process of election. The party who wins the most seats in parliament is in power, with its leader becoming Prime Minister and its Ministers/Shadow Ministers making up the new Cabinet. If no party has a majority, this is known as a hung Parliament. The next general election will take place on or before 3rd June 2010.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/scottish_affairs_committee.cfm
