Part of Science, Innovation and Technology – in the House of Commons at on 17 December 2025.
Harriet Cross
Opposition Assistant Whip (Commons)
The parliamentary petition against digital ID has been signed by more than 3 million people, including many in my Gordon and Buchan Constituency. It is the fourth most signed petition in history. Why does the Minister think digital ID is so unpopular?
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.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
