Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 11:33 am on 19 May 2022.
Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The Minister of State, Department for International Trade, The Minister of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
11:33,
19 May 2022
My Lords, as I said earlier, only a very small amount indeed of Indian wheat comes to the UK. Indeed, the Majority of production of wheat in India contributes to the domestic market. India produced 109 million tonnes of wheat last year, and of that no less than 90 million was consumed domestically.
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.
