Parliament
What the specification requires, the knowledge and concepts behind it, the debates it raises and how to use it in an exam.
Specification requirements
- The structure and role of the House of Commons and House of LordsSpecification requirement
- •How members of each House are selected, including the different types of peers
- •The main functions of each House, and how effectively they are performed
- The comparative powers of the House of Commons and House of LordsSpecification requirement
- •The exclusive powers of the Commons and the main powers of the Lords
- •Debates about which House is more powerful
- The legislative processSpecification requirement
- •The stages a bill passes through to become law
- •How the Commons and Lords interact during legislation, including the Salisbury Convention
- The ways in which Parliament interacts with the executiveSpecification requirement
- •The role and significance of backbenchers in both Houses, including parliamentary privilege
- •The work of select committees and public bill committees
- •The role and significance of the Official Opposition
- •The purpose and nature of ministerial question time, including Prime Minister’s Questions
Source to checkParaphrased from Pearson’s A level Politics specification, Issue 4 (first teaching September 2026, first assessment June 2028). Requirement detail is entered as each topic is developed.
Current affairs
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 ends hereditary membership
The Act completes the reform begun in 1999. The Lords is now made up of appointed life peers and Church of England bishops, which sharpens the debate about whether an unelected second chamber is legitimate.
Labour backbench rebellion forces concessions on welfare reform
A government with a very large majority still had to retreat in the face of its own backbenchers. The example is valuable because it cuts against the assumption that a large majority guarantees executive dominance.
Assisted dying bill passes the Commons but falls in the Lords
The bill shows the legislative process at its most independent of the executive: a backbench bill, a free vote and a neutral government. It also shows the Lords shaping the outcome through prolonged scrutiny rather than a vote of rejection.
Privileges Committee finds Boris Johnson deliberately misled the House
The case shows Parliament enforcing its own rules against a former Prime Minister, through a committee with a majority from his own party. It is strong evidence for the accountability function of Parliament and for the expectation that ministers must not knowingly mislead the House.
Supreme Court rules the 2019 prorogation of Parliament unlawful
The judgment showed the Supreme Court setting legal limits on a prerogative power to protect Parliament’s role. It remains the leading example in debates about the political role of the judiciary and about relations between the executive, Parliament and the courts.
Current affairsEach card is a single shared record, linked here by its specification references.Open this topic in Current Affairs
Sources
2 sources cited on this pageShowHide
- 1A level Politics specification, Issue 4
Pearson Edexcel · 2026 · SpecificationOpened 4 November 2026 - 2Edexcel AS and A level Politics specification amendments
Pearson · 22 June 2026 · SpecificationOpened 4 November 2026