In
British politics, the Chief Whip of the governing party in the
House of Commons is usually also appointed as
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, a
Cabinet position. The Government Chief Whip has an official residence at
12 Downing Street; however, their offices are located at
9 Downing Street. The Chief Whip can wield great power over their party's MPs, including cabinet ministers, being seen to speak at all times on behalf of the
Prime Minister.
Margaret Thatcher was known for using her Chief Whip as a "cabinet enforcer". The role of the Chief Whip is regarded as secretive, as the Whip is concerned with the discipline of their own party's
Members of Parliament, never appearing on television or radio in their capacity as whip. An exception occurred on 1 April 2019 when
Julian Smith chose to criticise his own government and Prime Minister. Whips in the House of Commons do not, by convention, speak in debates. The Government Chief Whip is assisted by the Deputy Chief Whip, other whips, and assistant whips. In order to provide the whip with a salary, the government whips are appointed to positions in
HM Treasury and in the
Royal Household under the
Lord Steward of the Household. The whips are not fully active in either of these departments, though they do undertake a number of responsibilities. The Deputy Chief Whip is
Treasurer of HM Household, the next two whips are
Comptroller of HM Household and
Vice-Chamberlain of HM Household. The remaining whips are
Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. Assistant whips, and whips of opposition parties, generally do not receive such appointments. The Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords also holds the role of
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms, while the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the Lords holds the role of
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. Other whips, who are fewer in number due to the decreased importance of party discipline in the Lords, are appointed as
Lords in Waiting, if men, and Baronesses in Waiting, if women. As well as their duties as whips, Lords whips speak in the chamber (unlike Commons whips) to support departmental ministers, or act as a spokesperson for government departments with no minister in the Lords. Outside the government, the Official Opposition Chief Whip in the Commons, like the
Leader of the Opposition, receives a
stipend in addition to their parliamentary salary, because their additional responsibilities will make them unable to hold down another job. The whips, although superficially dictatorial, act as communicators between
backbenchers and the party leadership. Ultimately, if backbenchers are unhappy with the leadership's position, they can threaten to revolt during a vote and force the leadership to compromise. While the whip was formally introduced to British politics by the
Irish Parliamentary Party under
Charles Stewart Parnell in the 1880s, in 1846 the
Duke of Wellington advised the new
Conservative Party leader
Lord Stanley to ensure that his "whippers-in" were personally loyal. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the use of the term "whippers-in" was first recorded in the parliamentary sense in the
Annual Register of 1772.
The whip as a party line In the UK
House of Commons, the importance of a vote is indicated by underlining items on the "whip", which is the name of the letter the Chief Whip sends to all the MPs in their party at the start of the week. This letter informs them of the schedule for the days ahead and includes the sentence "Your attendance is absolutely essential" next to each debate in which there will be a vote. This sentence is underlined once, twice, or three times depending on the consequences that will be suffered if they do not turn up, hence the origin of the terms
one-line whip,
two-line whip and
three-line whip. The actual vote they are to make is communicated to them in the chamber by hand signals during the division when the time comes (usually after the
division bell has been rung). Neither these instructions, which are visible to everyone in the chamber, nor the "whip" letter at the start of the week, are recorded in
Hansard, as they are considered a matter internal to the
political party. Any explicit direction to an MP as to how they should vote would be a breach of
parliamentary privilege. The consequences of defying the party whip depend on the circumstances and are usually negotiated with the party whip in advance. The party whip's job is to ensure the outcome of the vote. The party in the majority can always win a vote if its members obey the whip. Where members cannot attend a vote (for example for medical reasons), their whip may
pair them with a member from the opposing side (by agreement with the opposing whip) who will then be whipped to abstain, so that the first member's absence does not affect the vote. If the party has a large Commons majority, it can make allowances for MPs who are away on important business, or whose political circumstances require them to take a particular issue very seriously. Theoretically at least, expulsion from the party is an automatic consequence of defying a three-line whip. Whips often employ a mixture of promises, cajoling and persuasion to force an unpopular vote. A whip should know major figures in an MP's local
constituency party and the MP's agent. There have been cases where sick MPs were wheeled into the House from far afield to vote for the government on a crucial vote.
Joe Ashton MP recalled a case from the latter days of
James Callaghan's government: A
minister who defies the whip is generally dismissed from their job immediately, if they have not already resigned, and returns to being a backbencher. Sometimes their votes in Parliament are called the "
payroll vote", because they can be taken for granted. The consequences for a back-bencher can include the lack of future promotion to a government post, a reduction of party campaigning effort in their constituency during the next election, deselection by their local party activists, or, in extreme circumstances, "withdrawal of the whip" and expulsion from the party.
Lists of chief whips by party • House of Commons: •
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Government Chief Whip) •
Conservative Chief Whip •
Labour Chief Whip •
Liberal Democrats Chief Whip •
For a list of former Government Chief Whips, see Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury •
Reform UK:
Lee Anderson •
Scottish National Party:
Kirsty Blackman •
Democratic Unionist Party:
Sammy Wilson • In devolved legislatures: • Labour and
Welsh Government:
Jane Hutt (Senedd) •
Plaid Cymru:
Mabon ap Gwynfor (Senedd) •
Sinn Féin:
Sinéad Ennis (Northern Ireland Assembly) •
Social Democratic and Labour Party:
Colin McGrath (Northern Ireland Assembly) He retired in 1961 and was succeeded by Freddie Warren; all subsequent appointees have been permanent civil servants. • 1939–1961: Sir Charles Harris, KBE • 1978–2000: Sir
Murdo Maclean • 2000–2021: Sir
Roy Stone, CBE == India ==