Commons Opposition Day debates since 1992

Opposition day debates under different Governments since 1992 can be found in the five tables covering the following adminstrations:  

• Table 1. 2017 – Present: Conservative adminstrations under Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak
• Table 2. 2015 – 2017: Conservative administrations under David Cameron and Theresa May
• Table 3. 2010 – 2015: Conservative/ Liberal Democrat coalition administration under David Cameron
• Table 4. 1997 – 2010: Labour administrations under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown
• Table 5. 1992-1997: Conservative administrations under John Major

What are opposition days?

Opposition days are days where the main subject of business is chosen by the opposition parties. Under Commons Standing Order No.14, 20 days in each session are made available to the opposition, of which:

17 days are allocated to the Leader of the official opposition, and

3 days to the Leader of the second largest opposition party who shares the time with smaller parties in the House of Commons.

The Government may also make additional days available; these are noted as unallotted days.

Debates on opposition motions

Dates for opposition day debates are announced by the Leader of the House in the weekly business statement on Thursdays. The subject of the debate and text of the motion appears in the Future Business section of the House Business Papers once decided by the opposition party. Sometimes the full text of the motion is not tabled until the day before the debate which means it is not available until the date of the debate when it appears in the Order Paper.

In an exception to the normal rules of debate, the main motion – the opposition motion – is debated and voted on first, rather than any amendment. This is to allow the decision on the opposition motion to be taken first, before any amendment is put.

Many opposition motions criticise Government policies and decisions and the Government often tables an amendment to the motion to take out most of the text and replace it with text commending the Government policy or decision instead. Government amendments are usually carried under majority Governments.

Unless specifically framed, motions tabled on opposition days are not seen as binding on the Government. See motion for a return, below, for more information.

Divisions on opposition motions

The Government does not table an amendment to every motion; sometimes it simply votes against the motion. Not all motions are critical of the Government, in such cases opposition motions have been agreed without a vote. Amendments can be tabled by other opposition parties. The Speaker selects which amendment, if any, is taken.

The Government has not generally contested opposition motions in the current 2017-19 session and most opposition motions have been agreed without a division or on division but with the Government abstaining. In October 2017 the Leader of the House updated the House on the Government’s approach to Opposition day debates:The 2017 election returned a minority Conservative Government. 

• When an Opposition day motion is passed by this House, the relevant Minister will respond to the vote by making a statement to the House. This will be within a maximum time period of 12 weeks. [HC Deb 26 Oct 2017 c456]

In January 2019 the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) held an inquiry into the status of Resolutions of the House of Commons. In response, the Government agreed with the Committee’s recommendation that this period should be shortened to 8 weeks. The Leader of the House announced this change in April 2019. [HC Deb 25 Apr 2019 c916]

In January 2021, the Leader of the House did not undertake to continue the 2017 commitment to respond to resolutions of the House agreed on Opposition motions, stating that: “the Government’s position is set out from the Dispatch Box.” [HC Deb 28 Jan 2021 c570]

Motion for a return (humble Address or orders for papers)

As noted above, opposition motions usually highlight aspects of government policy for debate and are non-binding. On 1 November 2017 the Labour Party used an allotted opposition day to call for the Government to release papers by tabling a motion for a return, using a humble Address.

A humble Address is the device by which Parliament formally communicates with the Monarch and is used in this instance because, if passed, the motion requires her Majesty’s ministers to make the requested papers available to the House.

The motion on the opposition day debate on 1 November 2017 was worded as follows:

1. That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, That she will be graciously pleased to give directions that the list of sectors analysed under the instruction of Her Majesty’s Ministers, and referred to in the Answer of 26 June 2017 to Question 239, be laid before this House and that the impact assessments arising from those analyses be provided to the Committee on Exiting the European Union [HC Deb 1 Nov 2018 cc935].q

The motion was agreed without a division. The Government agreed to comply with the resolution of the House and provided documents to the Committee on Exiting the European Union. See the Commons Library briefing on exiting the EU: Sectoral assessments.

Use of the motion for a return 

Since 1 November 2017, the opposition party have used the same procedural device on another 16 opposition days to call for papers. These are noted in the spreadsheet by ‘HA/OfP’ after the title of the debate.

9 of the 16 motions for a return were agreed without a division; the motions were negatived on division on the other 8 occasions.

See the Library briefing Advice relating to the appointment of Lord Lebedev for information on the most recent use of the ‘humble address’ on an opposition day.

Parliament: facts and figures

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This series of publications contains data on various subjects relating to Parliament and Government. Topics include legislation, MPs, select committees, debates, divisions and Parliamentary procedure.

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