Votes and decisions

What kind of vote is this?

Parliamentary votes can concern Bills, Lords amendments, regulations, opposition business, procedure and other questions. The title and motion wording often provide strong clues to the type of vote, while the official parliamentary context confirms what was being decided.

View classification clues Votes and decisions

Scope of this guide: This page is about identifying the category of a parliamentary vote. For Ayes, Noes, majority, division numbers and party breakdowns, see How to understand a vote result.

Short answer

A vote type describes the parliamentary question being decided. The same Aye/No result can arise from very different business, so classification depends on the wording of the motion, the parliamentary stage and the official source rather than the size of the majority or the political importance of the issue.

Title and motion Terms such as “Third Reading”, “Lords Amendment” or “Draft Regulations” can point directly to a category.

Parliamentary context The House, Bill stage and type of business help distinguish similar-looking votes.

Official source Where a title is brief or ambiguous, the motion text and official record provide the stronger basis for classification.

Classification

Why the vote type matters

The numerical result tells you whether a question was agreed or rejected. The vote type places that result within the parliamentary process. For example, Third Reading is the stage at which a House decides whether to give a Bill its final approval in that House; a Lords amendment vote concerns a change made by the other House; and a statutory instrument vote concerns regulations or other secondary legislation made under powers already granted by an Act.

1 Question: what motion or amendment was formally put to the House?

2 Procedure: is it part of a Bill, regulations or other secondary legislation, opposition business, or the way House business is organised?

3 Context: which House and parliamentary stage does the official record show?

Clues in the title and motion

Certain words and phrases are useful indicators. They are clues rather than a substitute for the official motion, particularly where a short title could fit more than one category.

Clue in the title or motion	Likely vote type	What the clue usually indicates
Second Reading, Third Reading, Report Stage, New Clause	Bill stage vote	These terms identify a stage of a Bill — a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing one — or a detailed change to it.
Lords Amendment, disagree with Lords, amendment in lieu	Lords amendment vote	The Commons is deciding what to do with a change made to a Bill by the House of Lords.
Draft Regulations, Order, Rules, “be approved”	Statutory instrument vote	The House is considering regulations, an order or rules made under powers already granted by an Act of Parliament.
Opposition Day	Opposition Day motion	The vote is on a formal proposal chosen by an opposition party for debate in the Commons.
Programme motion, allocation of time, business of the House	Procedural motion	The vote is about the timetable or rules for handling parliamentary business rather than the substance of a policy.
Standards, conduct, contempt, privilege	Privilege motion	The vote concerns the House’s rights and powers, or questions involving parliamentary standards or conduct.
Content / Not Content	House of Lords division	These are the Lords equivalents of Aye and No. They identify the House, but not the subject of the vote.

The main vote types

These are the main groups used in this guide. The live Votes feature can use more specific labels where the official record supports them — for example, New Clause vote, Bill Committee vote or King’s Speech amendment.

Bill stage vote

A vote taken while Parliament is considering a Bill — a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing one. It can concern the Bill’s main principle, detailed changes to its wording, or whether that House gives the Bill final approval.

Lords amendment vote

After the House of Lords changes a Bill, the Commons may vote on whether to accept that change, reject it or propose a different version.

Statutory instrument vote

A vote on regulations, orders or rules made using powers already granted by an Act of Parliament. Parliament may be asked to approve a draft statutory instrument before it can take effect.

Opposition Day motion

A vote on a formal proposal debated during Commons time set aside for subjects chosen by opposition parties.

Procedural motion

A vote about how parliamentary business will be handled — for example, how much debating time is available or when particular stages will be taken.

Privilege motion

A vote concerning the rights and powers Parliament needs to do its work, or matters involving the standards and conduct of Members.

Other Commons motion

A broader label for a Commons vote that does not fit one of the more specific categories, or where the official wording does not support a narrower classification.

Recorded division or decision on the voices?

Vote type and voting method are separate questions. A motion can be decided without a recorded division if the House’s view is clear when the question is put.

Decision on the voices

In the Commons, the Chair asks those in favour to say “Aye” and those against to say “No”. If the outcome is clear and no division is required, the House can decide the question without a list of individual votes.

Recorded division

If a division is called, Members’ votes are counted and recorded. The resulting division list provides the numerical result and the names recorded on each side.

Commons and Lords divisions use different words

House of Commons divisions use Aye and No. House of Lords divisions use Content and Not Content. Those terms identify the side of the vote and can also help identify which House produced the record.

They do not, on their own, identify the subject of the vote. A Lords division may still concern a Bill stage, an amendment, delegated legislation or another motion.

Commons Aye / No

Lords Content / Not Content

Subject still matters The House terminology is a useful clue, but the motion establishes the vote’s substantive category.

Deferred divisions

“Deferred division” usually describes when and how a Commons decision is recorded rather than the substantive subject of the motion.

What is deferred?

Certain questions can be postponed for decision at a later scheduled time rather than being divided on immediately at the end of the debate.

Commons deferred divisions can be used for certain motions, including some statutory-instrument business, but not for Bill proceedings.

Classify the underlying question as well

A deferred division may, for example, concern a statutory instrument. Project Open Gov should therefore treat “deferred” as an additional procedural feature rather than automatically replacing the underlying vote type.

Where classification is less straightforward

A Bill can also appear in a procedural vote. For example, a programme motion may name a Bill because it sets the timetable for considering it, while the vote itself is procedural.

The word “Order” can refer to different kinds of business. The official motion and source can show whether the item is a statutory instrument, a procedural order or another kind of parliamentary business.

Classification describes the parliamentary procedure. A procedural vote can still be politically significant, while a narrowly framed amendment can have substantial consequences.

The full motion can add detail that a short title omits. Hansard, the Order Paper, the Bill page or the full motion can provide context that is not visible in the headline alone.

How Project Open Gov labels vote types

Project Open Gov uses vote-type labels to help readers understand the parliamentary context of a recorded division. Some labels are evident from explicit wording in the official record; others are inferred from the title, motion wording and related parliamentary information.

Where the available evidence does not support a specific category, a broader label is preferable to presenting an uncertain classification as fact. The official motion and source links remain the reference point for the underlying decision.

Explicit wording “Third Reading” or “Lords Amendment” can support a specific classification.

Contextual wording Terms such as “Order” may need the motion or source before a narrower label is justified.

Ambiguous cases A broader category can be used where the available record does not establish more.

Interactive guide

Vote Type Finder

Use an official Commons division link, a Commons division number with its date, or parliamentary wording to identify the likely vote type and the clue behind the classification.

Important: The number at the end of a Parliament division URL is the division record ID. It is not the Commons division number shown on the page. The Finder keeps the two identifiers separate.

The first version covers House of Commons division links. Classification is rule-based and uses Project Open Gov vote logic.

Choose one method Use option 1, 2 or 3 below. You only need to complete one option — not all three.