Glossary

Abstention

A decision not to vote for either side, or a broader description of not recording a vote.

Ayes

The votes cast in favour of a motion or question in a parliamentary division.

Bill Stage Vote

A parliamentary vote taken as part of a bill’s progress through one of its formal stages.

Confidence Motion

A motion used to test whether the government still has the support of the House of Commons.

Content

The term used in the House of Lords for a vote in favour of a question.

Decision on the Voices

A decision made when the House agrees or rejects a question without a recorded division.

Deferred Division

A Commons division postponed to a later scheduled time rather than taken immediately after debate.

Division

A formal vote in Parliament where members are counted for each side.

Division Lobby

One of the lobbies used by MPs to vote in a Commons division.

Division Number

An official reference number used to identify a recorded parliamentary division.

Free Vote

A vote where party members are not instructed to vote in a particular way.

Government Defeat

A vote result in which the government loses a division or fails to secure approval for its position.

Lords Amendment Vote

A vote on whether to agree, reject or alter a change made by the House of Lords to a bill.

Majority

The difference between the winning side and the next closest side in an election or vote.

New Clause

A proposed additional clause that could be added to a bill during scrutiny.

Noes

The votes cast against a motion or question in a parliamentary division.

Not Content

The term used in the House of Lords for a vote against a question.

Not Voting

A general description for a member who does not appear in the recorded votes for either side.

Pairing

An arrangement where two MPs from opposing sides agree not to vote so their absences balance out.

Party Breakdown

A summary showing how recorded votes are distributed between political parties.

Privilege Motion

A motion connected to parliamentary privilege, standards or possible contempt of Parliament.

Procedural Motion

A motion about how parliamentary business should be handled, rather than the substantive policy question itself.

Statutory Instrument Vote

Abbreviation: SI vote

A parliamentary vote on delegated legislation, usually a statutory instrument or draft statutory instrument.

Tellers

Members who count votes during a division in Parliament.

Three-line Whip

A strong party instruction requiring members to attend and vote in a particular way.

Vote Result

The recorded outcome of a parliamentary vote, showing whether the question was agreed or rejected.

Votes Cast

The total number of recorded votes on all sides of a division or election result.

Votes in Parliament

The official UK Parliament service for finding House of Commons and House of Lords division results.

Whip

A party official responsible for organising party discipline and voting in Parliament.