Significance of Whip in Trust Vote - What will happen if members defy the Whip?

Significance of Whip in Trust Vote

What will happen if members defy the Whip?

By:
Vijay SARDANA

Advocate, Delhi High Court

Arbitrator & Fellow, Indian Council of Arbitration
Regulatory Compliance & Techno-legal Expert

IFC Trained Corporate Governance Trainer for Board Leadership Training
Email: technolegalsardana@gmail.com

After Supreme Courts Decision the next round of politics will be in the state assembly when there will be voting on Confidence Vote. The role of the whip will become crucial.

The term ‘whip’ is derived from the traditional British parliamentary the practice of ordering the legislators (ruling or opposition) to follow the party line.

India adopted the model of Parliamentary system from Britain. It is important to understand what the precedences British Parliament has about whip.

What is a free vote?

This means the vote is not whipped, and MPs may vote as they wish. Free votes are one of the few occasions when members of the Government – usually bound to support the government position by the convention of collective cabinet responsibility – can express their independent opinion in the Commons. In 1971, Prime Minister Edward Heath gave Conservative MPs a free vote on whether to join the European Economic Community.

Traditionally, free votes have been held on matters of conscience, such as hunting, assisted dying and military intervention, when it is accepted that MPs of the same party may have different views. In some circumstances, free votes can be used as a way of managing internal party politics – particularly when there are strongly held and competing views amongst the party leadership. In such cases, allowing a free vote can prevent an embarrassing government defeat or party rebellion.

What is a whip?

The term is taken from the "whipper-in" during a hunt, who tries to prevent hounds from wandering away from a hunting pack.

Additionally, the term "whip" may mean the voting instructions issued to legislators, or the status of a certain legislator in their party's parliamentary grouping.

In political parlance, a whip is a written order which demands party members to be present in Parliament or a state assembly if the important vote is scheduled, and also asks them to vote in a particular way.

Whips can be issued by any party that finds representation in the House, irrespective of its strength in that chamber.

A whip, also the person is an official of a political party whose the task is to ensure the party discipline in a legislature. 

Whips are MPs or MLAs appointed by each party in Parliament or Assembly to help organise their party's contribution to the parliamentary business.

This usually means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their constituents. Whips are the party's "enforcers". They ensure that their fellow legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to official party policy.

The Chief Whip is responsible for administering the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote in Parliament as the party leadership desires.

Kinds of whips

A whip can be classified into three types, based on the number of times it has been underlined.

A one-line whip, which is underlined once, is issued by the party to inform its members of an important vote in the pipeline, so that a quorum can be established. A quorum is the minimum number of legislators that need to be present do that a vote can be held.

A one-line whip allows the legislators to abstain from voting if they decide to go against the party line. However, they cannot, under any circumstance, vote against the party.

A two-line whip, which is underlined twice, demands that party members be present in the House at the time of voting. Abstention from voting, in this case, invites more scrutiny from the party’s high command as compared to a one-line whip.

A three-line whip, which is underlined thrice, is the gravest of the whips. This places the party members under an obligation to toe the party line and is usually employed when critical bills are tabled in the House or during a motion of no-confidence.

Type of whip	What it means	When it is used
One-line whip	Considered advisory, providing a guide to party policy on an issue. MPs are ‘requested’ to attend the vote, but are not usually expected to do so, and do not need to inform the party whips if they will be absent. However, if they do vote, they are expected to vote as instructed.	Used for uncontroversial or inconsequential parliamentary votes
Two-line whip	A more serious instruction for how to vote. MPs are told that their attendance is ‘necessary’ and are expected to remain on, or close to, the parliamentary estate, and vote as instructed. Permission from a party whip is usually needed to miss a vote.	Used for more important votes on key policy issues
Three-line whip	An explicit instruction to MPs that their attendance is ‘essential’, and that they must vote as instructed. MPs are expected to be in the voting lobbies within six minutes of a vote being called. Express permission is usually required from a party whip to miss a vote, and is rarely granted.	Used for the most serious votes, including votes of confidence and second readings of major bills

Who issues a whip?

The person who issues a whip is also called a ‘whip’. Each party appoints a Chief Whip from its elected members, who issues directives to maintain discipline in the party and enact the party’s line while being mindful of individual opinions and grievances.

Even though this is not a constitutional post, a Chief Whip is responsible for effective communication between the party high command and its members.

A whip’s role assumes more importance when a party has a thin majority in the House. In the Indian Parliament, party whips are generally represented in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC), which is led by the Speaker and meets at the beginning of every session.

How Whip decides Party stand on the debate in Parliament and Assembly?

In Britain, each Thursday, ahead of the next parliamentary week, the party leadership distributes a schedule of expected parliamentary votes to their MPs containing instructions on how to vote. This is referred to as the ‘whip’. MPs are usually expected to show loyalty to their party when voting in Parliament.

The whip is also issued in the House of Lords, although party discipline is less strictly enforced among peers.

Whips play a key role in the organisation of parliamentary business, acting as a line of communication between the governing and opposition parties (often referred to as ‘the usual channels’), distributing information to parliamentarians and allocating their party’s membership of parliamentary committees.

Pairing Arrangement:

The whips also organise ‘pairing’ arrangements, which allow MPs to be absent from a vote by matching them with an opposition MP who also agrees to be absent, thereby effectively ‘cancelling out’ their vote.

Until 2010, whips also decided which MPs should chair select committees, but chairs are now elected by the whole House.

What happens if an MP defies the whip?

There are no fixed consequences for disobeying the whip, with the penalties varying depending on the type of whip and the individual and political circumstances.

It is not always clear if an MP has disobeyed the whip, as voting instructions aren’t publicly available. But sanctions for breaching the whip can include reduced prospects of promotion within the party or appointment to an MP’s preferred committee, a less desirable parliamentary office, or selection for unpopular parliamentary duties such as membership of delegated legislation committees. Repeatedly disobeying the whip may also affect an MP’s chance of re-selection by their constituency party, or re-election at a general election.

What does it mean to have the whip removed?

The most serious breaches can result in the ‘whip being removed’ – meaning that the MP ceases to represent their party and sits as an independent MP. Nine Conservative MPs had the whip removed in 1993, after failing to support John Major’s government in a vote of confidence subject to a three-line whip.  21 Conservative MPs had the whip removed after voting against the government to allow MPs to take control of the Commons timetable to pass the Benn Act.

Members of a party’s frontbench are usually expected to resign if they wish to vote against their party’s position and are highly likely to lose their role if they break a three-line whip.

Who decides how to discipline a dissenting MP?

This is ultimately a matter of politics. MPs may escape sanction if they have widespread support within the party, or if elements of the leadership have sympathy for their actions. Minority governments are faced with an acute challenge in disciplining MPs – simultaneously relying heavily on party loyalty while lacking the numbers to sustain sanctions such as removal of the whip. MPs who have lost the whip may have it restored at a later date.

Recently in Britain during Brexit debate, many challenging situations is emerging. Two Conservative MPs, Charlie Elphicke and Andrew Griffiths, who had had the whip removed over misconduct allegations, had the whip restored in January 2019 to allow them to vote in a vote of confidence in Theresa May as party leader. It is possible that Conservative ‘rebels’ who had the whip removed over the Benn Act may have the whip restored if they vote in favour of Boris Johnson’s revised Brexit deal.

How common is it for MPs to disobey a three-line whip?

It is relatively rare, but Brexit has put significant pressure on the party discipline. In 2017, 47 Labour MPs disobeyed a three-line whip requiring the party’s MPs to support the triggering of Article 50, while 118 Conservative MPs voted against the Government’s Brexit deal in January 2019. Three-line whips have also been defied outside of the Brexit context, with 91 Conservative MPs voting against the government on House of Lords reform in 2012. 21 Conservative MPs voted against a three-line whip to vote in favour of MPs taking control of the Commons timetable to pass the Benn Act in September 2019.

In some cases, MPs have been accused of being conveniently absent from votes that have been whipped against their presumed voting intentions – preventing them from having to choose whether to ignore the whip.

What happens in Indian Parliamentary System, if a legislator does not follow the whip in?

Defying a three-line whip can not only lead to the expulsion of the member from the party, but also risk his/her membership in the House.

Under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India, the Speaker of the House can disqualify a member who goes against the party line under the anti-defection law. The only exception is when more than one-third of members decide to vote against the directive. It means, even if the whip is issued and if the whole party goes against the whip, no action can be taken against the members.

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