House of Commons
The House of Commons is one of the two legislative bodies in the British Parliament. The House of Commons commands the majority of power in the British government, unlike the House of Lords.
The House of Commons is made up of 646 Members of Parliament, or MPs[1]. Each MP represents their constituency. In a General Election, usually held every four or five years, every constituency has an election, to decide the MP. This is a first-past-the-post system, where the candidate with the highest number of votes is elected. There is no restriction to the number of times an MP can be re-elected. In the event of a MP resigning, the death of an MP, a election is called in the appropriate constituency.
Most MPs are members of one of the three main political parties, the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Democrats. There are a number of other smaller parties, and some independent MPs, who do not represent any party.