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Election 2005
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Table of the House
The Table of the House is the table in each of the chambers of the House of Lords and House of Commons which lies between the Government and Opposition Front Benches. It is the place where the Clerks sit to look after the administration of the House. In the House of Commons it is also where the Mace is kept when the House is sitting.

Tellers
Tellers are the Members who count the votes in the House of Commons and the House of Lords during a division. There are four tellers, two from each side of the House, who are usually also Whips. Once the division is over the tellers announce the results to the House.

Ten Minute Rule Bill
Bills introduced under the ten-minute rule are one of the ways in which back bench MPs (private Members) can introduce legislation. There is little parliamentary time available for them to be debated and so they are frequently not serious attempts at legislation. The process is used more as a means of making a point on the need to change the law on a particular subject. Motions under this rule may also provide the opportunity for MPs to test Parliament's opinion on a particular subject upon which they may wish to legislate at a later date. The ten minute rule allows a brief introductory speech and one opposing the motion to be made in the House after Question Time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when the House is likely to be full. Such Bills can become law but this is rare. Not all ten minute rule Bills are printed. Members are often satisfied with the publicity achieved by their speech in the Chamber. Unprinted Bills cannot make any further progress.

Test Roll
The Test Roll is the book that new MPs sign when they are sworn in after a General Election. The MPs sign their name and their constituency. The term Test Roll comes from the fact that at one time MPs had to sign a roll of parchment to test that they accepted the Monarch as the head of the Church of England. Life Peers sign the Test Roll during their introduction ceremony after taking the oath.

Third Reading
Third Reading is one of the stages that legislation goes through before it becomes law. After the Report Stage a Bill moves forward to its Third Reading. This is a final opportunity to vote on the whole of a Bill. After third reading in the Chamber in which the Bill was first introduced, the Bill moves to first reading in the other Chamber.

Three-line whip
A three-line Whip is used to indicate to MPs that their party requires them to attend a division and vote. The Whips of each party issue an agenda of the week's business, or Whip, to their members. They indicate how important each item is by underlining it once, twice or three times. If an item is underlined three times this shows that the party expects their MPs to be present to vote. It is a very serious matter for MPs to defy a three-line Whip and therefore it happens only rarely. When it does occur it can lead to the Whip being withdrawn. Withdrawal of the Whip is effectively expulsion from the Party, although this can be temporary.

Treasury
The Treasury is the Government Department that looks at public spending and does the Government's accounting. It is responsible for overall Government spending on public services and for raising taxes.

Courtesy of www.parliament.uk


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