Wales Office
The Wales Office came into being on July 1 1999 as the successor to the Welsh Office. The Secretary of State for Wales oversees the devolution settlement and is responsible for steering primary legislation relating to Wales through Parliament. The Office is responsible for ensuring that the interests of Wales and the views of the National Assembly for Wales are taken into account in all central government matters, including primary legislation, that affect Wales. On 12 June 2003 the Wales Office became part of the Department for Constitutional Affairs, for administration purposes only, whilst retaining its separate identity. It continues to report to the Secretary of State for Wales.

Whigs
The Whig party was the predecessor of the Liberal Party. The name was first used of rebel covenanters and then of those who wished to exclude James I from the English throne. They were the party in power continuously between 1714 and 1760 and they pressed for industrial and commercial development, a vigorous foreign policy and religious toleration. During the French Revolution they demanded parliamentary reform in Britain. From 1832, with the passing of the Reform Bill, they became known as the Liberals.

Whip System
Whips are MPs or Peers appointed by each party to maintain party discipline. In a sense they are personnel managers who convey information between party leaders and back bench members. Part of their role, however, is to encourage members of their party to vote in the way that their party would like in important divisions. They are sometimes accused of being too strict in their dealings with Members but this is often exaggerated. Each party in Parliament has found it necessary to have Whips to ensure the smooth running of parliamentary business. In fact they are felt to be so important that the Opposition Chief Whip and two other Opposition Whips are paid a parliamentary salary. All the Government Whips receive a salary. The Commons Whips have offices situated near the Members' Lobby. From here they produce an agenda (also known as the 'Whip') for their party setting out the week's business and how they would like members to vote. Whips also manage the pairing system and often act as tellers during divisions.

White Paper
White Papers are documents produced by the Government setting out details of future policy on a particular subject. A White Paper will often be the basis for a Bill to be put before Parliament. The White Paper allows the Government an opportunity to gather feedback before it formally presents the policies as a Bill.

Withdrawal of the Whip
If a party withdraws the Whip from an MP it effectively isolates the MP from the party machinery within the House. For example, the Whip was withdrawn from eight Conservative MPs in November 1994, following a vote on the European Communities (Finance) Bill. The Whip was returned to them in April 1995. A Member does not lose his or her seat as a result of the Whip being withdrawn and they usually continue to sit as an independent until the Whip is restored.

Women MPs
The fight for women’s suffrage (the right to vote in elections), which began in earnest during the second half of the 19th Century, preceded the campaign for the admission of women as members of the House of Commons. Women received the vote at the age of 30 with the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1918. On October 23rd 1918 the House of Commons passed a motion that a Bill be passed to make women eligible as MPs. Accordingly the government introduced the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Bill on 31st October. It was passed within three weeks and received Royal Assent on November 21st 1918, the day that Parliament was dissolved for the 1918 general election. Although the female candidates who stood in the 1918 election were all prominent in the women’s suffrage movement, the first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons, Viscountess Astor, in 1919, had never campaigned for women’s rights. In 1928 the voting age for women was lowered to 21, the same as for men, by the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act. This removed the anomaly that meant a woman could be elected as an MP up to 9 years before she could actually vote. The number of women MPs did not rise above 30 until 1987, when 41 were elected. Sixty women won seats in 1992 and the total doubled at the 1997 election when 120 women MPs were elected. 118 women MPs were elected in the 2001 election. As at January 2004 there were five women in the Cabinet with a further 24 women MPs and nine women peers in ministerial positions.

Written Questions
Although the number of Questions for oral answer that may be tabled by a Member has been restricted since 1972, there is no limit to the number of Questions for written answer that may be tabled. Full advantage is taken of this facility, which Members find invaluable for extracting every kind of information from Government Departments. Often as many as 250 written Questions are tabled in a single day. In fact the vast majority of Questions answered in each session are Questions of this kind. Written Questions are subject to the same rules of order as oral Questions. A Member usually dates a written Question for two days after he or she has tabled it: and can expect the Question to be answered within seven days of that date. If, however, the Member desires an answer on a specified day he/she may indicate this when tabling it. This gives the Question priority, though to obtain it, he/she must give a minimum notice of two days and specify the date on which the answer is wanted. These priority written Questions are now known as Questions for answer on a named day - and indicated by the letter "N" in the Order Book. A Member may not table more than five named day questions per day. The answer received on the date specified may only be to the effect that the Minister will answer as soon as possible.

Courtesy of www.parliament.uk