British Parliamentary Style

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British Parliamentary style debate is a common form of academic debate. It has gained support in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, Africa, and United States, and has also been adopted as the official style of the World Universities Debating Championship and European Universities Debating Championship. Speeches are usually between five and seven minutes in duration. The debate consists of four teams of two speakers, called factions, with two factions on either side of the case.

Contents 1 Terminology 2 Roles 2.1 Opening factions 2.2 Closing factions 2.3 Points of Information 3 Variations 4 External links

[edit] Terminology

Because of the style's origins in British parliamentary procedure, the two sides are called the Government (more commonly called "Proposition" in the United Kingdom) and Opposition. The speakers are similarly titled:

1. Opening Government (first faction):
   1. Prime Minister
   2. Deputy Prime Minister
2. Opening Opposition (second faction):
   1. Leader of the Opposition
   2. Deputy Leader of the Opposition
3. Closing Government (third faction):
   1. Member for the Government
   2. Government Whip
4. Closing Opposition (fourth faction):
   1. Member for the Opposition
   2. Opposition Whip

Speaking alternates between the two sides and the order of the debate of the debate is therefore:

1. Prime Minister
2. Opposition Leader
3. Deputy Prime Minister
4. Deputy Opposition Leader
5. Member for the Government
6. Member for the Opposition
7. Government Whip
8. Opposition Whip

[edit] Roles

As British Parliamentary debates take place between four teams their roles are split into two categories, those for the Opening factions, and those for the Closing factions.

[edit] Opening factions

The first faction on each Government and Opposition team, known as the Opening Factions, have four basic roles in a British Parliamentary debate. They must:

• Define the topic of the debate.
• Present their case.
• Respond to arguments of the opposing first faction.
• Maintain their relevance during the debate.

The Opening Government team has the semi-divine right of definition, preventing the opposition from challenging their definition of the topic unless it is either a Truism, or clearly unreasonable.

[edit] Closing factions

The role of the second two factions are to:

• Introduce a case extension.
• Establish and maintain their relevance early in the debate.
• Respond to the arguments of the first factions.
• Respond to the case extension of the opposing second faction.

In addition, the final two speakers of the debate (known as the Whips) take a similar role to the third speakers in Australia-Asian debating:

• They may not introduce new arguments for their faction;
• They must respond to both opposing factions' arguments;
• They should briefly sum up their Opening Faction's case;
• They should offer a conclusion of their own faction's case extension.

[edit] Points of Information

The style demands that all speakers offer Points of Information (POIs) to their opposition. POIs are important in British Parliamentary style, as it allows the first two factions to maintain their relevance during the course of the debate, and the last two factions to introduce their arguments early in the debate. The first and last minute of each speech is considered "protected time", during which no points of information may be offered.

[edit] Variations

• Depending on the country, there are variations in speaking time, speaking order, and the number of speakers. In New Zealand, both the leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister offer a short summary as the last two speakers.

[edit] External links

• Training material for British Parliamentary Style, prepared by the ACT Debating Union.