A parliamentary vote is a formal recorded decision that takes place when members of Parliament divide into two groups to vote for or against a proposal. A division bell is rung and the names of those voting are recorded. The result is announced by the Presiding Officer.
In a parliamentary system, voters elect local MPs to represent them in the House of Commons at Westminster. They choose which political party to vote for and when a party wins the most seats it forms a government that will run the country. The leader of the winning party becomes Prime Minister and selects other department ministers.
If a government does not get a majority in the House of Commons, a coalition is formed to form a minority government. This may include one or more other parties in a formal political alliance and is led by the leader of the largest party in the coalition. This government is known as the governing coalition.
Parliamentary procedures allow for a range of mechanisms to control the length and scope of debate and thereby to ensure timely decisions. A key example is the cloture procedure that allows for the suspension of a debate at any point in its course. Another is the ‘exhaustive ballot’ used in some elections, where the last-placed candidate is eliminated in each round until one has a majority of votes.
In most parliamentary systems, there is a constitutional court to judge whether laws violate provisions of the supreme law of the land, the constitution. However, in some parliamentary systems, such as that of Great Britain and New Zealand, the only check on a government is to vote its members out at a general election.