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In video from the House of Commons, whenever John Bercow reads the results of a vote, he says “unlock” at the end. For example, from last night:

The Ayes to the right, 329. The Noes to the left, 302. So the Ayes have it, the Ayes have it. Unlock.

I’m guessing this is some bit of formal Parliamentary procedure – but what does it mean?

(I’ve tried to google for it, but I think I must have the wrong search terms – phrases like “uk parliament unlock” only turn up headlines about ‘unlocking’ the next steps of the Brexit process.)

Machavity
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alexwlchan
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1 Answers1

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If you follow the evening votes on any live stream, you'll notice that Bercow has the voting lobbies locked 8 minutes after putting the question.

Here's an excellent outline of how the UK parliament's division vote process works:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_of_the_assembly#United_Kingdom

In the House of Commons, the Speaker says "The Question is that…", states the question and next says "As many as are of that opinion say Aye". Then, following shouts of "Aye", the Speaker says "Of the contrary, No" and similar shouts of "No" may follow. [...]

If a division is to be taken, the Speaker first states, "Division! Clear the lobbies!". [...]

Two minutes into the division the Speaker puts the question to the House again.[18] If it is clear that a division is still required, the Speaker announces the tellers, two each for the "Ayes" and "Noes". [...]

Eight minutes after the question has been put for the first time, the Speaker declares, "Lock the doors." The lobby entrances are locked, and only those within the lobbies may continue to vote. [...]

After all members have voted in the lobbies, the vote totals are written on a card and the numbers are read out to the House by the tellers. The Speaker then announces these numbers a second time, announcing the final result by saying "The Ayes/Noes have it, the Ayes/Noes have it". The Speaker then adds: "Unlock."

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Denis de Bernardy
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  • If the doors are locked, how do MPs manage to get into both lobbies as per https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/39825/can-uk-mps-vote-on-the-same-motion-twice or do they just have to get through the first lobby quickly? – Jontia Mar 26 '19 at 11:07
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    @Jontia: I would assume the latter, since the doors aren't locked in the 8 first minutes of a division. – Denis de Bernardy Mar 26 '19 at 11:19
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    @Jontia: only the entrance doors are locked, forcing MPs to leave via the only exit, which takes them past the clerks (who record their names) and the tellers (who count them). – Steve Melnikoff Mar 26 '19 at 12:53
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    @Jontia: and yes, if an MP is quick, he could pass through the first lobby before the doors of both lobbies are locked. It helps that, to reduce congestion, the exit from each lobby is close to the entrance of the other one (specifically, MPs travel clockwise, IIRC). – Steve Melnikoff Mar 26 '19 at 12:55
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    @Jasper: None in particular. The official one. The Guardian's politics live blog's one. RT apparently has one too. And a youtube search seems to yield a few others. Pick any of them and tune in around when the debates end and the voting starts. It's usually 6pm UK time; sometimes much later. You can check Twitter developments or live blogs to know what's currently getting voted on. – Denis de Bernardy Mar 26 '19 at 14:07
  • @Jontia: (Got it wrong. MP's travel anti-clockwise. The main entrance to the Aye lobby is nearest the Speaker's end of the chamber; for the No Lobby, it's at the other end. See layout here for example. – Steve Melnikoff Mar 26 '19 at 15:09
  • @Jasper: I changed it to any for clarity. FYI you can use "some [singular]" in such a context to mean a/any. It's informal. For instance: there's some dude at the corner that has a weird outfit. – Denis de Bernardy Mar 26 '19 at 17:24
  • @Jontia Yes, the MPs need to travel through the first lobby quickly. There is a danger that an MP intending to abstain could actually register a vote if they do not move fast enough. – thelem Mar 26 '19 at 23:01
  • @Denis Ah thanks, I think it's better now. Notice that in the case you present, you can ask "which guy?" (which could be answered with "That one" while you point at him) Basically, some [singular] always refers to a particular instance of the thing, meaning that any and some don't overlap in meaning, while "a" can usually take the pace of either without changing the meaning. I'll agree it's a complicated thing as most other European languages do not make such a distinction (AFAIK) and because it has some edge case where the lines get a bit blurred – Jasper Mar 26 '19 at 23:36
  • @SteveMelnikoff Is there anything stopping an MP from voting multiple times if they get there fast enough that they can vote in one line, then get into the other line before the doors close? – nick012000 Mar 27 '19 at 05:25
  • @nick012000 A clerk crosses each MPs name of a list as they exit the lobby. It can’t be crossed off twice! It is possible that the tellers might count someone twice. However, if there is a discrepancy between the number of names crossed off and the number counted, that is reconciled later. – Steve Melnikoff Mar 27 '19 at 07:31
  • they can, and do, vote in both lobbies for the same division from time to time @nick012000 - usually to abstain, or sometimes to reduce the damage from having gone into the wrong lobby. – JCRM Mar 27 '19 at 08:35