What is a ‘whip’ in Parliament?

The term 'whip' is said to owe its origin to the 'whippers-in' ­people who keep the hounds in order at fox-hunting meets. Parliamentary whips are supposed to be similar disciplinarians, controlling the pack of MPs in their party!

Government whips are all Ministers of the Crown. The principal task of the Chief Whip is the management of government business in the House. He or she must try to ensure that, in spite of the activities of the opposition; Parliament has passed all the legislation and done all the tasks which it had planned during that session.

Whips in the two main parties are organised by subject and by region. They monitor opinions inside their party and report back to the leadership, maintaining valuable day-to-day contact between ministers and their backbench supporters.

'The Whip' also refers to a document sent out weekly to MPs detailing the forthcoming business of the House. Items are underlined once, twice or three times to indicate their importance to the party leadership. When a 'three-line' whip is issued, the leadership is letting MPs know that it expects them to turn up and vote on the matter under discussion!