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GENERAL POINTS
Always check the spelling of MPs and their constituencies if not entirely
familiar: the best reference isThe Times Guide to the House of Commons.
Similarly, check Vacher's Parliamentary Companion or Who's Who for
peers.
For guidance on when to cap or l/c Government,Opposition, Parliament, Party,
see individual entries in thealphabetical list of this Style Guide.
Remember that Government, Cabinet, Opposition,Parliament, Party etc take the
singular verb, eg, the Cabinet is considering...
It is never necessary to say Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, etc: we
may assume that Times readers know who the Prime Minister is. But
it may be helpful to the flow of the story to write, eg, the Prime
Minister said... lower down the story, to avoid the endless repetition
of Mr Blair.
PARLIAMENTARY STYLES
Act(s) always capped, whether fully identified or not
backbench (adjective), backbenchers, but the
back benches; similarly, frontbench (adj), but the
front bench; and crossbench (in the Lords), the
cross benches
Bill(s) always capped (as with Acts above). Bills are read a
first time without a debate. The second reading debate is the debate on the
principle of the Bill. The Bill then goes to its committee stage, usually in
a standing committee composed of about 20 MPs, but occasionally on the floor
of the Commons. It then returns to the Commons chamber for its report stage
and third reading, which is the final debate on the principle of the Bill.
It then goes to the Lords, where similar procedures apply. Note that some
legislation starts in the Lords and comes to the Commons thereafter
Cabinet always capped (as with Act and Bill), whether used as
a noun or adjectivally, except in the informal kitchen cabinet.
Cabinet committees should be capped
chamber (l/c)
Clause Four (as in Labour Party policy); but Clause 4
permissible in headlines
closure, as in move the closure
committees cap select committees when full
title, such as the Select Committee on the Environment; Cabinet committees
such as the Cabinet Committee on the Intelligence Services;
the Public Accounts Committee (PAC); the 1922
Committee(of Tory backbenchers); the National Executive
Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party (or Labour's national
executive as a shorter alternative)
Commons takes singular verb, eg, the Commons is debating…
Conservative Central Office, second mention Central Office
(never CCO)
crossbench, the cross benches (see backbench)
Cunningham through common usage, refer to him at first
mention as Jack Cunningham (rather than John), then Dr Cunningham (though he
is not a medical doctor)
deputy speakers there are three,and should appear thus: John
Jones, the Deputy Speaker
dispatch box (l/c)
Downing Street policy unit; 10 Downing Street, or No
10
Duncan Smith, Iain (no hyphen)
early day motion (l/c)
elections general election ALWAYS l/c; similarly by-election,
European elections etc
FDA is the name by which the First Division Association, the union that
represents leading civil and public servants, wishes to be known.
frontbench (adjective), the front bench (see
backbench above)
galleries l/c, but the Press Gallery, Strangers'
Gallery etc
group cap in cases such as the 92 Group (of
Tory rightwingers)
guillotine (l/c, no quotationmarks)
Hansard (italics)
House of Lords officers the Clerk of the Parliaments, the
Clerk Assistant (of the Parliaments), the Reading Clerk (of the House of
Lords)
leaders Leader of the House, Leader of the Opposition (caps
in both cases), but the Conservative/Labour/Liberal Democrat leader (l/c),
the leader ofthe party etc
Liberal Democrats permissible touse Lib Dems in either
headlines or text (though sparingly intext). The term Liberals must
not be used as a synonym of Liberal Democrats
Lords takes singular verb, eg, the Lords is sitting...
Lower House (caps)
Members of Parliament Member is capped; in almost every case,
MPs is the preferable form. But in the Political Sketch, and discursive or
commentary articles, the term Members sometimes occurs for stylistic reasons
and should be retained and capped; similarly in such articles, the Member
for Billericay etc, the Hon Member, and so on
National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party, or
simply Labour's national executive
new Labour l/c “n”, quotes not usually necessary, exceptwhen
the writer or speaker is making a particular, perhaps ironic, point. But
keep caps in slogans such as “New Labour, New Danger”, and note New Deal
1922 Committee of Torybackbenchers
Oath of Allegiance (caps), the oath thereafter
one member, one vote (no hyphens)
One Nation Tories, One Nation politics etc
Opposition the same cap or l/c rules apply as to Government —
cap as a noun but generally l/c asadjective, eg, “He accused the Opposition
of lying”, but “He said it was an opposition lie”
order, order paper (l/c)
Parliament cap always in the British context (but see in
alphabetical list for when to capforeign parliaments). The cap rule now
applies even to phrases such as the lifetime of this Parliament or
the Billis unlikely to progress until the next Parliament. The
adjective parliamentary is usually l/c except when used as
part of a title, eg, Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP)
parliamentary private secretary (l/c), abbreviated PPS
Part I, Part II of a Bill etc; caps also with Section
2, Article 8 etc
party abbreviations in lists or political sketches or reports
of debates where party affiliation is added after an MP's name — eg, Hilary
Benn (Lab, Leeds Central) — use Lab for Labour, C for Conservative (not
Con), and LD for Liberal Democrat (not Lib Dem) party conference
l/c conference, as in Labour Party conference
Permanent Secretary when specific, l/c when general reference
politics treat as singular when talking of the form or process of
government; plural when meaning a particular set of principles, ideas etc.
eg, "Politics is a popular subject at many universities"; "What
are your politics?" (Fowler)
Private Member's Bill (caps)
Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
Queen's Speech (caps)
Question Time, Prime Minister's Questions, also Agriculture
Questions, Treasury Questions etc; but questions (l/c) to
the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary etc
Register of Members' Interests (caps)
Royal Assent (caps)
royal commissions see in main alphabetical list
select committees cap when giving full title, eg, Treasury
Select Committee
Serjeant at Arms
Shadow use of the titles may be applied to the main
opposition party and the Liberal Democrats, for example, the Shadow
Chancellor, the Liberal Democrats' Shadow Chancellor. Cap in all cases, ie,
Shadow Cabinet, Shadow Environment Secretary, Shadow Chief Whip, a Shadow
spokesman
Smith the widow of John Smith is Baroness Smith of
Gilmorehill (thereafter Lady Smith); she is NOT Dame Elizabeth Smith
Speaker usual style is Michael Martin, the Speaker,
at first mention, there after the Speaker or Mr Martin
spin-doctor (hyphen)
State Opening (of Parliament) (caps)
Tea Room two words with initial caps, in Commons Tea Room
ten-minute rule (Bill etc)
Treasury bench
under-secretary use hyphen; same caps or l/c rules as for
ministers. See ministers
Upper House (caps)
Vote (of money) takes cap
Welsh Assembly members are abbreviated AMs; MLAs for Northern
Ireland Assembly; MSPs for Scottish Parliament. Cap A for
Assembly at second mention in Wales and Northern Ireland; cap P for
Parliament in Scotland.
West Lothian question (l/c q)
whips cap for the Chief Whip, Opposition Chief Whip,
Whips' Office; but l/c as in three-line whip, he lost the
party whip, a government whip
Woolsack (initial cap)
