It’s an incredibly enjoyable and interesting role to fulfil but one in which people frequently ask: ‘what exactly do whips do?’
The current opposition whips’ office is run by chief whip Rosie Winterton, with the formidable Tynemouth MP Alan Campbell serving as deputy chief whip and the redoubtable Workington MP Tony Cunningham as pairing whip (which is third in command, and has responsibility for letting MPs off the whip when they want to be in their constituencies). Lyn Brown, Mark Tami and David Wright are the experienced whips, who are joined by eight assistant whips, including new MPs Lilian Greenwood, Graham Jones and myself.
Each whip covers a group of fellow MPs, usually but not always assigned on a geographic basis. Our job is to stay in regular communication with them and manage their requests for time away from parliament and so on. We also then each cover a number of government departments. I cover the shadow justice team, the attorney-general’s office, and the office of the deputy prime minister. This involves some specific responsibilities, such as being on duty in the chamber during the relevant departmental questions, and a wider role linking these shadow departments into the overall picture via the chief whip. Each whip operates as part of the shadow team they are attached to, but their role is to represent the chief whip to these teams, and not the other way round.
The most common misconception is that the whips’ office is about enforcement. Of course there is a party position on most issues, but we don’t spend our days twisting people’s arms around their backs in the tea room. What whips really do is provide for the proper organisation of HM opposition (or HM government) in parliament in order to either implement a manifesto, or provide an effective opposition. A parliamentary system requires this level of organisation if it is to provide a forum for the proper discussion of the issues of the day. We frequently speak to the MPs assigned to us, but more often than not this is to feed their views upwards, not pass down commands from on high.
In some senses being a whip is one of the few jobs which comes with more opportunities in opposition. This is because, due to the agenda being set by the executive which naturally wants its business to be passed, it is mostly down to the opposition as to what is called to a vote and when this happens. However, the downside is naturally that without a parliamentary majority you can expect to lose nearly every vote.
Being a whip is also a fantastic job for two other reasons; firstly, it is the best way to learn the detail as to how parliament works, which is invaluable for any MP. Closure motions, deferred divisions, taking votes in parts or in committee on the floor of the house – all these terms now mean something to me. Secondly, the whips’ office is the one part of parliament where you genuinely work in a team, and your success (or failure) is a shared endeavour. This is perhaps the one thing I missed the most from my old working life in a busy law firm when I first became an MP, and something I enjoy a great deal.
It is said that many prime ministers have preferred their ministers to have spent some time in the whips’ office, so that they gain an understanding of some of the things mentioned above. It certainly brings priceless experience, whether to any future ministerial career or simply in how to use parliament to best represent your constituents.