SODOMY, SLAUGHTER, SUNDAY SHOPPING AND SEAT-BELTS - FREE VOTES IN THEHOUSE-OF-COMMONS, 1979 TO 1996

This report analyses the cohesion of British parliamentary parties ove r a range of 'free' votes - votes on which the party managers gave no instructions - between 1979 and 1996. British parties are usually high ly cohesive, and this is often attributed to strict party management b y the party 'whips', who are said to bully MPs into line. But this rep ort shows that high levels of party discipline exist even when the whi ps are 'off'. Even on moral issues, which are said to split the partie s, it is more usual to see the vast majority of one main party opposin g the vast majority of the other main party.