Member of parliament
A member of parliament is a person elected or appointed to a parliament, often representing the people in a specific electoral district. Members of parliament typically form parliamentary groups, sometimes called caucuses, with members of the same political party. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often have a different title. The terms congressman and deputy are equivalent terms used in other jurisdictions.
Westminster system
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Australia
At the Commonwealth level, a "member of parliament" is a member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Commonwealth parliament. Members may use the postnominal "MP" after their names. "MHR" was not used, which was affirmed by cabinet in 1901 and reaffirmed in 1951 and 1965. However, the prohibition of "MHR" does not appear to have been strictly enforced, as it was used most recently by Tony Abbott when he was in the parliament. A member of the upper house of the Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate, is known as a "Senator".States and territories
In the Australian states and territories, "MP" is commonly used. In bicameral legislatures, members of the lower house also use the post-nominals "MLA" or "MHA" and members of the upper house use "MLC".MLCs are informally referred to as upper house MPs.
Bahamas
The Parliament of the Bahamas is the bicameral national parliament of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The parliament is formally made up of the monarch, an appointed Senate, and an elected House of Assembly. It currently sits at Nassau, the national capital.The structure, functions, and procedures of the parliament are based on the Westminster system.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, a member of parliament is an individual who serves in the unicameral Jatiya Sangsad or House of the Nation. Members of the Jatiya Sangsad are elected at a general election, usually held once every five years unless Parliament is dissolved sooner by the president on the advice of the prime minister. Under the Constitution of Bangladesh, an individual is required to be a citizen of Bangladesh and must have attained the age of 25 years in order to qualify for election to Parliament.The Parliament consists of 300 directly elected members from general seats elected by use of first past the post who represent single-constituencies, while 50 seats are reserved exclusively for women and are allocated on a proportional basis. After an election, the Election Commission allocates reserved seats to parties based on the number of general seats they won. A party then presents a list of candidates, each requiring a presenter and a seconder. If the number of candidates presented and seats allocated is equal, then there is no election and the reserved seats are filled in accordance with the candidate lists prepared by parties. In the event there are more candidates than seat allocations, the 300 MPs elected from general seats vote through use of the single transferable vote system to determine the reserved seats. In reality, there has never been an election for reserved seats as parties have never nominated more candidates than they have been allocated. In order to form a Government, a political party or alliance usually requires a simple majority in Parliament. Since Bangladesh's independence, the prime minister has concurrently held the position of Leader of the House.
Barbados
The Parliament of Barbados is the legislative branch of the government of Barbados. It is a bicameral body, composed of an appointed Senate and an elected House of Assembly. The Senate, the direct successor of a pre-Independence body known as the "Legislative Council"—comprises 21 senators appointed by the president. The President appoints 12 Senators on the advice of the Prime Minister and two on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition. The remaining seven Senators are nominated by the President at their discretion to represent various religious, social, economic, or other interests in Barbados.In the absence of an opposition leader in parliament the president will then appoint the remaining two senators in the opposition's stead allowing for 9 independents instead.
The House of Assembly is made up of 30 members of Parliament, elected to five-year terms on a first-past-the-post basis in single-seat constituencies.
Canada
The Parliament of Canada consists of the monarch, the Senate and the House of Commons. Only members of the House of Commons are referred to as members of Parliament ; members of the Senate are called Senators. There are currently 105 seats in the Senate and 343 in the House of Commons. Members of Parliament are elected, while senators are appointed by the governor general on behalf of the sovereign at the direction of the prime minister. Retirement is mandatory for senators upon reaching the age of 75 years.Each province has its own legislature, with each member usually known as a Member of the Legislative Assembly. In certain provinces, legislators carry other titles: Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario, Member of the National Assembly in Quebec and Member of the House of Assembly in Newfoundland and Labrador. The provincial upper houses were eliminated between 1876 and 1968.
Gibraltar
In Gibraltar, members of parliament serve in the unicameral Gibraltar Parliament. There are 17 seats in the Parliament, to which candidates are elected by block voting. Each candidate represents the whole of Gibraltar as their constituency.India
A member of Parliament is a member of either of the two houses of the Indian Parliament: Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Lok Sabha has 543 seats, all of whom are directly elected by the citizens of India from each parliamentary constituency of states and union territories via first-past-the-post voting. Rajya Sabha can have 245 members, of which 238 members are indirectly elected. Of these 238 members, 229 belong to the state legislatures and 9 belongs to the union territories of Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir, and are elected by using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation. The remaining 12 members are nominated by the president for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services. Each state has a fixed number of representatives allocated in each chamber, in order of their respective populations. The state of Uttar Pradesh has the greatest number of representatives in both houses. The person which secures the support of more than half the seats in the Lok Sabha forms the Government. To form the government, parties may form a coalition.The term of a member of the Rajya Sabha is six years, while Lok Sabha members are elected for a term of five years, unless the house is dissolved sooner. Rajya Sabha is a permanent house that is not subject to dissolution, and one third of the members retire every two years. Vacancies in both houses, whether because of death or resignation of a member, must be filled by using a bypoll within six months of the vacancy; the newly elected member then only serves the remainder of the term of the seat to which they are elected. The number of seats in both houses is regulated by the Constitution and parliamentary statutes.
Ireland
Since the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922 and subsequently in the Republic of Ireland, the legislature of Ireland is known as the Oireachtas, and consists of the president; the upper house, Seanad Éireann ; and lower house, Dáil Éireann. They are functionally similar to other bicameral parliaments, with the lower house being significantly more influential and having more power over the creation of legislation. Elections to Dáil Éireann are held at least every five years using the single transferable vote; while elections to Seanad Éireann are restricted to members of both houses, elected members of local authorities, and alumni of National University of Ireland colleges. Eleven senators are nominated directly by the Taoiseach.A Member of Dáil Éireann is known as a Teachta Dála or "Deputy to the Dáil", and addressed as "Teachta", while a Member of the Seanad is known and addressed as Seanadóir. These titles are used much more commonly in English than the official Irish.
A member of Parliament was the term used to refer to a member of the pre-1801 Irish House of Commons of the Parliament of Ireland. Irish members elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland were also called members of Parliament from 1801 to 1922. Northern Ireland continues to elect MPs to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Jamaica
The Parliament of Jamaica is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. It is a bicameral body, composed of an appointed Senate and an elected House of Representatives. The Senate, the direct successor of a pre-Independence body known as the "Legislative Council"—comprises 21 senators appointed by the governor-general: thirteen on the advice of the prime minister and eight on the advice of the leader of the opposition.The House of Representatives, the lower house, is made up of 63 members of Parliament, elected to five-year terms on a first-past-the-post basis in single-seat constituencies.