Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 29 Gorffennaf 1926.
Sir Gerald Strickland
, Lancaster
If you will allow me, Sir, I will deal at once with a point for which the Secretary of State is responsible. The point has been before this House already, namely, that if a Constitution Bill has been passed, but not by a two-thirds Majority, it cannot become an Act; meanwhile the old law is in suspense. The Law Officers of the Crown, upon a request made to this House, considered that question, and decided that the Constitution had to be upheld, and that the steps taken to upset it were inadequate. Obedience to that finding is a point that is within the competence of my right hon. Friend because it is his duty to ensure the upholding of the Constitution.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.