Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Food Supplies – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 12 Mai 1947.
Mr Evelyn Strachey
, Dundee
12:00,
12 Mai 1947
It is entirely a question of rationing. If we can abolish, for example, bread rationing and the rationing of other staple foods, of course, we can make a most substantial decrease. The vast Majority of this staff is employed in the local offices on rationing.
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.
