1st Post: Roles in British Parliamentary Debate

As the name suggests, the different roles in the BP debate derive directly from the British Parliament. Since the Magna Carta in 1295, the power of the king of England was significantly checked by a council of governing nobles, marking the birth of the first parliamentary government in the world. By the 14th century, the English parliament was formally split into two houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons, which correlate to the opening and closing halves of a round of BP debate. Despite many remarkable innovations, the early English parliament still resembled authoritarian and feudal rule to a great extent. Fortunately, as the country of Britain underwent the political and social turmoil in the 19th and 20th centuries, the British Parliament started to represent a much wider range of voices. This is when we start to see the two clashing sides, where the prime minister and his cabinet (the government) would come under attack from opposing parties (opposition).

Just like its political counterpart, each role in one round of the BP debate has a specific task. The prime minister(PM) mirrors the actual leader of the government of the United Kingdom, responsible for clarifying motion, laying the groundwork for the debate, and presenting the main arguments for supporting a policy. Following the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition (LO) responds. As the head of the main opposing party, the LO's task is to question the Government's core case. They must provide a clear refutation to the PM’s solutions and construct the central reason for opposing the motion, often as a counter-model.

The Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) is the second speaker for the government and has two duties. They must rebuild the Government's case from the LO's attacks (refuting the refutation), and offer the government’s refutations to the opposition’s alternatives. If possible, the DPM could also strive to add new arguments to their side to build the nuance of their line of reasoning. Completing the first half of the debate is the Deputy Leader of the Opposition (DLO). Their responsibilities resemble the DPMs’ in that they must continue the Opposition's refutations and attack the Government's extended points, and, if possible, provide additional materials to the Opposition case.

In the second half, the cases are picked up by the Member of Government (MG) and the Member of Opposition (MO). The MG's primary goal is to introduce new arguments and perspectives that support the government’s case in ways that the opening side hasn’t mentioned yet.. They must show why their unique contribution is crucial to winning the debate, all while offering support to their opening team.

The final two speakers are responsible for the final interpretation of the debate. The Government Whip (GW) and the Opposition Whip (OW) are the last speakers. Their role is not to introduce new arguments, but to compare the two sides' cases. They must explain why, despite the Opposition's attacks, the Government's framework and arguments are superior, focusing on the most important points of clash. Many consider the whip position to be particularly challenging because whip speakers need to prove that their own team’s contributions are the most important while not introducing any new content.