House of Lords: Largest Votes Recorded
What have been the largest ever votes in the House of Lords? This briefing provides a list of divisions since 1999 where 500 or more Members have voted.

The bill would create a discretionary power to enable ministers and certain Opposition office holders to take six months paid maternity leave subject to certain conditions. This briefing considers: the background to the bill; what it would do; what happened during its passage through the House of Commons; and the wider reaction to the bill.
Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages (341 KB, PDF)
In November 2020, the Attorney General, Suella Braverman, announced that she was expecting her second child in early 2021. Under current rules, Ms Braverman would have to resign to be able to take maternity leave. To avoid this the Government has introduced the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill.
The bill would create a discretionary power to enable the prime minister to designate a minister wishing to take maternity leave as a ‘minister on leave’. This would mean that she would be able to take six months paid maternity leave, subject to certain conditions, and return to her post after. It would also mean that the individual appointed to provide cover for the minister would receive a ministerial allowance equivalent to their salary for up to six months. In addition, the bill would provide for salaried Opposition office holders to take six months paid maternity leave without having to resign.
The bill does not make provision for paternity leave, shared parental leave or adoption leave. These issues, among others, were raised during the bill’s passage through the House of Commons.
The bill completed its Commons stages without amendment on 11 February 2021. It received cross-party support. However, during both second reading and committee stage, MPs raised concerns about matters including: the narrow scope of the bill; the lack of an equalities impact assessment for the bill; the use of gender-neutral language; the time limit of six months for paid leave; and the discretionary nature of the provisions.
Outside of Parliament, although the bill has been generally welcomed, some have argued that the scope of the bill is too narrow. They say that the bill should be used to address wider issues with statutory maternity pay and maternity leave for MPs.
Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages (341 KB, PDF)
What have been the largest ever votes in the House of Lords? This briefing provides a list of divisions since 1999 where 500 or more Members have voted.
As part of its sustainable development goals, the United Nations (UN) has called for women to achieve full and effective participation in political life by 2030. Currently, women account for 25.5% of national representatives worldwide. The UN has said that with the current rate of action gender parity will not be reached for another 130 years. This article considers which countries are leading on political gender parity and what barriers to full participation remain.
The first anniversary of the Coronavirus Act 2020 passing into law will fall on 25 March 2021. Both Houses of Parliament are due to hold debates on this date to consider a one-year status report on the act and its provisions. The House of Lords is also set to consider certain health protection regulations made under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 during its debate.