Elizabethan government - WJECThe role of Parliament

The function of Parliament

The Elizabethan Parliament was very different to the Parliament of today. It was much less powerful and not fully representative of the population. There was no Prime Minister, no political parties, Members of Parliament (MPs) were all men, and they were all voted in by wealthy landowners.

Although Parliament was an established part of government, it was not yet regular or necessary.

Parliament’s two main functions were to:

• introduce new laws, by having an Act of Parliament passed
• raise money, as Parliament’s consent was necessary for the collection of taxes

However, Elizabeth tightly controlled Parliament.

• Parliament could only meet if Elizabeth called it, and she set the agenda.
• Parliament could only talk about what Elizabeth allowed it to discuss.
• Elizabeth mainly used Parliament to grant her taxes - this was her main income.
• Elizabeth could close (prorogue) Parliament at any time.
• Elizabeth made sure her Privy Councillors sat in Parliament to help control proceedings.

The issues of taxation and freedom of speech

During this period the House of Commons became increasingly important, mainly because towns were becoming boroughs and were therefore entitled to have an MP. Parliament felt it should have more influence over decisions made for the country. As a result, Elizabeth and her Parliaments did not always agree over important issues.

Tudor monarchs were expected to pay for the cost of running the country, with income coming from areas such as rents from royal estates and customs duties. As a result they often short of money and had to ask Parliament to grant them extra funds through taxation.

Elizabeth’s reign was a period when inflation was a considerable problem and conflicts with other countries made the situation worse. The burden of taxation therefore increased during her reign and the monarch’s demands for extra finance often led to disagreements with Parliament with some MPs refusing to grant extra finance unless issues they wished to discuss were heard.

One of these issues was that of freedom of speech. The Queen and Parliament had very different ideas about what the term meant. Many MPs believed that the Commons should be allowed to discuss whatever it wished, especially Elizabeth’s religious policy. The Queen however, believed their function was to say yes or no to bills, but little else.

Elizabeth claimed rights over certain issues and prohibited Parliament from discussing:

• her marriage and the succession
• religion
• the declaration of war and peace

This did not prevent Parliament from raising these however, and on several occasions the Queen was forced to give vague replies to their demands and then close Parliament. In 1576 the Puritan MP, Peter Wentworth, complained that MPs were not free to discuss whatever they liked. Elizabeth sent him to the Tower of London for a month for speaking out.