Britain’s bloated payroll vote hampers Parliament in keeping a check on the executive

The latest Coalition reshuffle saw the size of the payroll vote remain steady, with 140 members of the Government benches in the House of Commons now compelled to vote in line with the frontbench, or else lose their position. In previous Democratic Audit reports and articles, Stuart Wilks-Heeg, Andrew Blick, and Stephen Crone have considered the democratic implications of this convention.