MPs' Guide to Procedure

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How to move the closure

These steps are for you as an MP rather than your staff. In the Chamber, you can move the closure at any time. The only exception is in Committee of the whole House when a member of the Panel of Chairs is in the Chair, rather than one of the Deputy Speakers.

Steps

  1. If you plan to move the closure, it would be helpful to let the Speaker know in advance, but it’s not obligatory.
  2. If another MP is speaking, you can interrupt them. Stand in your place and say “I beg to move that the question be now put” (or for the Golding closure—which you use when the mover of a motion or amendment hasn’t finished his or her speech —“I beg to move that the question be now proposed.”)
  3. The Speaker will decide whether to put the question on the closure to the House. The Speaker will take into account the length and range of the debate. If the Speaker decides not to put the question on the closure to the House, the debate is resumed at the point at which it was interrupted.
  4. If the Speaker puts the question on the closure to the House and there’s a vote, as well as a majority, you will need at least 100 MPs to vote in favour of the motion for it to be agreed. If the closure motion is agreed, the question that was originally being debated is then put immediately for a decision. If the closure motion is not agreed, the debate resumes at the point at which it was interrupted.