Parliamentary group

Parliamentary groups correspond to "caucuses" in the United States Congress and the Parliament of Canada.[1] A parliamentary group is sometimes called the parliamentary wing of a party, as distinct from its organisational wing.

The term or equivalent applies to a number of countries, including: Australia (party room); Austria (Club); Belgium (fractie/fraction/Fraktion); Brazil and Portugal ("grupo parlamentar" or "bancadas"); Germany (Fraktion); Italy (gruppo), Finland (eduskuntaryhmä/riksdagsgrupp); the Netherlands (fractie); Switzerland (fraction/Fraktion/frazione); and Romania (grup parlamentar), which all have recognized multiparty systems.

The political groups of the European Parliament are similar to other parliamentary groups. They are more regulated than other kinds of parliamentary groups: to gain financial support or to join committees, each parliamentary group must consist of no less than 25 MEPs from seven different EU member states.

Generally, parliamentary groups have some independence from the wider party organisations. It is often thought improper for elected MPs to take instructions solely from non-elected party officials or from the small subset of the electorate represented by party members. In any case, the exigencies of government, the need to cooperate with other members of the legislature and the desire to retain the support of the electorate as a whole often preclude strict adherence to the wider party's wishes. The exact relationship between the parliamentary party and the party varies between countries, and also from party to party. For example, in some parties, the parliamentary and organisational leadership will be held by the same person or people, whether ex officio or not; other parties maintain a sharp distinction between the two offices. Nevertheless, in almost all cases, the parliamentary leader is the public face of the party, and wields considerable influence within the organisational wing, whether or not he or she has any official position there.

A parliamentary group is typically led by a parliamentary group leader or chairperson, though some parliamentary groups have two or more co-leaders. If the parliamentary group is represented in the legislature, the leader is almost always chosen from among the sitting members; if the leader does not yet have a seat in the legislature, a sitting member of the group may be expected to resign to make way for him or her. If the party is not represented in the legislature for the time being, the leader will often be put forward at a general election as the party's candidate for their most winnable seat. In some parties, the leader is elected solely by the members of the parliamentary group; in others, some or all members of the wider party participate in the election. Parliamentary groups often have one or more whips, whose role is to support the leadership by enforcing party discipline.

• Conservative Party: Conservative Private Members' Committee
• Labour Party: Parliamentary Labour Party

One special kind of parliamentary groups are the Parliamentary Friendship Groups,[2][3][4][5] also called Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Groups[6][7][8] or Friendship Parliamentary Groups[9][10][11] or Parliamentary Group of Friendship [and Cooperation].[12]

"Parliamentary Friendship" groups are groups of congresspeople/members of parliament who voluntarily organise themselves to promote parliamentary relations between their own Parliament and another country's (or even a region's group of countries') parliament(s), and, in a broader scope, to foster the bilateral relations between said countries. Parliamentary friendship groups play an important role in New Zealand’s engagement in inter-parliamentary relations, with group members often called upon to participate and host meetings for visiting delegations from the other part, as well as often being invited by the other country's parliament to visit it.[13][14]

Friendship Groups do not speak for the Government of their own country, or even for the whole of the Parliament/Congress to which they belong, as they are usually self-regulating and self-fulfilling.[14]

Parliamentary Friendship Groups are active in the national congresses/parliaments of countries such as Armenia,[15] Australia,[2] Brazil,[11][15] Germany,[5] Israel,[8] Laos,[16] New Zealand,[14] Pakistan,[17] Peru,[3] Romania,[9] Serbia,[13] Slovenia,[18] South Korea,[19] Switzerland,[20] and the United States,[20] among many others.

• Caucus

• Political groups of the European Parliament
• Parliamentary groups of the Parliament of Finland
• Parliamentary groups of the French parliament
• Parliamentary groups of the German parliament