Editing Conscience vote (section)

=== United Kingdom ===
In the [[British House of Commons]] there used to{{When|date=September 2020}} be a conscience vote every few years on the restoration of the [[death penalty]], which had been abolished in 1964 (except for [[treason]], for which it was abolished in 1998 in the [[Human Rights Act 1998|Human Rights Act]]). It had always been rejected and this practice has now been abandoned. In Britain, laws concerning [[abortion]] have always been subject to a free vote.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

The proposed bans on [[fox hunting|hunting with dogs]] proposed by [[Tony Blair]]'s government were the subject of several free votes in Parliament from 2001.<ref name="ukparl" /> On each occasion the Commons voted for a ban and the [[House of Lords]] rejected it. In 2004 the Government, trying to placate the Lords and other opponents of a ban, proposed only restriction and licensing of hunting, but anti-hunting MPs (mostly [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[backbencher]]s) forced through an amendment that would effect a total ban. Seconds after the vote on the amendment, the Government bowed to pressure and agreed to force the ban through the Lords under the [[Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949]]. It passed in November 2004.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Other decisions that were taken by a free vote include abandoning the experiment with permanent [[daylight saving time|summer time]] and bringing television cameras into Parliament.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}