Editing Crossing the floor

{{Short description|Changing one's political allegiance while in office}}
{{Party politics}}
[[File:Australian Senate - Parliament of Australia.jpg|thumb|right|300px|In the [[Australian Senate]], Senators vote in favor of a motion by sitting on the benches to the president's right (left of photo), and against it by sitting on the benches to the president's left (right of photo)]]

In some [[parliamentary system]]s (e.g., in [[Canada]] and the [[United Kingdom]]), politicians are said to '''cross the floor''' if they [[Party switching|formally change their political affiliation]] to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. In [[Australia]], this term simply refers to Members of Parliament (MPs) who dissent from the [[Party line (politics)|party line]] and vote against the express instructions of the [[Whip (politics)|party whip]] while retaining membership in their political party.{{Efn|The [[Australian Labor Party]] has sanctions which can include expulsion of a member from the party if they cross the floor.}}

Voting against party lines may lead to consequences such as losing a position (e.g., as minister or a portfolio critic) or being ejected from the party caucus. While these practices are legally permissible in most countries, crossing the floor can lead to controversy and media attention. Some countries like [[Malaysia]], [[Pakistan]], [[India]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/What-the-Anti-Defection-Law-says/article15777794.ece|title=What the Anti-Defection Law says|last=Venkatesan|first=J.|date=2010-10-12|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-03-27|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> [[Indonesia]], the [[Maldives]] and [[Bangladesh]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-367/section-24624.html|title=The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh &#124; 70. Vacation of seat on resignation or voting against political party|website=bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd}}</ref> have laws that remove a member from parliament due to floor-crossing.

==Etymology==
The term originates from the [[British House of Commons]], which is configured with the Government and [[Parliamentary Opposition|Opposition]] facing each other on rows of benches. In consequence, [[Member of Parliament|MPs]] who switch from the governing party to one in opposition (or vice versa) also change which side of the chamber on which they sit. A notable example of this is [[Winston Churchill]], who crossed the floor from the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] to the [[Liberal party (UK)|Liberals]] in 1904, later crossing back in 1924. The term has passed into general use in other [[Westminster System|Westminster]] parliamentary democracies even if many of these countries have semicircular or horseshoe-shaped debating chambers.

The Australia meaning on the other hand arises from the way divisions—roll call votes—are conducted.<ref>[https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1920/CrossingTheFloorFederalParliament Australian Parliamentary Library Research Papers:  "Crossing the floor in the federal parliament 1950–April 2019" (Deirdre McKeown and Rob Lundie, March 12, 2020.]</ref> In Australian chambers, members move to the government benches (on the presiding officer's right) to vote in favor of a motion, and the opposition benches (on the presiding officer's left) to vote against a motion. Therefore, an MP who crosses the floor is on the opposite side of the chamber from the rest of their party, and on government motions frequently on the opposite side of the chamber than they normally sit.

In [[Nigeria]], the term "crossing the carpet" or "carpet crossing" is used.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://guardian.ng/opinion/carpet-crossing/ |first=Dan |last=Agbese |title=Carpet Crossing |newspaper=[[The Guardian (Nigeria)|The Guardian]] |location=Lagos |date=19 February 2017}}</ref> In India, a similar expression is "[[Aaya Ram Gaya Ram]]", referring to political floor-crossing.<ref name=ddd4>Paras Diwan, 1979, "Aya Ram Gaya Ram: The Politics Of Defection", ''Journal of the Indian Law Institute'', Vol. 21, No. 3, July–September 1979, pp. 291-312.</ref>

== Changing parties ==
In the United Kingdom and Canada, crossing the floor means leaving one's party entirely and joining another caucus. For example, leaving an opposition party to support the government (or vice versa), leaving or being expelled from the party one ran with at election and sitting as a clear<ref group=note>Independents are MPs who are not members of any party recognized in the House, which may happen for a range of reasons. The House may have a minimum threshold caucus size for party recognition (distinct from the Electoral oversight body), so if only one or two politicians are elected from a minor party their party is not accorded status and they are treated as independents. Another reason could relate to e.g. the death of a party's candidate after ballots were printed but before polling began, so alternate candidate runs independently but pledging to "take the whip" of party X. These examples are not "clearly" independent MPs, unlike someone who resigns from party Y declaring they can no longer in principle remain with it, or someone who ran and was elected on a platform against all the existing parties.</ref> independent, or even leaving one opposition party to join another. In both countries, the term carries only this meaning, not simply voting against the party line on a bill.

In April 2006, then-premier of Manitoba [[Gary Doer]] of the [[New Democratic Party of Manitoba]] proposed banning crossing the floor in the Manitoba legislature in response to "the concern some voters have expressed over the high-profile defections of three federal MPs from their parties in just over two years".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.canada.com/cityguides/reddeer/story.html?id=3d05619e-313e-4cce-a7a2-f5beed56b228&k=3864 |title=Proposed reforms would ban floor-crossing in Man. |last=Macafee |first=Michelle |date=April 11, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070323022203/http://www.canada.com/cityguides/reddeer/story.html?id=3d05619e-313e-4cce-a7a2-f5beed56b228&k=3864 |archive-date=March 23, 2007 |publisher=Canadian Press}}</ref> The resulting legislation, which amended the provincial ''Legislative Assembly Act'', mandated that members of the legislature who quit (or are expelled from) their political party had to serve out the remainder of their term as independents.<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Elections Reform Act|abbr=SM |year=2006 |chapter=15 |link=https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/2006/c01506ee.php}}.</ref>  However, in 2018, the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba|Progressive Conservative]] government of [[Brian Pallister]] repealed the bill.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/floor-crossing-ban-law-change-1.4297517 |title=Manitoba government will change law banning floor-crossing, avoid lawsuit |first=Steve |last=Lambert |work=[[CBC News]] |agency=The Canadian Press |orig-date=September 19, 2017 |date=September 20, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=The Legislative Assembly Amendment Act (Member Changing Parties) |abbr=SM |year=2018 |chapter=3 |link=https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/2018/c00318e.php}}.</ref>

An extraordinary example occurred in Alberta, Canada, in December 2014 by [[Danielle Smith]], the Leader of the Official Opposition. She and eight of her MLAs, all of the [[Wildrose Party]], crossed the floor together to join the governing [[Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/1737886/danielle-smiths-move-to-pcs-unprecedented/ |title=Danielle Smith's move to PCs 'unprecedented' |date=December 20, 2014 |first=Alyssa |last=Julie |work=Global News}}</ref> In 2019, eleven [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|British MPs]] defected from the Conservative and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] parties to form the [[Change UK]] party. In September 2019, the governing Conservative party lost its working majority when [[Phillip Lee (politician)|Phillip Lee MP]] defected to the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] during the first speech of new prime minister [[Boris Johnson]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49570682 |title=Tory MP defects ahead of crucial Brexit vote |work=[[BBC News]] |date=3 September 2019 |access-date=4 September 2019 |language=en-GB}}</ref> On 19 January 2022, [[Christian Wakeford]], Conservative [[Member of Parliament (UK)|MP]] for [[Bury South (UK Parliament constituency)|Bury South]], crossed the floor to the Labour benches.<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 January 2022 |title=Tory MP Christian Wakeford defects to Labour |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60054968 |access-date=19 January 2022}}</ref>

==Voting against party lines==
In some countries, the phrase "crossing the floor" describes members of a government party or parties who defect by voting with the opposition against some piece of government-sponsored legislation. Political parties commonly allow their members a free vote on some matters of personal conscience. In Australia, one of the major parties, the [[Australian Labor Party]] requires its members to pledge their support for the collective decisions of the caucus,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22library%2Fprspub%2F31KH6%22 |title=Crossing the floor in the Federal Parliament 1950 – August 2004 |work=Research Note no. 11 2005–06 |publisher=Parliament of Australia |date=October 10, 2005}}</ref> which theoretically prohibits them from "crossing the floor" in this sense; however, in practice, some Labor members disregard this pledge, despite the disciplinary action which may result. Among other parties, crossing the floor is rare, although then Senator [[Barnaby Joyce]] of the [[National Party of Australia]] crossed the floor 28 times.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1920/CrossingTheFloorFederalParliament |title=Crossing the floor in the federal parliament 1950–April 2019 |last1=McKeown |first1=Deirdre |last2=Lundie |first2=Rob |date=12 March 2020 |website=Parliament of Australia}}</ref> Tasmanian Senator [[Reg Wright|Sir Reg Wright]] voted against his own party, the [[Liberal Party of Australia]], on 150 occasions, which has been claimed as a record for this form of crossing the floor in the Australian Parliament.

==See also==
*''[[Aaya Ram Gaya Ram]]'', a term used in India for party-switching politicians
*[[Article 70 of the Constitution of Bangladesh]]
*[[Anti-defection law (India)]]
*[[Aisle (political term)]]
*[[Conscience vote]]
*[[Crossover voting]]
*[[Floor crossing (South Africa)]]
*[[Frog (Malaysian politics)|Katak (Malaysia)]]
*[[List of British politicians who have crossed the floor]]
*[[List of Canadian politicians who have crossed the floor]]
*[[List of United States representatives who switched parties]]
*[[List of United States senators who switched parties]]
*[[Party switching]] for a similar concept
*[[Trasformismo]] for a similar concept in Italy
*[[Waka-jumping]]
*[[Whip (politics)]], in UK politics voting against the party line is known as "defying the whip"
*[[Party discipline]]

== Notes ==
<references group="note"/><references group="lower-alpha" />
==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crossing The Floor}}
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Westminster system]]
[[Category:Party switching]]