British Parliamentary Style

British Parliamentary style debate is a common form of academic debate. It has gained support in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, India, Europe, Africa, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and United States, and has also been adopted as the official style of the World Universities Debating Championship, Pan African Universities Debate Championship and European Universities Debating Championship. Speeches are usually five to seven minutes in duration.

Because of the style's origins in British parliamentary procedure, the two sides are called the Government (more commonly called "Proposition" in the United Kingdom) and Opposition. The speakers are similarly titled:

Speaking alternates between the two sides and the order of the debate is therefore:

As British Parliamentary debates take place between four teams their roles are split into two categories, those for the Opening factions, and those for the Closing factions.

The first two teams on each Government and Opposition team are known as part of the Top Half. Each has four basic roles in a British Parliamentary debate. They must:

The Opening Government team has the semi-divine right of definition, preventing the opposition from challenging their definition of the motion unless it is either a truism or clearly unreasonable.

The second two teams are known as the Bottom Half. The roles of the second two factions are to:

In addition, the final two speakers of the debate (known as the Whips) take a similar role to the third speakers in Australia-Asian debating:

The style demands that all speakers offer Points of Information (POIs) to their opposition. To give a POI, a debater who is in the round but on the opposing side of the current speaker may stand up and wait to be called on. If the speaker chooses to call on the debater, the speaker yields the floor for up to 15 seconds, and the debater may offer an argument towards or ask a question to the speaker. POIs are important in British Parliamentary style, as it allows the first two factions to maintain their relevance during the course of the debate, and the last two factions to introduce their arguments early in the debate. The first and last minute of each speech is considered "protected time", during which no points of information may be offered.

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