This article is part of a series on
Politics of the United Kingdom
Constitution Magna Carta Bill of Rights Treaty of Union (Acts of Union) Parliamentary sovereignty Rule of law Separation of powers Other constitutional principles
The Crown The Monarch (list) King Charles III Heir apparent William, Prince of Wales Royal family Succession Prerogative Counsellors of State Republicanism in the United Kingdom
Executive Privy Council Charles III (King-in-Council) HM Government Cabinet (list) Starmer ministry (L) Prime Minister (list) Keir Starmer (L) Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner (L) Departments Ministers Agencies
Legislature UK Parliament (King-in-Parliament) King Charles III House of Lords Lord Speaker The Lord McFall of Alcluith House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch (C) 59th Parliament Opposition MPs List of MPs
Judiciary Charles III (King-on-the-Bench) Supreme Court President The Lord Reed Deputy President The Lord Hodge Justices of the Supreme Court United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey Deputy governors Monetary Policy Committee Currencies Banknotes Coins
Elections and referendums UK Parliament constituencies (2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies) Political parties Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions Senedd constituencies and electoral regions UK general elections 1801 co-option 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832–33 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan–Feb) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 2024 Endorsements 2010 2015 2017 2019 2024 European Parliament elections (1979–2019) 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Scottish Parliament elections 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Next Northern Ireland Assembly elections 1998 2003 2007 2011 2016 2017 2022 Next Senedd elections 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Next UK referendums 1975 2011 2016
Devolution Intergovernmental relations in the United Kingdom Legislative consent motions Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council Council of the Nations and Regions England Governance of England English votes for English laws Greater London Authority 1998 referendum Greater London Authority Act 1999 (2007 Act) Mayor of London Sadiq Khan Mayoral cabinet London Assembly London Plan Combined authorities Metro mayors Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Act 1998 (2006 Act) First Minister Michelle O'Neill deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly Executive Assembly Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly Law of Northern Ireland Scotland Scottish devolution 1997 referendum Scotland Act 1998 (2012 Act, 2016 Act) First Minister John Swinney Government Scottish Parliament Act of the Scottish Parliament Scottish statutory instrument Scots law Wales Welsh devolution 1997 referendum (2011 referendum on law-making powers) Government of Wales Act 1998 (2006 Act, Wales Act 2014, Wales Act 2017) First Minister Eluned Morgan Government Senedd Measure of the National Assembly for Wales (1999–2011) Act of Senedd Cymru Welsh law
Administration England History Subdivisions: Regions Ceremonial counties (list) Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties Metropolitan county Non-metropolitan county Greater London Unitary authorities (list) Districts (list) Metropolitan Borough Non-metropolitan District London Borough Civil parishes (list) Historic counties Northern Ireland History Subdivisions: Counties Districts Scotland History Subdivisions: Sheriffdoms Council areas Community council areas Civil parishes Shires of Scotland Wales History Preserved counties Principal areas Communities (list) Historic counties
Crown Dependencies Bailiwick of Guernsey (Guernsey Alderney Sark) Bailiwick of Jersey Isle of Man British Islands Common Travel Area UK-CD Customs Union
Overseas Territories Akrotiri and Dhekelia Anguilla Bermuda British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Montserrat Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (Saint Helena Ascension Island Tristan da Cunha) South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands British Overseas Territories citizen Visa requirements Visa policies British Overseas Territories Act 2002 UK-OT JMC Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute Gibraltar sovereignty dispute Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
Foreign relations Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Foreign policy (history) Diplomatic missions of / in the United Kingdom UK passport British National (Overseas) passport Visa requirements UK–CD Customs Union Visa policy Free trade agreements Australia Barbados Belgium Belize Brunei Canada China Hong Kong Cyprus Denmark France Germany India Israel Italy Japan Kenya Malaysia Malta Netherlands New Zealand Norway Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Spain South Africa Palestine Pakistan Poland Portugal United States Zimbabwe Ireland politics of Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement UK–Ireland border Northern Ireland Protocol British–Irish Council European Union (history) Brexit Post-Brexit United Kingdom relations with the European Union UK–EU withdrawal agreement The Commonwealth member states United Kingdom and the United Nations United Nations Security Council P5 NATO G20 G7
United Kingdom portal England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Other countries

The Ten Minute Rule, also known as Standing Order No. 23, is a procedure in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for the introduction of private member's bills in addition to the 20 per session normally permissible. It is one of the ways in which a bill may receive its first reading.

Any Member of Parliament (MP) may introduce a bill under the Ten Minute Rule, although in practice it is only used by backbenchers. To qualify to introduce a bill under the rule, the MP in question must be the first through the door to the Public Bill Office on the Tuesday or Wednesday morning fifteen working days (usually three weeks) prior to the date they wish to introduce their bill. Due to the popularity of the rule and the difficulty in launching a private member's bill by other means, MPs have been known to sleep outside the Public Bill Office in order to guarantee a slot.^[1] In 2014 three MPs agreed a sleeping rota between themselves in order to ensure that they were first in the queue.^[2]

Ten Minute Rule motions are held in the main chamber of the House of Commons immediately after question time, around 12:45pm on most Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Whichever MP has reserved the slot presents their bill and is entitled to speak for 10 minutes to convince the house of its merit. After the 10 minutes have passed, another MP may speak for a further 10 minutes to oppose the bill. The Speaker then calls a voice vote to decide whether the bill should be allowed a second reading, to debate the bill at a later date. The Speaker will divide the house for a recorded count of votes if there is some opposition. However, the majority of Ten Minute Rule motions are not objected to,^[3] and are allowed to proceed without any debate at this stage; this is because MPs have not yet been able to review the bill's content.^[4]

When a Ten Minute Rule motion passes, the bill is added to the register of parliamentary business. It is scheduled for debate along with the other private member's bills, but at a lower priority. The Backbench Business Committee (or Leader of the House of Commons, if the government decides to support the bill) are responsible for determining if and when to allocate parliamentary time for a second reading debate; the MP presenting the bill must then inform the Speaker of its date. The bill is generally printed and published shortly before the second reading.

Bills introduced under the Ten Minute Rule rarely progress much further, because the government usually opposes private member's bills at the second reading and any later stages. Given their low priority in the schedule, there is often insufficient time for the legislative process to complete before the end of the parliamentary session. Most Ten Minute Rule introductions are instead used to stimulate publicity for a cause, especially because the debate follows the media-popular question time and is usually broadcast live on BBC Parliament. Alternatively, a Ten Minute Rule bill can be used to gauge the opinion of MPs on an issue which is planned to be introduced in another bill at a later date.

Sometimes bills introduced under the Ten Minute Rule do become law, passing through every stage of legislation including royal assent. Between 1945 and 2010, there were more than sixty acts of Parliament which were initially introduced under the Ten Minute Rule, including the Divorce (Religious Marriages) Act 2002.^[5] As of 2024, the most recent example is the Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) (Amendment) Act 2019.

The Military Action Against Iraq (Parliamentary Approval) Bill was introduced under the Ten Minute Rule in 1999, but was denied Queen's Consent for its progression to a second reading.^[6] This vetoing of the bill by the monarch was on the advice of government ministers; it was later criticised in the media.^[7][8][9]