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In politics, a whip is a member of a political party in a legislature whose task is to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. The term originated in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and derives from the "whipper-in" at a fox hunt. Whip is also used to mean the voting instructions issued to members by the Whip.

Whip in British politics

The Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons is assisted by the Deputy Chief Whip, Whips, and Assistant Whips. To provide a seat in the Cabinet, the Chief Whip is usually appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury. The other senior government Whips are also given offices in the Government, usually in Her Majesty's Household: the Deputy Chief Whip as Treasurer of HM (Her Majesty's) Household, the next two Whips are Comptroller of HM Household and Vice-Chamberlain of HM Household, and the remaining Whips are Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. (Assistant Whips, and, of course, Whips of other parties, generally do not receive such appointments.)

A similar arrangement exists for Whips in the House of Lords. The Government Chief Whip is usually appointed Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms, while the Deputy Chief Whip is usually appointed Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard. Other Whips, who are fewer in number due to the decreased importance of party discipline in the Lords, are appointed Lords in Waiting if men and Baronesses in Waiting if women.

In the UK Parliament the importance of a vote is indicated by underlining of items on the "whip", which is the name of the letter the Chief Whip faxes to all the MPs in their party at the start of the week. This letter informs them of the schedule for the days ahead, and includes the sentence, "Your attendance is absolutely essential" next to each debate in which there will be a vote, underlined one or three times depending on the consequences that will be suffered if they don't turn up. The actual direction of their vote is communicated to them in the chamber by hand signals during the division when the time comes (usually after Division bell has been rung). Even though it determines the outcome of the votes crucially far more than the debate, neither these instructions, which are visible to everyone in the chamber, nor the "whip" letter at the start of the week, are recorded in Hansard, being as they are considered an internal matter of the political party.

The consequences for defying the party whip depend on the circumstances and are usually negotiated with the party whip in advance. The party whip's job is to ensure the outcome of the vote, so the situation is different and more important for the party which holds the majority, because they can always win. They can make allowances for MPs who are away on important business, whose political circumstances require them to take a particular single issue very seriously, or if there is a mass revolt. Theoretically at least, expulsion from the party is automatically consequent from defying a three-line whip.

For a minister, the consequences for defying the party whip are absolute: they are dismissed from their job immediately, if they have not already resigned, and return to being a backbencher. Sometimes their votes in Parliament are called the "payroll vote", because of their higher salaries and the fact that they can be taken for granted. The consequences for a back-bencher can include the lack of future promotion to a cabinet post, a reduction of party campaigning effort in his constituency during the next election, deselection by his local party activists, or, in extreme circumstances, "withdrawal of the whip" and expulsion from the party.

The whips, although superficially dictatorial, do act as communicators between the backbenchers and the party leadership. Ultimately if backbenchers are unhappy with the leaderships' position they can threaten to revolt during a vote and force the leadership to compromise.

The whip was first introduced to British politics by the Irish Parliamentary Party, under Charles Stewart Parnell.

Whip in United States politics

Both houses of Congress, the House of Representatives and Senate, have majority and minority whips. They in turn have subordinate 'regional' whips.

In the Senate, the Majority Whip is the second highest-ranking individual in the majority party (the party with the greater number of legislators in a legislative body), outranked only by the Majority Leader. However, in the House the Majority Whip is outranked by both the Majority Leader and the Speaker.

In both houses the Minority Whip is the second highest-ranking individual in the minority party (the party with the lesser number of legislators in a legislative body), outranked only by the Minority Leader.

The current Senate Majority Whip is Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who reports to the current Senate Majority Leader, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee.

The current Senate Minority Whip is Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, who reports to the current Senate Minority Leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada.

The current House Majority Whip is Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, who is also the acting House Majority Leader.

The current House Minority Whip in the House is Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who reports to the current House Minority Leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California.

Whip in Australian politics

In the Parliament of Australia and in the Parliaments of the six states and two self-governing territories, all the political parties have whips to ensure party discipline and carry out a variety of other functions on behalf of the party leadership. The most important function of the whips' office is to ensure that all Members and Senators are present to take part in votes in the Chamber. Unlike in the United Kingdom Parliament, government whips do not hold official office, but they are recognised for parliamentary purposes and enjoy certain privileges in the Chamber. The Speaker adresses them as "Chief Government Whip" and "Chief Opposition Whip."

In the House of Representatives, the Chief Government Whip is Kerry Bartlett and the Chief Opposition Whip is Roger Price. The Government Whips are appointed by the Prime Minister in his capacity as Leader of the Liberal Party (that is, they are party appointments not government appointments). The Opposition Whips are elected by the Australian Labor Party Caucus. Each Chief Whip is assisted by two Deputy Whips. On the government side one of the Deputy Whips is always the National Party whip, currently John Forrest.

In the Senate the Government Whip is Senator Jeannie Ferris and the Opposition Whip is Senator George Campbell.

Similar arrangements exist in the state and territory Parliaments.

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 A similar arrangement exists for Whips in the [[House of Lords]]. The Government Chief Whip is usually appointed [[Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms|Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms]], while the Deputy Chief Whip is usually appointed [[Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard|Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard]]. Other Whips, who are fewer in number due to the decreased importance of party discipline in the Lords, are appointed [[Lord-in-Waiting|Lords in Waiting]] if men and Baronesses in Waiting if women.
-In the UK Parliament the importance of a vote is indicated by underlining of items on the "whip", which is the name of the letter the Chief Whip faxes to all the MPs in their party at the start of the week.  This letter informs them of the schedule for the days ahead, and includes the sentence, "Your attendance is absolutely essential" next to each debate in which there will be a vote, underlined one or three times depending on the consequences that will be suffered if they don't turn up.  The actual direction of their vote is communicated to them in the chamber by hand signals during the division when the time comes (usually after [[Division bell]] has been rung).  Even though it determins the outcome of the votes crucially far more than the debate, neither these instructions, which are visible to everyone in the chamber, nor the "whip" letter at the start of the week, are recorded in [[Hansard]], being as they are considered an ''internal'' matter of the [[political party]].
+In the UK Parliament the importance of a vote is indicated by underlining of items on the "whip", which is the name of the letter the Chief Whip faxes to all the MPs in their party at the start of the week.  This letter informs them of the schedule for the days ahead, and includes the sentence, "Your attendance is absolutely essential" next to each debate in which there will be a vote, underlined one or three times depending on the consequences that will be suffered if they don't turn up.  The actual direction of their vote is communicated to them in the chamber by hand signals during the division when the time comes (usually after [[Division bell]] has been rung).  Even though it determines the outcome of the votes crucially far more than the debate, neither these instructions, which are visible to everyone in the chamber, nor the "whip" letter at the start of the week, are recorded in [[Hansard]], being as they are considered an ''internal'' matter of the [[political party]].
 The consequences for defying the party whip depend on the circumstances and are usually negotiated with the party whip in advance.  The party whip's job is to ensure the outcome of the vote, so the situation is different and more important for the party which holds the majority, because they can always win.  They can make allowances for MPs who are away on important business, whose political circumstances require them to take a particular single issue very seriously, or if there is a mass revolt. Theoretically at least, expulsion from the party is automatically consequent from defying a three-line whip.
-For a [[Political minister|minister]], the consequences for defying the party whip are absolute: they are dismissed from their job immediately, if they have not already resigned, and return to being a [[backbencher]].  Sometimes their votes in Parliament are called the "payroll vote", because of their higher salaries and the fact that they can be taken for granted.  The consequences for a back-bencher can include the lack of future promotion to a ministerialship, a reduction of party campaigning effort in his constituency during the next election, deselection by his local party activists, or, in extreme circumstances, "withdrawal of the whip" and expulsion from the party.
+For a [[Political minister|minister]], the consequences for defying the party whip are absolute: they are dismissed from their job immediately, if they have not already resigned, and return to being a [[backbencher]].  Sometimes their votes in Parliament are called the "payroll vote", because of their higher salaries and the fact that they can be taken for granted.  The consequences for a back-bencher can include the lack of future promotion to a cabinet post, a reduction of party campaigning effort in his constituency during the next election, deselection by his local party activists, or, in extreme circumstances, "withdrawal of the whip" and expulsion from the party.
 The whips, although superficially dictatorial, do act as communicators between the [[backbencher]]s and the party leadership.  Ultimately if backbenchers are unhappy with the leaderships' position they can threaten to revolt during a vote and force the leadership to compromise.