The British Parliamentary Format

Four Teams, One Motion

British Parliamentary (BP) is the most widely used competitive debate format in the world, featured at the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC). Unlike two-team formats, BP places four teams of two speakers in a single round:

• Opening Government (OG) — defines the motion and sets the debate
• Opening Opposition (OO) — responds to OG's case
• Closing Government (CG) — must extend the government line with new material
• Closing Opposition (CO) — must extend the opposition line with new material

Each team is ranked 1st through 4th at the end of the round. Teams on the same side (OG/CG or OO/CO) are allies in principle but competitors in practice — a closing team that merely repeats opening arguments will be ranked last. This creates the central strategic tension of BP: you must support your side's position while bringing something distinctly new.

Speech Order and Timing

BP rounds consist of eight speeches, each seven minutes long. The order is:

1. Prime Minister (OG) — opens the case for the motion
2. Leader of the Opposition (OO) — responds and sets the opposition case
3. Deputy Prime Minister (OG) — rebuilds and extends OG's case
4. Deputy Leader of the Opposition (OO) — rebuilds and extends OO's case
5. Member for the Government (CG) — introduces the government extension
6. Member for the Opposition (CO) — introduces the opposition extension
7. Government Whip (CG) — summarizes the government bench
8. Opposition Whip (CO) — summarizes the opposition bench

Points of Information (POIs) may be offered during the middle five minutes of each speech (not in the protected first and last minutes).