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:
- Opening Government (first faction):
- Prime Minister
- Deputy Prime Minister
- Opening Opposition (second faction):
- Leader of the Opposition
- Deputy Leader of the Opposition
- Closing Government (third faction):
- Member of Government
- Government Whip
- Closing Opposition (fourth faction):
- Member of Opposition
- Opposition Whip (Even though there are two teams of government or opposition, it does not mean they are on the same side, technically they are, but they still could not see each other’s arguments and also, they are trying to knock each other out.)
Speaking alternates between the two sides and the order of the debate is therefore:
- Prime Minister
- Leader of the Opposition
- Deputy Prime Minister
- Deputy Leader of the Opposition
- Member of Government
- Member of Opposition
- Government Whip
- Opposition Whip
The British Parliamentary (BP) debating style involves 4 teams; „government“ or „proposition“ (one opening, one closing) teams support the motion, and two „opposition“ teams (one opening, one closing) oppose it. The closing team of each side must either introduce a new substantive point (outward extension) or expand on a previous point made by their opening team (inward extension), all whilst agreeing with their opening team yet one-upping them, so to speak. In a competitive round, the teams are ranked first to fourth with the first place team receiving 3 points, the second receiving 2, the third receiving 1 and the fourth place receiving no points. This is the style used by the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC).
