麻豆社

Parliamentary whips are expected to maintain party discipline, mainly by encouraging MPs to vote according to the party line.

How does their role change in a hung parliament, when every single vote counts? In the past sick MPs have been ferried in, all leave is cancelled, and arm twisting and inducement reach a new pitch.

Andrew Mitchell is the Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield and worked for the government's whips office during the period of John Major's small majority, and negotiated with Irish MP's on the Maastrict Treaty. He told The World This Weekend, that it "was a huge myth that whipping is all about bullying".

Ann Taylor was a Labour MP and junior Whip during Jim Callaghan's minority government in the 70s. She says that back then, "we had people dying because they of the pressure of being in Westminster, all night sittings...and they had to be in Parliament for critical votes".

(Photo: Boris Johnson (c) arrives in the House of Commons. Credit: Getty Images)