While old-school whipping practices have ended keeping across MPs' activities is now even harder - Sebastian Whale

Everything from how whips communicate, the patronage at their disposal, to the location of their office on Downing Street is not what it used to be.

But a key fundamental—the goal that has long underpinned the entire operation of the whips’ office—has remained the same: delivering the government’s business.

There are myriad ways that The Office’s powers have changed. Once they oversaw appointments to select committees, suggested names for honours and peerages, and adjudicated backbenchers' misdeeds in the absence of parliamentary bodies on standards.

In many respects whips still shape so much of what happens at Westminster, including with reshuffles, assigning sought-after offices and the business in the House of Commons. But their influence has been pooled, diluted or evolved into something that looks a little different.

Whipping has also changed in terms of delivery. The weekly whip, outlining the upcoming business and expectations for votes and attendance, is emailed rather than sent by letter.

Whips create WhatsApp groups for their ‘flocks’, the MPs they’re responsible for in the Commons. Over time more women have been appointed whips, overhauling the officers’ mess motif so closely guarded by many old-school incumbents.

By the 1990s The Office no longer included whips with experience of military service in World War II, which, by its very nature, elicited respect among MPs. Ambitious newcomers seeking ministerial office have replaced Knights of the Shires, MPs with few Westminster-based aspirations or contentions.

Gone, too, are the days of twisted genitalia and hoisted lapels; such exploits wouldn’t survive in today’s world.

Where modern-day whips have sought to apply old-school, Harrison-like solutions, often they’ve been outed by unamused backbenchers or reprimanded by seniors.

Much of being a good whip is about building relationships, understanding MPs’ needs and pre-empting their concerns.

When a backbencher is considering a rebellion, good whips will know who their friends are and who they’ll listen to, facilitating meetings to win them over.

Pastoral care has long been a feature of the whips’ job, but The Office now functions as much as an unofficial HR department as a disciplinary organisation.

But even keeping across MPs’ activities is, in some respects, harder.

The arrival of Portcullis House at the turn of the century saw MPs splinter across the estate, no longer gathering exclusively in members-only spaces.

The change in sitting hours means MPs often leave for the evening, rather than gather in a parliamentary watering hole until the early hours. Few would mourn that particular loss, but it’s now harder for the whips to keep across their flocks’ whereabouts and well-being.

Other aspects of life in the whips’ office remain the same. Through discussions in the Usual Channels, whips from rival parties negotiate and maintain good relations.

For all the protestations otherwise, the whips remain pivotal to how Parliament functions, and retain considerable influence over the lives of the MPs under their watch.

Sebastian Whale is the author of The Usual Channels: Inside The Mysterious World Of Political Whips and John Bercow: Call to Order.