British Parliamentary BP
WUDC-style four-team format. Two teams per side, ranked 1 through 4. Whip speeches collapse the round.
British Parliamentary is the format of the World Universities Debating Championship and most international circuits. Four teams of two debaters each take seats around the room. Opening Government and Opening Opposition take the first speeches; Closing Government and Closing Opposition follow.
The defining feature is that teams on the SAME side compete with each other. You are ranked 1st through 4th. To win, you have to beat your bench partners on the same side as well as the opposing bench. That forces extensions — Closing teams need to introduce a substantively new argument or analysis that the Opening team did not bring.
Whip speeches collapse the round into the single clash that wins. No new material — just weighing, comparing, and explaining why your bench beats every other bench.
Speech structure
| Speech | Time | Side |
|---|---|---|
| PM Prime Minister | 7 min | OG |
| LO Leader of Opposition | 7 min | OO |
| DPM Deputy Prime Minister | 7 min | OG |
| DLO Deputy Leader of Opposition | 7 min | OO |
| MG Member of Government | 7 min | CG |
| MO Member of Opposition | 7 min | CO |
| GW Government Whip | 7 min | CG |
| OW Opposition Whip | 7 min | CO |
How judges score it
- Teams are ranked 1-4 by quality of contribution to the round.
- Closing teams must extend — introduce a new argument or layer.
- POIs accepted between minute 1 and minute 6 of each speech.
- Weighing and comparative analysis decide tight rounds.
- Whip speeches are about strategic collapse, not summary.
What wins this format
- A genuinely new extension from Closing — not a re-skin of Opening.
- POI handling that turns the opponent's question into your point.
- Whip speeches that explicitly compare bench-to-bench, not just side-to-side.
- Clear, repeated weighing on a small number of strong points.
What loses this format
- Closing teams re-arguing what Opening already said.
- Refusing POIs across an entire speech.
- Whip speeches that introduce new arguments (penalized).
- Trying to win every clash. Pick three and weigh them.
Sample motions
- This House would mandate open-source release of any AI model trained on public-internet data.
- This House would phase out the United Nations Security Council veto.
- This House regrets the dominance of streaming services in music.
- This House would treat addiction as a medical condition, not a moral failing.
Try a BP round against the AI.
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