Also known as: tellers in parliament · parliamentary teller · teller · division teller · vote counter
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A parliamentary officer in the British House of Commons appointed by the Speaker to count votes during divisions. Two tellers are drawn from the government benches and two from the opposition.
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During a late-night division on a finance bill, Speaker appoints Taliah Tang and Tobias Thomas from the government side along with Tracy Torres and Tabitha Taylor from the opposition. Taliah Tang and Tracy Torres walk the aisles counting ayes while Tobias Thomas and Tabitha Taylor count noes. Their tallies are announced and recorded as the official result.
After a contentious debate on education funding, the Speaker names Tyrone Tran and Tiffany Torres for the government and two opposition members. Tyrone Tran and Tiffany Torres conduct the count twice to confirm the narrow margin. The Speaker then casts the deciding vote based on their verified tally.
Following a close vote on a procedural motion, the opposition disputes the initial count. The Speaker immediately reappoints fresh tellers including Tabitha Taylor to conduct a second division. The new count confirms the earlier result and ends the challenge.
On final reading of a major statute, the Speaker selects two government tellers and two opposition tellers. The government pair reports a clear majority while the opposition pair records a lower total. The bill passes on the strength of the tellers' joint announcement.
When a sudden division arises on an amendment, the Speaker designates two government members and two opposition members as tellers. The four members count members present and report the outcome within minutes, allowing the House to proceed.
Near midnight the Speaker appoints four tellers to count a snap vote on adjournment. The government tellers and opposition tellers separately verify the numbers before the result is declared and the House rises.
The Speaker appoints four tellers: two from the government and two from the opposition. Their paired counts produce the official division result.
Supporting sources
A teller's sole duty is to count the votes of members during a division and report the numbers to the Speaker for announcement.
Supporting sources
No. Tellers must be sitting members of the House of Commons chosen by the Speaker from the government and opposition benches.
Supporting sources
…might have frightened (or merely warned), injured seriously (or less seriously), tied up (or simply pushed) a guard, a teller or a customer, at night (or at noon), for a bad (or arguably less bad) motive, in an effort to obtain money for other crimes (or for other purposes), in the company of a few (or many) other…