The Private Members' Bills ballot is held at the start of each new parliamentary session. The 20 MPs who are successful in the ballot gain priority, based on the order in which they are drawn, in consideration of their chosen Bills on Private Members' Bill Fridays.
The Bills of the MPs successful in the ballot are formally presented in the House on the fifth sitting Wednesday. In general, only the titles of the bills are known at this stage; their texts may not appear in print until some time after this date.
The Private Members' Bills ballot for the 2008-09 session took place on Thursday 11 December 2008.
The 20 MPs successful in the ballot were as follows:
Mrs Cheryl Gillan
Mr David Heath
Mr Lindsay Hoyle
Peter Luff
Dr Evan Harris
Malcolm Wicks
Mr Peter Ainsworth
David Mundell
Mrs Jacqui Lait
Sir Paul Beresford
Mr Stephen Crabb
Mrs Caroline Spelman
Mr Jeremy Browne
Mr Jim Cunningham
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr Russell Brown
Mr Charles Kennedy
Philip Davies
John Bercow
Mr Michael Mates
For information on the progress of Private Members' Bills, including ballot Bills:
For information on Private Members' Bill procedure and practice: