The name derives from the idea that an MP who tables one is calling for a debate on the topic covered by the motion to be held "on an early day".
In practice, early day motions are rarely debated in the House, and their main purpose is to draw attention to particular subjects of interest.
EDMs tabled on serious topics have included one demanding the release of Nelson Mandela when he was incarcerated in apartheid South Africa, and one calling for a consultation on the fingerprinting of children in schools without parental permission.
[6] Conservative MP Robert Courts has been an outspoken critic of EDMs, describing them as "parliamentary graffiti."
Courts has said that EDMs are generally tabled by MPs on behalf of "lobbyists or groups keen to show themselves as doing something", that they are "politically impotent" and a waste of taxpayers' money.