This faction consists of the deputies from the party who were elected to the Duma (on the basis of federal lists or from single constituencies), said the Duma Speaker. There are 246 of them.
During the work, a number of other parliamentarians applied for membership in the faction. Hence, now United Russia has 304 votes in the lower house, he said.
Asked whether there was a risk of an internal discontent within such a big faction, Gryzlov said that the composition of the faction would not be changed in the near future.
"The session of United Russia's presidium adopted a decision to divide the faction into four subgroups," the speaker said. "This principle is fine by us. Time will show whether the structure of the faction needs any changes or not."
