United Kingdom Vocabulary

United Kingdom Vocabulary

Boris Johnson

Conservative from 2019 to 2022; Handled COVID / Partygate

Brexit

British exit from the European Union realized in a 2016 referendum

Cabinet

Top members of the UK government who assist the prime minister and run the major ministries

Celtic fringe

Refers to Scotland and Wales, which were not conquered by the Angles and Saxons

Collective responsibility

Tradition that requires all members of the cabinet either to support government policy or to resign

Collectivist Consensus

Postwar consensus between the UK’s major parties to build and sustain a welfare state

Common law

Legal system based on custom and precedent rather than formal legal codes

Commonwealth

Organization that includes the UK and most of its former colonies

Confederation of British Industry (CBI)

The United Kingdom’s most important group representing the private sector

Conservative (Tories)

One of the UK’s two largest parties; in government since 2010

David Cameron

Conservative Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016; resigned following the Brexit referendum, which he campaigned against

Good Friday Agreement

Historic 1998 accord between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland that ended decades of violence

Hereditary peers

Seats in the House of Lords that were granted to aristocratic families in perpetuity but were largely eliminated by recent legislation

House of Commons

Lower house of the UK legislature

House of Lords

Upper house of the UK legislature, whose reform is currently being debated

Hung Parliament

An election result in which no party wins a majority of parliamentary seats, such as the 2010 and 2017 parliamentary elections

Jeremy Corbyn

Leader of the opposition Labour Party beginning in 2015

Labour

One of the United Kingdom’s two largest parties; since 2010, it has been the party in opposition

Liberal (Whigs)

The United Kingdom’s historic first opposition party; one of its two major political parties until the early twentieth centry

Liberal Democratic Party’

Centrist third party in the United Kingdom and junior member of a coalition government from 2010 to 2015

Life peers

Distinguished members of society who are given lifetime appointments to the House of Lords

Magna Carta

The 1215 document signed by King John that set the precedent for limited monarchical powers

Majoritarian

Term describing the virtually unchecked power of a parliamentary majority in the UK political system

Margaret Thatcher

Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990

Members of Parliament (MP)

An individual legislature in the House of Commons

Neoliberal

A set of policies championed by Thatcher’s Conservative government in the 1980s aimed at diminishing the role of the state in the economy

Nigel Farage

Outspoken leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) until 2016 and member of the European parliament

Northern Ireland

Northeastern portion of Ireland that is part of the United Kingdom; also known as Ulster

Prime Minister

Head of government

Quangos

Quasi-autonomous nongovernmental organizations that assist the government in making policy

Scottish National Party (SNP)

Nationalist political party promoting Scottish independence, and currently in control of the Scottish regional government

The Crown

Refers to the British monarchy and sometimes to the British state

The English Civil War

Seventeenth-century conflict between Parliament and the monarch that temporarily eliminated and permanently weakened the monarchy

The Troubles

Name given to the three decades of extreme ethnic conflict (late 1960s to late 1990s) between Northern Irelan’s nationalists or republicans, who are mostly Catholic, and unionists or loyalists, who are mostly Protestant

Theresa May

Leader of the Conservatives; prime minister and head of government since 2016

Third Way

Term describing recent policies of the Labour Party that embrace the free market

Tony Blair

Labour prime minister from 1997 to 2007

Trade Union Congress (TUC)

The United Kingdom’s largest trade union confederation

United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)

Populist and Euroskeptic political party favoring British exit from the European Union

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Official name of the British state

Vote of No Confidence

Vote taken by a legislature as to weather its members continue to support the current prime minister; depending on the country, a vote of no confidence can force the resignation of the prime minister and/or lead to new parliamentary elections