Notes on the UK Political System
The UK Political System
British Democracy
Great Britain (UK) is a parliamentary democracy.
It operates under a constitutional Monarch as Head of State.
The principle of British democracy: the people elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons in London during a general election.
General elections are held no more than five years apart.
Most MPs are affiliated with a political party.
The political party with the largest number of MPs in the House of Commons forms the government.
Political System
The UK's political system is based on a constitutional monarchy.
The monarch is the head of state.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government.
Executive power is exercised by His Majesty's Government on behalf of the monarch and with their consent.
Executive power is also exercised by the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales and the executive of Northern Ireland.
Legislative power is given to the government and the two chambers of the UK Parliament: the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Legislative power is also given to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, and Northern Ireland Assembly.
Parliament
Parliament represents the people.
It is where politicians (MPs) meet to decide laws and make decisions for the United Kingdom.
Parliament is separate from the government, which runs the country.
Parliament checks that the government is running the country properly.
Functions of Parliament:
To pass laws.
To provide means for the government to carry on its work by voting for taxation.
To scrutinise government policy and administration, including proposals for expenditure.
To debate major issues.
Structure of Parliament:
The King.
The House of Lords.
The House of Commons.
The Houses of Parliament
The House of Lords and the House of Commons meet in the Houses of Parliament, located next to the River Thames in London.
The building contains more than 1000 rooms and over two miles of corridors.
The clock tower is the most photographed part, housing five bells, with the most famous being Big Ben.
The Houses of Parliament is also called the Palace of Westminster and was a royal palace.
Henry VIII was the last monarch to live there, moving out in 1512.
Parliament has met in the Palace of Westminster since around 1550.
The Monarchy
King Charles III is the official Head of State.
Britain has a constitutional monarchy, where the king rules symbolically, and power belongs to Parliament.
The King opens Parliament each year, and laws are passed in his name, but he plays no part in determining decisions made in Parliament.
The king has the final say on whether a bill becomes law.
Queen Anne was the last monarch to reject a law wanted by both Houses of Parliament; she died in 1715.
The House of Lords
The House of Lords comprises people who have inherited family titles and those given titles for outstanding work in a field.
There are around 800 members of the Lords.
A person in the House of Lords is called a peer.
The main job of the House of Lords is to 'double-check' new laws to ensure fairness and effectiveness.
The House of Commons
A person in the House of Commons is called a Member of Parliament (MP).
The House of Commons has 650 members (MPs) elected by local residents to represent an area in Parliament.
Each MP represents one of 650 constituencies (areas) in the UK.
An MP is a member of a political party like the Labour party or the Conservative party.
The Commons is the most important place for discussing policies and making laws.
The House of Commons Chamber
MPs hold debates in the House of Commons Chamber.
The Speaker controls proceedings from a raised chair.
The government sits on the Speaker's right, and the opposition party sits on the Speaker's left.
The opposition's job is to oppose the government.
The biggest opposition party sits directly across from the government benches.
Red lines on the carpet in front of each set of benches are two-sword lengths apart.
Members are traditionally not allowed to cross the line during debates.
The lines prevent either side from attacking the other during a debate.
The Main Political Parties
Each party has a different opinion about what is important to the running of the country.
People who are eligible to vote choose the party that best matches their views in a general election.
Examples of parties: Labour Party, Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats, UKIP, SNP, Plaid Cymru, Green Party.
General Elections
A UK Parliament has a maximum duration of five years.
At the end of the five years or before, a general election must take place so new members of parliament can be elected by the people.
What is a General Election?
The election of all Members of Parliament (MPs) for each constituency (local area) is called a general election.
In the UK you vote for the best candidate in your local area to represent you in the House of Commons.
The UK system is not like the US system where you vote for the President/Vice-President, then your local representatives separately.
The winning candidate becomes MP and takes a seat in the House of Commons.
The party with the majority of seats in the Commons gets to form the government.
That party’s leader becomes prime minister.
In the UK we have the House of Commons and the House of Lords. You can only vote for a MP to represent you in the House of Commons. The Lords are appointed or inherited.
How often do General Elections take place?
General elections have to take place at least every five years and are called by the prime minister (the leader of the government).
Members of Parliament (MP’s)
Who can become a MP?
People are nominated as candidates to become MPs.
Any one over the age of 21 can be a candidate.
How does an MP get a seat in Parliament?
When an MP gets the most votes for his constituency (local area) they gain a seat. This means they have a place in Parliament.
The British Government
What is the difference between Parliament and the government?
The Parliament and the government mean two different things.
Parliament represents the people.
The government runs the country
Being a Member of Parliament (MP) is not the same as being in the government.
The political party that has more seats than all the others runs the country.
The leader of the political party with the most MPs in the House of Commons is asked by the king to become prime minister and to form a government that will manage the country.
The Government
The new prime minister chooses a team of people from Parliament who will run the country with him.
Any MPs or Lords in the team he or she picks are now members of the UK government.
There are normally about 100 people in a UK government.
As mentioned on the previous slide, the government is different from Parliament.
The government doesn’t always include everyone in the party who won the election.
The British Government
The Secretaries of State
The most important ministers are called Secretaries of State and they form the Cabinet.
The Secretaries of State are in charge of their own government department (a ministry).
Each minister is responsible for his department, and makes sure that his department applies the policy of the government.
Some of the most important Secretaries of State are:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance)
The Foreign Secretary (international affairs)
The Home Secretary (internal affairs)
The Lord Chancellor (the legal system)
The Secretary of State for Education
The Secretary of State for Transport and the Environment.
The two other main political parties also have their own ‘shadow cabinets’.
Making Laws
Laws are rules that everyone in the country must obey.
In a democracy, like the UK, nobody is above the law.
About one hundred new laws are passed each year.
How does Parliament make new laws?
A proposed new law is called a bill.
Bills must be agreed by both Houses of Parliament and receive royal assent from the king before they can become Acts of Parliament which make our law.
Once a Bill has passed through both Houses, it is sent to the king for the royal assent.
Once it has royal assent the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament. It is the law of the land.