You are on page 1of 33

POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE UK

The UK = CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

Monarch = acts as the head of the state, within the parameters of a constitution

However, the UK has no written constitution but an uncodified one: Much of the British constitution is embodied in written documents, court judgments, and treaties)

The UK = CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

though taking little direct part in government, the monarch can (e.g.):
Appoint

& Dismiss the Prime Minister and other ministers Declare war & peace Issue and withdraw passports

The system is a result of:

A long-lasting struggle to shift political power from the all-powerful king to a national parliament that was increasingly representative of ordinary people There have been many milestones along this long and troubled road to full democracy

KEY DATES IN THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

1215 - King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta => sharing power with the barons 1295 - The so-called Model Parliament was summoned by King Edward I and is regarded as the first representative assembly

Government executive power (on behalf of and with the approval of the
Monarch)

made

up of approximately 100 members of the political party which has the majority of seats in the House of Commons of these members come from the House of Commons, there are also some from the House of Lords

Though most

Parliament legislative power


the

supreme authority, made up of nearly 1,400 elected and unelected Members and the monarch Parliament can use its power to limit the actions of Government in a number of ways and thus prevent it from becoming too dominant. bicameral: The House of Lords and the House of Commons

In the UK they do not have fixed-term Parliaments There is no minimum length of a Parliament The maximum life of a Parliament is five years and within that period it is up to the Prime Minister to decide when to call a general election

The House of Lords

The upper Chamber of the UKs Parliament The main functions: To pass laws To control government policy and administration To debate the major issues of the day Originally judicial work as the highest court of appeal in the UK up to October 2009

Many

Members of the House of Lords are not Members of any political party who do not support one of the three main parties are known as Independents or Crossbenchers Crossbench group is a distinctive feature of the House of Lords

Those

The

There are four types of Members:


1. Life peers make up the majority of the membership; appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister

2. Law Lords - up to 12 Lords of Appeal


3. Bishops The Anglican Archbishops of Canterbury and York and 24 most senior bishops of the Church of England

Ad 2: Law Lords - originally appointed to the House of Lords in order to exercise its judicial functions, which included acting as the highest court of appeal for most domestic matters.
The House of Lords, however, lost its judicial functions upon the establishment of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in October 2009

The final appeal hearings and judgments of the House of Lords took place on 30 July 2009. From 1 October 2009, the Supreme Court of the UK assumed jurisdiction on points of law for all civil law cases in the UK and all criminal cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

4. Hereditary peers: those who have inherited their titles from their family
The

House of Lords Act (1999) ended the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords However, an amendment was passed which enabled only 92 of the existing hereditary peers to remain as members (originally there were about 700 of them)

The House of Commons

Consists of 646 Members of Parliament (MPs) who are democratically elected by voters (each of them represents an area of the UK known as a constituency) The main functions: To pass laws To provide the means of carrying on the work of government To control government policy and administration To debate the major issues of the day

Parliament House of Commons House of Lords


Opposition Parties Governing Party Governing Party Opposition Parties + Cross benchers Whips

Shadow Ministers Whips

Government

Backbenchers

Prime Minister Ministers Whisps


Backbenchers

Ministers Whisps

Backbenchers Law Lords Bishops

Backbenchers

A whip -

an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to keep their parties together

They handle: proper communication between all members of their political party Communication between ministers and back-benchers (they can make recommendations to the party leader as to which back-benchers are likely to make good ministers)

Larger parties have a Chief Whip and 10-12 Assistant Whips week a whip sends the MPs in his or her party a notice (also known as The Whip), giving the order of business in the following week
The term whip comes from the 18th century a whip was a person on the hunting field who whipped-in the hounds in the pack to keep them all together = party organisers

Each

A Backbencher - a member of the House of Commons or the House of Lords who is NOT a Minister or a speaker of their political party

PARLAMENTARY ELECTIONS
(HOUSE OF COMMONS)

Map of Constituencies In the UK

Who can stand as a candidate?

Most

people who are British, Commonwealth or Irish Republic citizens Aged 18 or over Disqualified: members of the House of Lords Those who need to be politically impartial while carrying out their jobs e.g. Judges and senior civil servants

What to do when you are wishing to stand for election? need to be nominated on an official nomination paper together with the names of ten electors who will support you

You

You

must pay 500 pounds deposit (it is lost if you do not secure 5% of the total number of votes in the constituency)

To

have a realistic chance you should be either a member of one of the three main political parties (Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties) or a nationalist or unionist party in Scotland, Wales or Nothern Ireland You can also stand as an independet candidate The fact that almost anyone can stand for election to the House of Commons is one of the essential freedoms in British democracy

Who is able to vote in parliamentary elections? All British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens providing they are 18 or over Must be residents in the UK

Those who cannot vote: Members of the House of Lords Offenders detained in mental hospitals Prisoners who have been sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment Those convicted of corrupt or illegal practices at elections within the previous 5 years

The House of Commons

The Chamber where the House of Commons meets was built rather small it holds only 427 MPs instead of 646 but this creates a better atmosphere for discussions

Debates in Parliament
Both

Houses of Parliament conduct the majority of their business in the form of debates Both Chambers debate on different issues with the Government facing the Opposition under the watchful eye of the Speaker (Commons) or the Lord Speaker (Lords) The Speaker is the neutral chairman of debates

Question time
All

ministers are responsible to Parliament for the work of their department each department has at least one minister in the House of Commons who can answer questions Majority of questions receive written answers Some are answered orally at Question Time

In

the House of Commons Question Time lasts for nearly an hour Monday to Thursday Prime Minister answers questions each Wednesday for 30 minutes on his own work as head of the Government

The

Since 1999 = Post-Devolution Britain


established Scottish Parliament (unicameral) 1999 full powers given to Northern Ireland Assembly (unicameral) 1998 National Assembly for Wales established (unicameral)
1999

LINKS
www.parliament.uk www.explore.parliament.uk

UK Parliament tour Welcome to the Houses of Parliament http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbjEd430EKM Parliament and Government An overview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmGCwiQvhH0 UK parliamentary debate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsAa9VmwOaI

The Queen presides over the ceremonial opening of Parliament in UK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptXLllaR2tg

Famous British politicians: http://www.woodlandsjunior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/famous_people.ht m http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_people#Politici ans

You might also like