Government

GOVERNMENT IN BRITAIN

The british parliament has two Houses, or Chambers; the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

House of Lords:

The members of the House of Lords are not elected. Often they are members of aristocratic families, bishops, judges or people with titles. That means that most members of the House of Lords are there because of something their ancestors did.

House of Commons:

The House of Commons is the most powerful House and consists of 651 Members of Parliament, MP's. The House of Commons decides national policy and makes laws.

The party with the most MP's forms the government. The leader of the winning party becomes Prime Minister and appoints the cabinet. The members of the

cabinet are the leading government ministers. The Prime Minister is the most important person in Parliament. The party who comes second is the Opposition and forms it's own Shadow Cabinet.

The MP's sit on benches facing each other. On the left side is the Government and on the right the Opposition. The MP's are not allowed to sit where they want. The ministers sit on the front benches and the less important MP's on the back benches. That's why they are called backbencher.

Between the Government and the Opposition there are two red lines. This means that the Chamber is divided in two. MP's are not allowed to cross these lines.

The House of Commons has a chairman, called the Speaker, whose job is to keep the House in order.The Speaker sits in the center at the back, on a high chair, and can see the whole Chamber from this position. He is choosen by the MP's and decides who speaks and keeps the House calm .

In parliament every MP can say everything without being sued. This is the Parliamentary privilege.

Britain has an unwritten traditional constitution.

Every five years British people over the age of 18 can vote in a general election. Each MP is elected by voters in one constituency. The winner becomes an MP even if he or she gets only one vote more than the second. This system is called Majority system or "first past the post system".

The first past the post system in Britain promotes the two most powerful parties at the expense of the smaller parties.

Since the 1920's, the two main parties have been the left-wing Labour Party and the right-wing Conservative Party.

The present Prime Minister is Tony Blair who belongs to the Labour Party. He lives in 10 Downing street.

Monarchy:

Queen ElizabethII is the Head of the State and of both Houses of Parliament but she has very little power. The Queens role is mainly symbolic. True power lies in the hands of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The Queen is not allowed to be in Parliament. Only in autumm she formally opens Parliament with a speech from the throne, which is written by her politicians. Nothing becomes law without the monarch's signature, but the Queen would never refuse to sign a bill which has passed by Parliament.

Her face is on all british bank notes, coins and stamps. The most important function of the Queen is ceremonical. Prime Ministers come and go but she carries on above politics. She is a symbol of  british tradition.