Government Great Britain

Great Britain is parliamentary monarchy.Officially the head of the state is the king or queen.But
the power of the monarch is not absolute.Power in the UK is divided into three branches:the
legislative branch represented by Parliament,the executive branch headed by the Prime
Minister and the judicial branch. The power of Queen Elizabeth 2 is not absolute.It is limited by
the Parliament. The legislative body,the Parliament,consists of two chambers:the House of
Lords and the House of Commons.

The meeting of Parliament

1)A maximum duration of five years

2)Dissolved by the Queen

3)The life of parliament is divided into sessions

4)Each session last for one year(beginning and ending in Octomber or November) – 160 sitting
days.

5)Opens with the Queen’s speech,ends by prorogation

The executive body consists of the Central Government – that is the Prime Minister and the
Cabinet of Ministers,who are responsible for initiating and directing the national policy.

The Cabinet

1)The Cabinet consists of a small group of the most important ministers selected by the Prime
Minister

2)Today the number is 23

3)The cabinet determines,controls and integrates the policies of the government for submission
to Parliament

The judiciary body is independent of both the legislative and the executive ones.Consists of the
Court of Appeal and the High Court of Justice.

The Government derives its authority from the elected House of Commons.General
elections,for all seats in the House of Commons,must be held at least every five years.The
government is normally formed by the political party,which is supported by the majority in the
House of Commons.The leader of the party is appointed the Prime Minister by the Queen and
chooses a team of ministers.

Party system:

1)Traditionally the UK has a had two party system

2)The main parties are the Tories(which became the Conservative Party) and Whigs(which
became the Liberal Party)
3)After World War 2 , the dominant parties have been Conservative and Labour

4)It is relatively easy to stand for election as an independent candidate.You need:

The signatures of 10 people registered to vote there

Pay a deposit of 500(which is returned if he/she gains more than 5% of the vote in that seat)

The second largest party becomes the Official Oposition with its own leader and “Shadow
Cabinet”.The house of Lords used to be a hereditary chamber.

Electoral system

1)Single-member district

2)First-part-the-post system

UK Government (Prime Minister and the Cabinet)

Executive

1)Executive body:the Sovereign,Prime Minister & Cabinet

2)Dealing with regular national and inetrnational affairs

3)Making decisions of new policies

4)Supervising departaments of the government

5)There are normally about 100 people in a UK government

PM AND THE CABINET

1)The office is not established by any constitution or law but exists only by long-established
convention

2)This individual is typically the leader of the political party of coalition of parties that holds the
largest number of seats in that chamber.

3)The position of Prime Minister was not created.it enolved slowly over three hundred years
due to numerous acts of Parliament,political developments,and accidents of history.

Prime Minister

1)PM:the leader of the political party which wins the majority of seats in Parliament.

2)Selecting the cabinet from their own party in the House of Commons

3)Responsible for the conduct of national affairs directly

4)His authority comes from support in the House of Commons

Cabinet
Consists of about 20 ministers selected by the Prime Minister.Members of Commons.Sit on the
“front benches” in the House of Commons.

England is the only country in the UK not to have its own separate parliament

Secretary of State

Most heads of government departaments have the title Secretary State.

The minister in charge of Britains relations with the outside world is known to everybody as the
Foreign Secretary

The one in charge of law and order inside the country is the Home Secretary.

The civil service

1)the structure of the modern civil service was established in the 19 th century.

2)The day-to-day running of the government and the implementation of its policy continue in
the hands of the same people that were there with the previous government – the top rank of
the civil service remains.

3)These people get a high salary(higher than that of their ministers),have absolute job
security(unlike their ministers) and stand a good chance of being awarded an offcial honour.

Cabinet(Function)

Cabinet Committees include those dealing with defense and overseas policy,economic
policy,home and social affairs,the environment,and local government.

Central and local government

1)The system of local government is very similar to the system of national government.There re
elected representatives,called councilors.

2)They meet in a council chamber in the Town Hall or Country Hall(the equivalent of
Parliament),where they make policy which is implemented by local government officers(the
equivalent of civil servants)

Counties

Counties are the oldest division of the country in England and Wales.Most of them existed
before the Norman conquest.Many counties have shire in their name.

Borouhgs,parishes

Boroughs were originally towns that had grown large and important enough to be given their
own government,free of control by the country.These days,the name is used for local
government purposes only in London.
Parishes were originally villages centered on a local church.They became a unit of local
government in the nineteenth century.Today they are the smallest unit of local government in
England.

Parliaments main roles are:

1)Examining and challenging the work of the government(scrutiny)

2)Debating and passing all laws(legislation)

3)Enabling the government to raise taxes

4)Ultimate role:select and remove PM

5)Only one representative is elected from among the candidates for each constituency

Parliament:House of Commons

1)Lower chamber

2)651 democratically elected MPs

3)Functions:make laws,scrutinize the government,safeguard rights of individuals

Exclusive power over money bills

The Lords Temporal

Originally,the Lords Temporal included several hereditary peers

dukes,marquises,earls,viscounts,barons,and lords of Parliament.

Main Function of Parlament

1)to pass laws

2)to provide – by voting for taxation – the eans of carrying out the work of government,

3)to scrutinize Government policy and administration,including proposals for expenditure

4)to debate the major issues of the day

Electoral System

Many coutries use a system of proportional representation to determine the number of seats
given to different parties in their national assemblies.

Elections to the UK Parliament in Britain are based on a system of electing one member for
each constituency.

Only one representative is elected from among the candidates for each constituency:the
candidate who receives the greatest number of votes.
A candidate who comes second,even by difference of one vote(after recounting and checking)
is not elected.

The successful candidate does,however,promise to represent in Parliament the interests of all

the constituents,and becomes one of the Members of Parliament,even if they vote for other
parties.

Winston Churchill(Honors)

Winston Churchill enjoyed one of the longest and most interesting lives of any person who has
ever lived.1953,Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

1953,Queen Elizabeth 2 conferred on him the dignity of Knighthood and ivested him with the
insignia of the Order of the Garter.

1963,President Kennedy conferred on him the honorary citizenship of the United States.

Margaret Thatcher(British Prime Minister)