The Government

The government is formed by the party with a majority support in the Commons. The leader of the party is named Prime Minister and is formally asked by the Sovereign to recommend a group of ministers to form a Government.

The position of a British Prime Minister (PM) is in direct contrast to that of the monarch. Although the Queen appears to have a great deal of power, in reality, she has very little. The PM, on the other hand, appears not to have much power but, in reality, has a very great deal indeed.

A number of ministers are invited by the PM to discuss policy and this group of ministers is known as the Cabinet. The Cabinet consists of the 16 to 24 senior ministers. Ministers are collectively responsible for government decisions and individually responsible for their own departments. The second largest party forms the official Opposition, with its own leader and “Shadow Cabinet”. The Opposition has a duty to criticize government policies and to present an alternative program. The Cabinet meets about once a week at the Cabinet Room in No. 10 Downing Street and takes decisions about new policies and the running of the various government departments. Discussions in the Cabinet are very brief and the Cabinet never votes − the Prime Minister’s decision is “final”. Responsibility, on the other hand, is collective. This means that, if the Prime Minister resigns, the whole Cabinet resigns, too.

Cabinet ministers are heads of the departments. Most heads of government departments have the title ‘Secretary of State’ (as in, for example, ‘Secretary of State for the Environment’).

‘The Foreign Secretary’ is the minister of Foreign and Commonwealth office. ‘The Home Secretary’ is in charge of the Home Office. Another important person is ‘Chancellor of the Exchequer’, who is the head of the Treasury. His residence is next to Prime Minister’s: 11 Downing Street.

The work of government is carried out through the various government departments, (the Civil Service), each directly or indirectly responsible to a minister. Each department has a large staff of professional civil servants who do most of the work of running the department of the minister’s behalf. The Civil Service is politically neutral.

‘Whitehall’ is the symbol of the British Government. It is the name of the street in London, which runs from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence are both located here.

Local Government

The system of local government is very similar to the system of national government. There are elected representatives, called councilors. They meet in the Town Hall or County Hall, where they make policy, which is implemented by local government officers.

The country is divided into counties and regions. There are 47 counties in England and Wales, 26 ones in Northern Ireland, and 10 regions in Scotland. They are responsible for a number of matters at local level: collection of council tax, education, social services, police, fire brigades, roads and safety, etc. Their expenditure is met partly by central government grants and by a community charge. Capital expenditure is financed mainly by borrowing.