Pol parties and elections in the uk
There are two main parties in the United Kingdom: the Conservative Party, and the Labour Party. There is also a significant third party, the Liberal Democrats.
The modern Conservative Party was founded in 1834 and is an outgrowth of the Tory movement or party, which began in 1678. Today it is still colloquially referred to as the Tory Party and its members as Tories. The Liberal Democrats were formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a Labour breakaway formed in 1981. The Liberals and SDP had contested elections together as the SDP–Liberal Alliance for seven years before. The modern Liberal Party had been founded in 1859 as an outgrowth of the Whig movement or party (which began at the same time as the Tory party and was its historical rival) as well as the Radical and Peelite tendencies.
The Liberal Party was one of the two dominant parties (along with the Conservatives) from its founding until the 1920s, when it rapidly declined and was supplanted on the left by the Labour Party, which was founded in 1900 and formed its first government in 1924. Since that time, the Labour and Conservatives parties have been dominant, with the Liberal Democrats also holding a significant number of seats and increasing their share of the vote in parliamentary general elections in the four elections 1992.
Minor parties also hold seats in parliament:
The Scottish National Party, founded in 1934, advocates for Scottish independence and has had continuous representation in Parliament since 1967. The SNP currently leads a majority government in the Scottish Parliament.
Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, has had continuous representation in Parliament since 1974. Plaid has the third-largest number of seats in the National Assembly for Wales, after Welsh Labour and the Welsh Conservative & Unionist Party, and participated with the former in the coalition agreement in the Assembly before the 2011 election.
In Northern Ireland, all 18 MPs are from parties that only contest elections in Northern Ireland (except for Sinn Féin, which contests elections in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). The unionist Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the republican Sinn Féin, the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and the nonsectarian Alliance Party of Northern Ireland all gained seats in Parliament in the 2010 election, the Alliance Party for the first time. Sinn Féin has a policy of abstentionism and so its MPs refuse to take their seats in Parliament. DUP, Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and the SDLP are considered the four major parties in Northern Ireland, holding the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
In the most recent general election in 2010, the result amounted to a hung parliament, and after several days of negotiations, the Labour Party left the government with the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats operating a coalition government.
Economy, outline
Culture, general outline
Australia-pol.system.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a federal division of powers. It uses a parliamentary system of government with Queen Elizabeth II at its apex as the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen resides in the United Kingdom, and she is represented by her viceroys in Australia (the Governor-General at the federal level and by the Governors at the state level), who by convention act on the advice of her ministers. Supreme executive authority is vested by the Constitution of Australia in the sovereign, but the power to exercise it is conferred by the Constitution specifically on the Governor-General.[90][91] The most notable exercise to date of the Governor-General's reserve powers outside the Prime Minister's request was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975.[92]
The federal government is separated into three branches:
The legislature: the bicameral Parliament, defined in section 1 of the constitution as comprising the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate, and the House of Representatives;
The executive: the Federal Executive Council, in practice the Governor-General as advised by the Prime Minister and Ministers of State;[93]
The judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Governor-General on advice of the Council.
Government House, Canberra, also known as "Yarralumla", is the official residence of the Governor-General.
In the Senate (the upper house), there are 76 senators: twelve each from the states and two each from the mainland territories (the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory).[94] The House of Representatives (the lower house) has 150 members elected from single-member electoral divisions, commonly known as "electorates" or "seats", allocated to states on the basis of population,[95] with each original state guaranteed a minimum of five seats.[96] Elections for both chambers are normally held every three years, simultaneously; senators have overlapping six-year terms except for those from the territories, whose terms are not fixed but are tied to the electoral cycle for the lower house; thus only 40 of the 76 places in the Senate are put to each election unless the cycle is interrupted by a double dissolution.[94]
Australia's electoral system uses preferential voting for all lower house elections with the exception of Tasmania and the ACT which, along with the Senate and most state upper houses, combine it with proportional representation in a system known as the single transferable vote. Voting is compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over in every jurisdiction,[97] as is enrolment (with the exception of South Australia).[98] The party with majority support in the House of Representatives forms the government and its leader becomes Prime Minister. In cases where no party has majority support, the Governor-General has the constitutional power to appoint the Prime Minister and, if necessary, dismiss one that has lost the confidence of Parliament.[99]
There are two major political groups that usually form government, federally and in the states: the Australian Labor Party and the Coalition which is a formal grouping of the Liberal Party and its minor partner, the National Party.[100][101] Independent members and several minor parties have achieved representation in Australian parliaments, mostly in upper houses.
Within Australian political culture, the Coalition is considered centre-right and the Labor Party is considered centre-left. Queensland in particular, along with Western Australia and the Northern Territory, are regarded as comparatively conservative.[102][103][104][105][106][107][108] Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory are regarded as comparatively socially liberal.[104][108][109][110][111] New South Wales has often been regarded as a politically moderate bellwether state.[108][111]
Following a partyroom leadership challenge, Julia Gillard became the first female Prime Minister in June 2010.[112] The most recent federal election was held on 7 September 2013 and resulted in a majority government for the Coalition with Liberal Party of Australia leader Tony Abbott as Prime Minister-elect. He was sworn into office by the Governor-General of Australia on 18 September.