Executive

The Government of the United Kingdom, officially known in the United Kingdom as Her Majesty's Government, is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects the other members of the Cabinet. The Prime Minister and the other most senior Ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet.

Under the UK constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch. This authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The Cabinet members advise the monarch as members of the Privy Council. They also exercise power directly as leaders of the Government Departments.

The Government Ministers are usually all members of Parliament, and are accountable to it. The Government is dependent on Parliament to make primary legislation, which means that in practice a government must seek re-election at least every five years. The monarch selects the Prime Minister as the leader of the party most likely to command a majority in Parliament.

The British Parliament utilizes the Westminster System, a parliamentary democracy which remains to this day the most widely used system of politics in the world. Most nations that practice the Westminster System are Commonwealths or former Commonwealths of the Commonwealth of Nations

The current Prime Minister is David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, who was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on 11 May 2010 following the UK General Election on 6 May 2010. The election failed to provide a decisive result, with the Conservatives as the biggest party within a hung parliament. A coalition government was formed on the 12th of May between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

A key principle of the UK constitution is that the Government is responsible to Parliament, this is called Responsible government.

Ministers are responsible to the House in which they sit, they make statements in that House and take questions from members of that House. For most senior Ministers this is usually the elected House of Commons rather than the House of Lords. There have been some recent exceptions to this, for example cabinet ministers Lord Mandelson (First Secretary of State) and Lord Adonis (Secretary of State for Transport) sat in the Lords and were responsible to that House during the government of Gordon Brown.

In modern times the Prime Minister must always be an elected MP and therefore accountable to the House of Commons. In practice the Chancellor of the Exchequer must also always be a member of the Commons. The Lords have very limited powers in relation to money bills[9] and it would be politically unacceptable for the budget speech to be given in the Lords, with MPs unable to directly question the Chancellor.

Government departments

Arms of the British Government (a variation of the Royal Arms) The Government of the United Kingdom contains a number of ministries known mainly, though not exclusively as departments i.e Ministry of Defence. These are politically led by a Government Minister who often a Secretary of State and member of the Cabinet. He or she may also be supported by a number of junior Ministers.

The Government Ministers are supported by 560,000 Civil Servants and other staff working in the 24 Ministerial Departments and their executive agencies. There are also an additional 26 non-Ministerial Departments with a range of further responsibilities.

"Whitehall" is often used as a synonym for the central core of the Civil Service. This is because most Government Departments have headquarters in and around the former Royal Palace of Whitehall.