Political System
T
he
United Kingdom is a constitutional
monarchy. Queen Elizabeth
II is the head of
state of the UK as well as of fifteen other independent Commonwealth
countries. The monarch itself is symbolic, and only has "the
right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to
warn". The United Kingdom has an
uncodified constitution. The
Constitution of the United Kingdom
consists mostly of a collection of
disparate written sources, including
statutes, judge-made
case law and
international treaties, together with
constitutional conventions. As there is no
technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional
law" the UK
Parliament can
perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing
Acts of Parliament
and thus has the political power to change
or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the
constitution.
Parliament
Parliament is an essential part of UK politics. Its main roles are:
Examining and challenging the work of the government (scrutiny)
Debating and passing all laws (legislation)
Enabling the government to raise taxes
The parliament of the United Kingdom that meets in the Palace of Westminster has two houses: House of Commons (with 651 elected members) and House of Lords (with 574 life peers: 92 hereditary peers, and 26 bishops). Supreme legislative power is vested in parliament, which sits for five years unless dissolved sooner. Their work is similar: making laws, checking the work of the government, and debating current issues. The House of Commons is also responsible for granting money to the government through approving Bills that raise taxes. Generally, the decisions made in one House have to be approved by the other. In this way the two-chamber system acts as a check and balance for both Houses.
The Commons is publicly elected. The party with the largest number of members in the Commons forms the government. For elections to the House of Commons, the UK is divided into 650 constituencies, each electing a single member of parliament by simple plurality.
Members of the Commons (MPs) debate the big political issues of the day and proposals for new laws. It is one of the key places where government ministers, like the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, and the principal figures of the main political parties, work.
As for the House of Lords, it was stripped of most of its power in 1911, and now its main function is to revise legislation. After adoption by both Houses any bill requires Royal Assent to become law. It complements the work of the House of Commons. It makes laws, holds government to account and investigates policy issues. Its membership is mostly appointed and includes experts in many fields.
Along with the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the Crown is an integral part of the institution of Parliament, though time has reduced the power of the monarchy, and today it is broadly ceremonial.
The Queen plays a constitutional role in opening and dissolving Parliament and approving Bills before they become law. The Crown opens Parliament through the State Opening (marking the beginning of the Parliamentary year). The day after a general election the Queen invites the leader of the party that won the most seats in the House of Commons to become Prime Minister and to form a government.
The Crown informs Parliament of the government's policy ideas and plans for new legislation in a speech delivered from the throne in the House of Lords. Although the Queen makes the speech the government draws up the content.