Government

The executive power of the Crown is exercised by the cabinet, headed by the prime minister. The position of prime minister, the UK's head of government, belongs to the current leader of the largest political party in the House of Commons. That means that the political party that wins the most seats in a general election forms the new government, led by their party leader – who becomes Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister appoints ministers, including the Cabinet, who often work in a government department, and run and develop public services and policies. Government ministers are chosen from MPs and Lords in Parliament. The MP may be a member of the party forming the current Government, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are working 'in government'. Ministers must regularly respond to oral and written questions from MPs and Lords.

The UK's three major political parties are the Conservative Party (Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron), the Labour Party (Tony Blair, Gordon Brown) and the Liberal Democrats (Nick Clegg).

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own government or executive, led by a First Minister, and a devolved unicameral legislature. The Scottish Government and Parliament have wide ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically 'reserved' to the UK parliament, including education, healthcare, Scots law and local government. The Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales have more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland.

Parliament and the Government

Parliament and government are separate institutions that work closely together, so it's easy to mix-up exactly what each one is responsible for. The government runs the country. It has responsibility for developing and implementing policy and for drafting laws. It is also known as the Executive. Parliament is the highest legislative authority in the UK. It has responsibility for checking the work of government and examining, debating and approving new laws. It is also known as the Legislature.

Parliament examines and challenges the work of the government. Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords use similar methods of scrutiny, although the procedures vary. The principal methods are questioning government ministers, debating and the investigative work of committees. The government can publicly respond to explain and justify policies and decisions.

Questionsto government ministers may be answered orally or in writing. Ministers from each government department attend the Commons on a rota basis to answer oral questions. The Prime Minister answers questions every Wednesday. In the Lords, the House questions government ministers at the start of each day's business, but there are no set days for government departments.

Debatesin the Commons look at the creation and amendment of laws as well as national and international issues and can be on any subject. Votes are often taken to see whether a majority of Members either support or reject any discussed laws or proposals.

In the Lords, one day a week is set aside for general debates and short debates take place on most days (lasting one and a half hours). There are no votes on such debates. The House of Lords also check the work of government by scrutinising legislation.

Committeesof smaller groups of MPs and/or Lords look at specific policy issues or legislation in detail. Different committees have different roles ranging from offering advice, to producing reports or altering legislation. Both Houses have permanent and temporary committees. MPs and Lords also work together in Joint Select Committees. The government issues responses to most committee reports.

Each year the government informs Parliament of its plans for new legislation in the Queen's Speech. New legislation is usually introduced in the form of a Bill that must be debated and approved by Parliament before it can become an Act of Parliament - the government needs the support of the majority of the House of Commons to function.

The government needs to retain the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons. If the House votes to indicate that it has no confidence in the government, either by defeating the government on a confidence motion or by defeating a policy that the government has indicated is a 'matter of confidence', then a General Election would be called if a confidence motion in the new government was not passed within 14 days of the original no confidence motion.