The country of Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy. The constitution monarch is one who can govern only with the support of Parliament. The present Sovereign is Queen Elisabeth the Second. She was born in 1926, married Prince Philip, the duke of Edinburg and succeeded to the throne in 1952.

Monarchy is hereditary[ hiréditori] decanting to the sons of the Sovereign. Thus the eldest son of the Queen Prince Charles the Prince of Wales is the heir to the throne.

The Queen sumniens and dissolves the Parliament. As a rule

She opens the new session of the Parliament with the Speech from the Throne. That is an official ceremony. The Queen can not act on he own but on the advice of the government.

The British Parliament

The British Parliament is the supine legislative body of the country. It consists of the two houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The members of the House of Commons are elected every five years. The party that has won the general election makes up the majority in the House of Commons. There are 650 members there. The House of Lords consists of hereditary or life noblemen. Thee are 1000 members in the House of Lords.

The Government

After each election the king or the queen invites the leader of the majority party to the House of Commons where he becomes the Prime Minister and gets the power from the government. It is the Prime Minister who selects the other ministers and forms the Cabinet.

The Cabinet dominates what subjects shall be discussed at the sessions. The British government is now ruled by Tony Blair, a Labourist.

Political Parties

In Britain there are there main parties: the Conservative party, the Labour party and the Liberal party.

• The Conservative party represents the interests of the monopoly capitalists. It is a party of the upper and middle classes.

• The Labour party is composed mainly of the trade unite members.

• The Liberal Party is small in its size. It represents Liberally bourgeoisie. Its relations with other parties are rather complex.