Government Structure and Bodies

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy: Queen Elizabeth II is the official Head of State. The Queen rules symbolically; in reality, power belongs to Parliament. So, although the Queen 'opens' Parliament each year and laws are passed in her name, the Queen herself plays no part in determining decisions made in Parliament. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties.

The Constitution of the United Kingdom consists mostly of a collection of written sources, including statutes, judge-made law, and international treaties. The UK Parliament can perform " constitutional reform" simply by passing Acts of Parliament and thus has the power to change or abolish almost any element of the constitution.

The UK has a parliamentary government based on the Westminster system that has been emulated around the world – a legacy of the British Empire. The Parliament of the United Kingdom that meets in the Palace of Westminster has two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords, and any Bill passed requires Royal Assent to become law. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom.

The House of Lords is made up of people who have inherited family titles and those who have been given titles because of their outstanding work in one field or another. There are 675 members of the Lords. The main job of the House of Lords is to 'double check' new laws to make sure they are fair and will work.

For elections to the House of Commons, the UK is currently divided into 650 constituencies. Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament by simple plurality. General Elections are called by the Monarch when the Prime Minister advises. Though there is no minimum term for a Parliament, the Parliament Act (1911) requires that a new election must be called within five years of the previous general election.

The position of Prime Minister, the UK's head of government, belongs to the Member of Parliament who obtains the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons, usually the current leader of the largest political party in that chamber. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are formally appointed by the Monarch to form Her Majesty's Government, though the Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention the Queen respects the Prime Minister's choices. The Cabinet is traditionally drawn from members of the Prime Minister's party in both legislative houses, and mostly from the House of Commons, to which they are responsible. The executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and Cabinet, all of whom become Ministers of the Crown.

2. Answer the questions to the text:

1) Explain the statement: “Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy”.

2) What are the formal functions retained by the Queen?

3) Explain the main principles of the British Constitution by which Great Britain is governed.

4) What is the structure of the government in Great Britain?

5) Describe how the Parliament is elected.

6) Who takes the position of Prime Minister in the UK?

7) Whom is the executive power exercised by in Great Britain?

8) Who appoints the Prime Minister and Cabinet?

3. Do you agree with the following statements? Why?

1) Parliament is made up of three parts: the Queen, the House of Lords, the House of Commons.

2) In the British monarchy the Queen doesn’t have any recognized responsibilities.

3) Parliament is where politicians (MPs) meet to decide laws and make decisions for the United Kingdom. It is not the same as the Government (which runs the country). One of the jobs Parliament does is to check that the Government is running the country properly.

4) The election of all Members of Parliament (MPs) for each constituency (local area) is called a General Election. In the UK they vote for the best candidate in the local area to be represented in the House of Commons.

5) Each MP represents one of 650 constituencies (areas) in the UK and is a member of a political party.

6) General elections have to take place at least every four years and are called by the Prime Minister (the leader of the Government).

7) British voters do not choose their Prime Minister (PM). He/she is voted for within their political party.

Text 3

1. Read the text and give a brief description of the British party system.