Political system of the U.K.

The party which wins the most seats in the General Election forms the government in Britain. The leader of the winning party becomes Prime Minister. As leaders of their political parties and leaders of the country. Prime Ministers are powerful because they have the majority support in Parliament and they can choose their own ministers and government.

The PM chooses a committee of ministers called the Cabinet. This is made up of a selection of senior MPs from the House of Commons and some members of the House of Lords. Each member of the Cabinet is minister responsible for a government department: for example, the Secretary of State for Education and Science is responsible for all the schools, universities and teachers in Britain. The Cabinet of ministers runs the country. The Cabinet meets at the Prime Minister’s house 10 Downing Street. The cabinet works as a team and all ministers must accept the decisions of the “group”. The team of ministers must always agree in public because the are collectively responsible for the decisions they make. If a minister cannot agree with all the others, he usually resigns from the cabinet. Cabinet meetings are held in private and the details must remain for at least30 years.

Parliament is the most important authority in Britain. Parliament first met in the 13^th century. Britain does not have a written constitution, but a set of laws. In 1689 Mary 11 and William 111 became the first constitutional monarchs. They could rule only with the support of the Parliament. Technically Parliament is made up of three parts: the Monarch, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The continuity of the English monarchs has been interrupted only once during the Cromwell republic. Succession to the throne is hereditary but only for Protestants in the direct line of descent. Succession to the throne is hereditary but only for Protestants in the direct line of descent. Formally the monarch has a number of roles. The monarch is expected to be politically neutral, and should not make political decisions. Never the less, the monarch still performs some important executive and leg is elative duties including opening and dissolving Parliament, signing bills passed by both Houses and fulfilling international duties as head of state. The present sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II who was crowned in Westminster Abbey in 1953.

At present the British royal family is headed by Queen Elizabeth. When the Queen was born on the 21 of April 1926, her grandfather, King George V, was on the throne and her uncle – was his heir. The death of her grandfather and the abdication of her uncle brought her father to the throne as King George VI. As a child she studied constitutional history and law as well as art and music. In addition she learned to ride and acquired her enthusiasm for horses. As she grew older she begun to take part in public life, making her first broad cast at the age of 14.

New vocabulary:

To be responsible for – отвечать за что-либо

Accept the decisions – принимать решения

Agree – соглашаться

Hereditary – наследственный

Answer the questions according to the text:

1. Who has the right to be the Prime Minister?

2. What does the Prime Minister do?