C) The British Parliament (the House of Commons and the House of Lords).
The British Parliament has two houses, or chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is the most powerful and decides national policy, but the House of Lords can ask the House of Commons to rewrite certain parts of a bill before it becomes a new law.
The House of Commons consists of Members of Parliament, MPs. Each MP is elected by voters in one constituency (region). There are 650 MPs, or seats, in the House of Commons, each representing a constituency. The government brings bills to the House of Commons, where they are discussed by MPs. The bills then go to the House of Lords. The House of Lords can suggest changes to a bill, but does not have the power to stop it from becoming law. When the bills come back to the Commons, MPs vote on them, and if they passed they are signed by the Queen or King and become Acts of Parliament, which means that they become part of British law. Parliament controls and criticizes the government in office, which is particularly exercised during the Question Time when MPs may ask any questions on any aspects of the government activities.
The chief officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker. He is chosen from the members but, once elected, is no longer considered a party man. He chairs the debates. The Leader of the House is responsible for organizing the work of the British Parliament.
The leader of the main party opposing the government is called the Leader of the Opposition. The Opposition has a duty to challenge government policies and to present an alternative programme. The Opposition functions as a system of checks and balances.
The House of Lords today is a place of discussion and debate, and it normally passes legislation already approved by the House of Commons. This house has relatively little power.
Membership of the House of Lords was once a right of birth to hereditary peers, but following a series of reforms the House now consists almost entirely of appointed members. Nowadays the House of Lords has 743 members.
The House of Lords comprises the lords temporal (life peers and hereditary peers) and the lords spiritual. Hereditary peers are the heads of aristocratic families. Life peers are given their title as a reward for their good work. The bishops and archbishops in the Church of England who are members of the House of Lords are called the lords spiritual.
The head of both Houses of Parliament is the Queen. She enters the Palace of Westminster only on the day of the State Opening of Parliament at the beginning of the session. Crowned and wearing many of the finest Crown Jewels, she makes her speech from the throne in the House of Lords.
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Before the throne in the House of Lords, and dividing the benches, is the Woolsack upon which the Lord Speaker presides over the lords. By tradition the Woolsack is stuffed with wool from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and from Commonwealth countries. The Peers’ benches, covered in red leather, are arranged in five rows on either side of the House. Members of the Government and their supporters are to the right of the throne, and those of the Opposition to the left. The galleries are reserved for diplomats and distinguished strangers or guests, and reporters.
Before every sitting of the House of Commons, the Speaker wearing wig and gown walks in procession to the Chamber from his residence within the Royal Palace. The benches in the House of Commons are covered in green leather. The floor of the House is covered by a green carpet bearing on either side a red stripe, over which no Member may cross when addressing the House. The front bench on the Speaker’s right is for the Prime Minister and the leading members of the Government. The Leader of the Opposition and his supporters are on the Speaker’s left.
D) The Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Local government.
The party with most MPs forms the government. The leader of the winning party automatically becomes Prime Minister and appoints the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is the most important person in Parliament. He has considerable individual power to introduce and control policies and to change the Cabinet by appointing new ministers.
The members of the Cabinet are the leading government ministers. Departments and ministries are run by civil servants, who are permanent officials. Even if the Government changes after an election, the same civil servants are employed.
The party who comes second is the Opposition and forms its own Shadow Cabinet. The Shadow Cabinet consists of the opposition party leader and those who would receive Cabinet posts if the opposition leader became prime minister.
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British Prime Ministers have lived at 10 Downing Street since 1731. The Chancellor of the Exchequer (responsible for money and finance) lives next door at number 11. People often talk about “Downing Street” when they mean the Prime Minister and his or her Cabinet.
Now the Prime Minister of the UK is David Cameronwho was appointed Prime Minister on 11 May 2010. At the age of 43, Cameron became the youngest British Prime Minister since the Earl of Liverpool 198 years earlier. At the 2010 general election Cameron led the Conservatives to their best performance since the 1992 election. The Conservatives gained a plurality of seats in a hung parliament and talks between Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg led to an agreed Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition. The Cameron Ministry is the first coalition government in the United Kingdom since the Second World War.
The organizations that are responsible for local government in the UK are called councils. Their main job is to provide local services such as schools, libraries, and the Fire Service. They are also responsible for the local environment, and take rubbish from people’s houses and clean the streets. Councils are given an amount of money each year by the national government, and also get money from local taxes. Local councils are elected by people who live in that area. Councillors usually represent one of the national political parties, but are often elected because of their policies on local issues. Councils can make bylaws, which only apply in their area. For example, councils decide which streets people can park their cars on, and how much parking fines should be.
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