The political system
in the UK
How does Britain's system of government work ?
The monarchy
Parliament
The party system
Useful links
Activities for the "lycée"
Activities for the "collège"
2005 elections
The United Kingdom is a constitutional
monarchy, that is to say it has a monarch (a king
or a queen) as its Head of State. Nevertheless, the
Monarch has very little power and reigns with the
support of Parliament. Parliament consists of two
chambers known as the House of Commons and the House
of Lords.
How does Britain’s
system of government work?
Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional
monarchy. Parliament is composed of The House of Commons,
the House of Lords and the Monarchy. Parliament passes
laws, approves taxation and debates on the major issues
of the day. The Prime Minister heads the Government
and appoints Ministers, who in turn head individual
Government departments.
The House of Commons, where Parliamentary power is
held, has 659 elected Members of Parliament (MP's),
each representing a local constituency.
While represented in Parliament
at Westminster, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
also have their own devolved administrations.
For further explanations on the
question, click here
The key Government departments
Cabinet Office
HM Treasury with the Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance)
Home Office (Internal Affairs)
Foreign Office (International affairs)
Department for Transport
Department for Education & Skills
Department of Health
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Ministry of Defence
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Department for International Development
Department of Trade and Industry
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Department for Work and Pensions
Department for Constitutional Affairs
Scotland Office
Wales Office
Northern Ireland Office
You will find detailed explanations
for each office by clicking here
Structure of the British
Government
The Monarchy
History 
Tudor wallpaper
The Monarchy is the oldest
institution of government in the United Kingdom. The
English and Scottish Crowns were separate until 1603.
Ever since, only one monarch has reigned over the
United Kingdom. A history of the monarchy, as well
as a list of the Kings and Queens of England, Scotland
and the United Kingdom since 802, are available on
the official
web site of the British Monarchy.
Britain has always
been a monarchy but today the monarch has no real
power. However, in the past, kings and queens were
very powerful.
Time Line
History of the Monarchy can be found on the official
website of the British Monarchy
Timelines
of British history
The Civil War
Between 1642 and 1649,
there was a Civil War in Britain between supporters
of the King on the one hand and supporters of the
Parliament on the other. King Charles I was executed.
For eleven years, there was no monarch on the British
throne, the country was a republic ruled by Cromwell.
The monarchy returned in the person of Charles II
in 1660.
The Bill of Rights
In 1688, Parliament
forced King James II to abdicate because they were
afraid he would take too much power. They actually
chose the next king, William of Orange, from Holland,
who was married to James's daughter, Mary. before
he could become king of England, he had to sign a
list of conditions, called the Bill of Rights. Consequently,
Parliament was now more powerful than the Monarch.
The Monarchy today
Today the Monarch
does not participate in the British government. The
King or Queen has no real political power. Parliament
makes all the decisions and the Prime Minister runs
the country. The Monarch reigns but does not rule.
The monarch symbolises the unity of the British people.
Furthermore, he or she is still the head of the Anglican
Church.
The monarch :
-
appoints the Prime
Minister after a general election
- appoints Government Ministers
- summons, prorogues or dissolves
Parliament
- gives the speech to open Parliament
( to read the Queen's Speech click
here)
- gives Royal Assent to legislation
- has power of patronage in making
official appointments and conferring honours
- has power to declare war and make
peace
- heads the Commonwealth
-
presides over official dinners,
receiving foreign presidents
Today, Elisabeth
II is Queen of England. HRH
The
Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, is next in line
to the throne. When a sovereign dies, or abdicates,
a successor is immediately appointed according to
rules, which were laid down at the end of the seventeenth
century. The coronation of a new sovereign is a ceremony
of great pageantry and celebration that has remained
essentially the same for over a thousand years. If
Elisabeth II dies or abdicates, her son, Prince Charles
will become King and he will reign over the United
Kingdom. If he refuses to be king or abdicates, his
son Prince
William will be crowned. If William refuses to
be king, then his brother Harry
will be installed King.
To
find more on Prince William
The
Official website of the British Monarchy
A list of all
the members of the Royal Family
 
The origins of the
British Parliament
In 1215, rich landowners
called Barons, rebelled against their King (King John).
They forced him to sign a charter, called Magna Carta,
which gave them certain rights, amongst which the
right to organise a council. Some people called this
council a "parliament" (originating from
the French word 'to speak').
The first reference to a parliament
was made in 1236, and in 1254 the first meeting of
a council comprising elected representatives - in
this case two knights from each shire - took place.
In 1265, following his revolt against Henry III, Simon
de Montfort set a precedent in summoning a parliament
of his supporters - for the first time including two
burgesses from selected boroughs.
During the reign of Edward
I, Parliament came to a greater role than that of
'high court'. Due to its role in the imposition of
taxes, it came under threat from the Pope who declared
that only the Church could decide how Church money
was spent (the Pope forbade the clergy from contributing
to the Royal Exchequer). Subsequently, the King used
the outbreak of warfare with Scotland and the need
for funds, as an excuse to ignore the latter's request.
More on the
early days of Parliament 1236 - 1307
The structure of
Parliament
Parliament consists
of two chambers: the House of Commons and the House
of Lords
The House of Commons
The House of Commons consists
of 659 Members of Parliament (MPs) who are democratically
elected by voters (the
electorate). Each MP
represents a district in the UK known as a constituency
or seat. MPs are elected either at a general election,
or at a by-election following the death or retirement
of an MP. Parliamentary elections must be held every
five years at the latest. It is the
Prime Minister who decides on the exact date within
the five year span.
The main functions of the House of Commons are:
-
-
to provide
the means of carrying on the work of government
(by voting for taxation)
-
to scrutinise
government policy and administration, including
proposals for expenditure
-
to debate
the major issues of the day
The political party that wins the most seats in the
House of Commons at a general election is known as the
governing
party, and its leader becomes the
Prime Minister. The second largest party is known
as the Official Opposition and its leader
is the Leader of the Opposition. All other parties are
known as opposition parties even though some of them
will support
the governing party.
The picture above
is taken from "An
introduction to Parliament" 
on the site of the British Parliament
The House of Lords
The second Chamber (or upper
Chamber) is the House of Lords. Like the House of
Commons its main functions are:
-
-
to scrutinise government policy
and administration;
-
and to debate the major issues of
the day.
Unlike the House of Commons, the House of Lords does
not have a role in approving Government taxation and
expenditure.
There are approximately 700 Lords in the House of
Lords. Members of the House of Lords, except those
paid a salary as a minister or a
Law Lord, are not paid but are able to claim certain
allowances to cover their attendance. Attendance is
not compulsory. A number of
peers are independent and do not hold any party allegiance,
these are known as Crossbenchers. The Crossbenchers
can often determine
the outcome of a vote.
We can divide the Lords into four categories:
-
Life Peers
– who make up the majority of the membership.
They are appointed by the Monarch on the advice of
the Prime
Minister, who will in turn take advice from others.
Life peers are often appointed for services to the
country and will have expertise
in many different fields. They are appointed for the
duration of their life-time and their title ceases
on death.
-
Law Lords
– up to 12 Lords of Appeal in the Ordinary are
appointed to hear appeals from the lower courts. They
are paid
a salary and can continue to hear appeals until they
are 70 years old although they can continue to sit
in the House of Lords as
life peers after this age.
-
Bishops –
the 26 most senior Archbishops and Bishops of the
Church of England are entitled to sit in the House
of Lords because
the Church of England is the ‘established’
Church of the State. They cease to be members of the
Lords when they retire.
-
Hereditary
peers – those peers who have inherited their
titles from their family – most titles pass
only to the male heir. Until the House
of Lords Act 1999 all hereditary peers had the right
to sit and vote in the Lords. This was reduced to
92 hereditary peers who were able
to remain until the next stage of reform was implemented.
These consisted of 15 ‘office-holders’
who were elected by the whole
House, two who hold royal appointments and 75 members
elected by their own party group or the crossbenchers.
Bills
No new law can be
passed by Parliament unless it has completed a number
of stages in both the House of Commons and the House
of Lords, and has been agreed on by both Houses. The
Queen also has to sign it to show that it has been
given Royal Assent (these
days a formality). Only after the Royal Assent does
it become a new law or Act of Parliament. Before this,
while it is still going
through Parliament, it is called a Bill. Bills can
begin in either the House of Commons or the House
of Lords.
For more details to download on the subject click
here
Constitution
Does Britain have
a written constitution?
Although Britain does not
have a single document codifying the way its political
institutions function and setting out the basic rights
and duties of its citizens, it does have certain important
constitutional documents. These include the Magna
Carta (1215) which protects the rights of the community
against the Crown; the Bill of Rights (1689) which
extended the powers of Parliament; and the Reform
Act (1832) which reformed the system of parliamentary
representation. Unlike the Constitutions of America,
France and many Commonwealth countries, the British
constitution has not been assembled at any time into
a single, consolidated document. Instead it is made
up of common law, statute law and convention.The
flexibility of the British constitution helps to explain
why it has developed so fully over the years. However,
since Britain joined the European Community in 1973,
the rulings of the European Court of Justice have
increasingly determined and codified sections of British
law. In the process, British constitutional and legal
arrangements are begining to resemble those of Europe.
The Party system
The Westminster Parliament has
traditionally been dominated by the two-party system,
with two main parties forming the Government and Official
Opposition. A number of other smaller parties and,
occasionally independent candidates, also win seats
in Parliament.
Major
parties
The Conservative Party, centre-right to right-wing
(traditionally right-wing) 
The Labour Party, centre-left to centre (traditionally
centre-left) 
Co-operative Party (all Co-operative Party MPs are
also Labour MPs as part of a long-standing electoral
agreement)
Liberal Democrats, centre-left (traditionally centrist)
Minor
Parties
Parties with representation in the House of Commons
Scottish National Party 
Plaid Cymru 
Ulster Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
Sinn Féin (do not take seats as they do not
take an oath of allegiance)
Social Democratic and Labour Party
-
Parliament and its History:
the role and origins of Parliament, the emergence
of the two Houses, the Parliament Acts..
-
Palace of Westminster: history
of the palace, Westminster Hall, the layout
of the palace today, tours and visits.
-
The Major Parliamentary Occasions:
the State Opening of Parliament, the Budget,
Prime Minister's Question Time, Prorogation....
-
The Government and Opposition:
the Party system, the 'whips', government's
accountability to parliament, statements, parliamentary
questions, motions of 'No-Confidence'
-
The House of Commons: party
composition of the House, sitting hours and
calendar, the Speaker of the House of Commons,
debates & divisions, MPs' pay & allowances.
-
The House of Lords: role of
the 'second chamber', Lords spiritual and temporal,
sitting hours & attendance, Peers' allowances,
the Woolsack
-
Making New Laws: consultation
and pressure groups, types of bill, the passage
of a bill through both Houses, Royal Assent,
Statutory Instrument
Activities for the "lycée"
Un exercice interactif dans lequel
on doit faire correspondre une séquence de
photos et leur légende sur le discours
d'ouverture du parlement de la Reine. Fastueux
!
Un autre exercice interactif avec
une très belle photo de la Chambre
des Lords dans lequel on travaille sur la disposition
de la Chambre des Lords
State
opening of Parliament : des activités à
partir du site de la BBC
How
did Henry VIII get up in the morning ? Un exercice
proposé par the
Learning Curve à partir d'une image historique
d'Henry VIII
Une autre activité de The Learning Curve sur
Victorian
Britain
Un quiz sur le Prince
Williams
Un autre sur la reine The
Queen quiz
Activities for the
"collège"
Une page claire et simple sur le fonctionnement du système
politique anglais
Sur le site de la BBC des articles courts avec des photos
de la reine, les évènements royaux et
la famille royale.
Un site pour explorer le Parlement
britannique
A visiter, la partie Welcome
to the kids' zone du site officiel de la monarchie
anglaise
An on
line visit of the Parliament on the Guardian's site
Un quiz en français sur la Grande-Bretagne,
ses coutumes et traditions ainsi que son système
politique.
Quiz
: MPs What do you know about MPs. Simple questions.
Suitable for young pupils
2005 Elections
News on the elections on the BBC
Newsround site for kids
Where the parties stand. On the FT site. Comparison on
issues such as education, health, crime , environment.
Policies
compared.
Articles and news on Yahoo
News
Other important and useful information on the BBC
special guide
Peter Snow's video of the step
by step election guide
without subtitles
Blair's
profile
Election Cartoons
in the Guardian
Caricatures
in the Times
© 2007
Site d'anglais de l'Académie de Paris
Nous ne sommes pas responsables
du contenu des sites externes
|
