The British Political System

1. The British Political System An overview before we start law

2. Starter – Pop Quiz Discuss in your groups what you think the following things mean • Parliament • Government • Cabinet • The Monarchy • The Prime Minister • The Opposition • Elections

3. Objectives • Describe the development of the British system of politics • Explain how British Politics works • Analyse the work of Parliament and the role of the government

4. Some history - part 1 It is a system which has elements which are very old – • The monarchy dates back to Anglo Saxon times. • Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo Saxon Witangemot, a collection of the elite of society, prominent nobles and clergy

5. Some history - part 2 • The Witangemot was succeeded by the Great Council of the Normans, a somewhat similar body. The Great Council evolved into Parliament. • The actual term Parliament comes into use during the 13th century. • By then it consisted of the great nobles, the leaders of the church, representatives of the knights of the shire and representatives of the burgesses from the boroughs.

6. Some history - part 3 • By the early 14th century the knights and burgesses began to sit separately. • By 1544 they became known as the House of Lords and the House of Commons. • Parliament gradually increased its power at the expense of the king.

7. British Political System #1 • What has happened in the UK is that these institutions have been adapted and changed as needs have developed into a functioning democracy. • Instead of abolishing institutions some have been pushed to one side while others have developed and increased in role or power.

8. British Political System #2 • The UK does not have a single document called the Constitution. A constitution outlines the main parts of the system of government. • Most British political scientists argue that the UK has an “unwritten” constitution made up of a mixture of historic documents, laws and non-legal rules called conventions.

9. British Political System #3 • There have been major changes to our constitution in recent years. Some are mentioned on later slides. • Others include- • The Freedom of Information Act 2000. • The impact of membership of the European Union. • The Human Rights Act 1998.

10. British Political System #4 • The Monarchy • This is a hereditary system. The Queen fulfils mainly ceremonial duties and has no real power. It is a constitutional monarchy i.e. one with limited powers. • The epitome of this position is the Queen’s speech. She reads this to the peers and MPs in the House of Lords.

11. British Political System #5 • But it is written by the PM – she is the mouthpiece of the government.

12. British Political System #6 • The Prime Minister • This is the leader of the party that won the last election. S/he appoints members of the Government. In a coalition this will be part of the agreement to form the coalition.

13. British Political System #7 • The Cabinet • This is the committee of the most important ministers. • It presently numbers 23. They meet regularly - usually weekly - to discuss and make decisions about running the country.

14. British Political System #8 • Officially we have a Cabinet system of government – that is the Cabinet takes the important decisions about running the country.

15. British Political System #9 • The Government • This is all the senior and junior ministers who govern Britain. It is made up of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and junior minsters. It consists of around 100 MPs and peers. They sit at the front in Parliament hence the term frontbencher.

16. British Political System #10 • The supporters of government sit behind them and are known as backbenchers or Government backbenchers (even though they are not actually members of the government).

17. British Political System #11 • The parties that are not members of the government are the opposition, with the largest party forming the Official Opposition, with its leaders being the Shadow Cabinet. They sit at the front opposite the government. • Their supporters sit behind them – opposition backbenchers.

19. British Political System #11 • The Civil Service • This is body of permanent officials that carry out the decisions of the government.

20. British Political System #12 • Parliament • This discusses policies and events. It has the power to pass laws. The government has to explain and defend its policies and actions to Parliament.

21. British Political System #12 • It is divided into: • The House of Commons • This is made up of 650 elected Members of Parliament. • Normally the party that wins over half the MPs at the election forms the government. However in 2010 no party had an overall majority so that the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition government.

23. British Political System #13 • The combined Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have 364 seats. • The combined opposition has 285 seats (this does not include the Speaker). • Sinn Fein do not take their seats so the effective government majority is 84. • The House of Commons is the most important part of Parliament.

24. British Political System #14 • UK is a Parliamentary Democracy • This means the Government is drawn from and responsible to Parliament. • In other words • the members of the government come from one of the 2 houses of Parliament. • the Government has to resign if defeated on a motion of confidence in the Commons.

25. British Political System #15 • The House of Lords • This is composed of hereditary peers (92 elected from around 800), life peers (615), and the Lords Spiritual (26). • They discuss policies and may make changes to bills from the Commons.

26. British Political System #15 • The House of Lords was formerly the highest court in the UK. • The Constitutional reform Act of 2005 transferred this to a new Supreme Court. • The Lord Chancellor ceased to be the head of the judiciary and the chair of the Lords with a new elected post of Lord Speaker being created for the latter.

27. British Political System #16 • Parties • These put forward policies to try to gain the support of the electorate. They provide the method by which the people can choose between alternative governments.

28. British Political System #17 • Pressure Groups • These are groups of people who try to influence Parliament and the government on policies by argument. They normally concentrate on one or a few areas.

29. British Political System #18 • The Electorate • These are all those people who are qualified to vote - those over 18 in the UK. They elect the House of Commons and the government every 5 years. • There has been a requirement for an election at least every 5 years since 1911 but the Prime Minister had the option of calling an election earlier.

30. British Political System #19 • The coalition Government has introduced an Act of Parliament to introduce fixed term 5 year parliaments and to make the size of constituencies equal. • The coalition Government had a referendum on a change to the electoral system to the Alternative Vote. But the British People voted in favour of keeping the old system

31. British Political System #20 • The British electoral system known as simple majority, simple plurality or “first past the post” is very simple, easy to understand and tends to produce an outright winning party. • However it also has major drawbacks in that some parties are seriously underrepresented.

32. British Political System #21 Devolution and Local Government • The last Labour Government set up systems of devolution –internal self government - for Scotland and Wales. • Devolution was also set up in Northern Ireland as a result of the Good Friday Agreement. • We will discuss the impact of these arrangements on the Constitution and the Supremacy of Parliament to make laws.

33. British Political System #22 • Significant changes have been made to the system of local government with the introduction of elected mayors for large cities and the adoption of a cabinet system for other local authorities.

34. Objectives • Describe the development of the British system of politics • Explain how British Politics works • Analyse the work of Parliament and the role of the government