Until It Sticks Open the app ›Government & Democracy
The system
- The UK is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy
- Written constitution? No — it is unwritten (no single document)
- Not a constitutional institution: the armed forces
- Parliament = House of Commons + House of Lords
The monarch
- Appoints the government chosen at election; advises, warns and encourages the PM (who makes the actual decisions)
- Head of the Church of England (spiritual leader = Archbishop of Canterbury)
- Appoints life peers on the advice of the Prime Minister
Commons, Lords & the Speaker
- Debates in the Commons chaired by the Speaker — who is an MP with a constituency
- Lords (“peers”) are not elected; several Church of England bishops sit there
- MPs’ jobs: represent their constituency, help create new laws, scrutinise government, debate national issues
- Contact an MP by letter, phone, constituency office or local surgeries — not post-only
- Official reports of Parliament: Hansard; PM’s Questions happen every week
- Opposition’s senior team = the shadow cabinet — challenges government, offers alternatives
Elections & voting
- General elections at least every 5 years; MP dies/resigns → by-election
- Voting age 18 (set in 1969); before voting you’re sent a poll card
- Stand as MP / public office at 18 (exceptions: armed forces, civil servants, some convicts)
- Persuading people to vote for a party = canvassing
- TV & radio election coverage must be balanced — equal time to rival views (by law)
- ‘Individual registration’ is used in Northern Ireland (not Scotland/Wales)
PM, ministers & civil service
- PM’s official home: 10 Downing Street
- Home Secretary runs: crime, policing and immigration
- Civil servants are chosen on merit and politically neutral — not appointed by government
- Towns and rural areas are run by democratically elected councils (“local authorities”) — not appointed officials
Devolution
- Wales — the Senedd: 60 members, elected every 4 years by proportional representation
- Northern Ireland Assembly: 90 MLAs, elected by PR; it has been suspended in the past
- Scottish Parliament can legislate on education, health, civil/criminal law, planning, some taxes
- Devolved everywhere: health & education
- Stays with Westminster: defence, foreign affairs, immigration, taxation, social security
Northern Ireland = Ninety; Senedd = Sixty. Westminster keeps anything with an army, a border or a wallet.
Beyond the UK
- The Commonwealth: an association of countries working towards democracy and development — mostly ex-Empire
- The UN was set up after the Second World War to promote peace
- Is the BBC government-controlled? No — state-funded but independent
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