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TOPIC 63. THE BRITISH INSTITUTIONS. THE PARLIAMENT CHAMBERS. THE…
TOPIC 63. THE BRITISH INSTITUTIONS. THE PARLIAMENT CHAMBERS. THE GOVERNMENT. POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTORAL SYSTEM. THE CROWN.
INTRODUCTION
- The UK is a union of 4 nations (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) that are legally bound and they share many of the laws that are in force. However, there are occasions when the systems are different depending on the nation.
- The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has peculiarities which are essential to understand the uniqueness of the country. For instance, there's no written constitution, the laws are passed by means of jurisprudence and British citizens do not possess an identity card because it is considered as an attack to intimacy. They are one of the oldest parliaments and democracies in the world.
- Britain is a parliamentary monarchy and is ruled by a government headed by a PM who belongs to the political party with the largest amount of votes in the elections and representatives in the House of Commons and who names a number of ministers to develop the tasks promised before elections. This means that the UK is a democratic system with elections which change the head of the government but it also means a system that includes a monarch. Currently Charles III is the king, the head of the Monarchy and the Head of the Anglican Church.
- The most important political parties in Britain are the Labour Party (Whigs) and the Conservative Party (tories). There are also other parties with parliamentary representation, such as the Liberal Democrats, the Democratic Unionist Party or the Sinn Féin.
- The House of Commons is open to membership, whereas the House of Lords is closed to membership since a seat can only be obtained by heritage.
- Britain follow a set of rules of government about procedures and the amoount of power that the government is authorised to have specifying what they can or cannot do. These unwritten customs and rules are called "conventions"
BRITISH INSTITUTIONS
The UK is composed of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- There are also islands closely linked but not part of the UK; they are called Crown DEPENDENCIES which are self-governing jurisdictions with some degree of autonomy for which the British monarch is the head of state. Examples are Channel Islands and the Isle of Man .
- There are also several British territories OVERSEAS, which are under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the UK, often with a governor appointed by the monarch. Examples of it are Gibraltar, St Helena and the Falkland Islands .
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UK is governed by the parliament sitting in Westminster .
The Uncodified constitution receives that name since the UK does not have a written constitution (because they did not have a revolution that made a total new system of government).
- The UK only have a set of rules and regulations constituted by jurisprudence, laws, various treaties and international agreements.
- Many of its founding principles and essential laws go back to charters and bills that were drawn up by the English Parliament long before the creation of the UK (The founding document of this constitution is considered to be the Magna Carta or Great Charter of the Liberties of England which King John signed in 1215).
- Other landmark bills that established the major new principles in the British Constitution are the English Bill of Rights and the Acts of Union of 1707 .
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- Under the uncodified constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch only after receiving the advice of the Privy Council. The PM, the House of Lords, the Leader of the Opposition, and the police and military high command serve as members and advisers of the monarch on the Privy Council.
CONCLUSION
- The Uk is a complex misture of nations and systems that make up one British identity. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England are ruled by one Government and it is headed by a Prime Minister. This emphasises the cultural, political, social identities that coexist in each one of the nations that form the United Kingdom.
- The monarchy also plays a special role in British political life, as the Sovereign holds several offices that are extremely relevant for the people of Britain and for other people around the world, where the King is Head of State. Currently he decides only symbolically and represents hundreds of yeras of traditions.
- There have been attempts to modernise the government and a new legislation has emerged in order to comply with the new demands of the members of the public. The FOI proposed by Blair's government and developed by Brown's ministers was initially seen in the white paper of 1997. A citizen's charter providing a code of practice was also published to offer access to official information.
HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT
ORIGINS
- "Mother of Parliaments" because it's one of the oldest parliamentary institutions in the world.
- in 1215 the Magna Carta was signed by King John of England, establishing the principle that the monarch was subject to the law, laying the foundation for legal rights.
- in 1265, Simon de Montfort convened the first elected parliament of England. Since then, it has carried out its business on the same spot: the Palace of Westminster and the English Parliament operated steadily for 4 centuries (until the seventeenth century), acting as a counterweight to the king's power.
- In 1295, King Edward I convened what is known as the Model Parliament, which is widely regarded as the first representative parliament, including nobles and commoners and establishing 2 chambers (House of Lords and House of Commons) to debate and make legislation.
- 1642-1651:The English Civil war/Revolution was caused by King Charles I who was trying to rule without Parliament. This confronted the Royalist forces and the Parliament forces (under the command of Oliver Cromwell ) and ended in the victory of the Parliamentarians, ending with royal rule and declaring a Republic known as the Commonwealth of England. Cromwell became the Lord Protector, ruling as head of state. From then on, the English Parliament was established as a vital force in running the country.
- In 1660 Parliament declared the restoration of the monarchy and established a system of parliamentary monarchy.
- In 1688, Parliament deposed King James II due to his attempts to promote Catholicism and invited his Protestant son-in-law the Dutch Prince William of Orange to invade and take the Crown of England. The success of the Glorious revolution followed the signing of the Bill of Rights, which made England more democratic (allowing the people to have the power to decide their future), establishing the role of parliament and the limits of royal power in a Constitutional Monarchy.
- In 1707, with the Acts of Union between England and Scotland, the English Parliament of London became the British Parliament.
- In 1911, the Parliament formally confirmed the supremacy of the House of Commons
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STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING
(today)
- the Parliament is expected to legislate according to the rule of law, precedent and tradition.
it's the supreme legislative authority in Britain with legal sovereignty = can create, abolish or amend laws for all parts of Britain on any topic.
Parliamentary monarchy:
- bicameral legislature = parliament made up of 2 chambers/houses and above them there is the sovereign (king/queen) also known as "the crown".
- It gathers as a unified body only on ceremonial ocassions.
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upper house
It's formed by 833 members.
- most members are Life Peers = previous members of the House of Commons or former senior officials, judges or business leaders, members of political affiliations (such as the Conservative and the Labour Parties)
- The other members are 92 hereditary peers (nobles) and 26 Bishops of the Anglican Church (known as the Lords Spiritual)
its essential role is to investigate, revise and discuss non controversial subjects or examine in detail projects for which the house of Commons doesn't have time.
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hold the government to account, reviewing secondary legislation
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THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
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it is composed of 650 members elected by universal suffrage.
- Elected MPs do not have a deputy so they must be called in order to elect a new MP in case of death or removal.
- Each MP represents a territory (called "constituency") and the they stand for the public
It's structured with an official leader of the opposition and a shadow cabinet of spokesmen for the opposition
debates are devoted to projects of government legislation, to Private Members' bills or to Opposition motions.
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TERRITORIALITY
- British Parliament = of England and of the United Kingdom. It is sovereign.
- Parliament has delegated some of its powers to the regional parliaments or assemblies of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
THE GOVERNMENT, located in Westminster, it is led by the PM who appoints 20 senior MPs to become ministers who belong to the supreme decision-making committee known as the cabinet.
- It has the power to levy taxes, declare war, control the military, initiate foreign and domestic policies
- It's dependent on Parliament to make primary legislation.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT:
- towns, cities, and rural areas are governed by democratically elected councils (called "local authorities").
- responsible for a range of community services in their areas, including environmental matters.
- can levy council taxes and business rates, and they receive funding from these sources as well as from central government grants and local taxes.
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DEVOLVED ADMINISTRATIONS
- Devolution is designed to allow regions to address local needs more effectively while maintaining the unity of the UK as a whole.
- can pass laws to control public services, such as transport, health and education while the central government retains control over foreign affairs, defence, and economic policy.
- since 1997, some powers have been devolved from the central government to give people in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland more control over matters that directly affects them.
- Northern Ireland Assembly was established in 1998 following the Good Friday Agreement
- There's been a Welsh Assembly and a Scottish Parliament since 1999.
- Their members are elected by a form of proportional representation.
The Welsh Assembly
- it has 60 members of the Senedd and elections are held every 4 years using a form of propositional representation.
- they can speak either Welsh or English.
- Senedd has the power to make laws for Wales in 21 areas including: education, training, and housing.
Since 2011, the Senedd has been able to pass laws on these topics without agreement of the UK parliament.
The Scottish Parliament
- There are 129 MSPS elected by a form of proportional representation.
- It can pass laws for Scotland on all matters not reserved to the UK parliament (criminal law, health, education, planning, additional tax-raising powers)
The Northern Ireland Assembly
- It has 90 elected members known as MLAs who are elected with a form of proportional representation.
- it can make decisions on issues such as education, agriculture, the environment, health and social services.
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ELECTORAL SYSTEM: held on Election Day (Thursday) and administered locally
There are 5 types of elections in the UK: GLMPDB
- General elections: when the voters of the country cast their votes to elect MPs every 5 years. After an election, the monarch selects as PM the leader of the party most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons by possessing a majority of MPs
- local elections: where people choose councillors who run their villages/towns/cities.
- Mayoral elections for a directly elected mayor with executive powers for a city
- Police and Crime commissioner elections: There are 41 (PCCs) in England and Wales who are elected to make sure the police are run properly. They aim to cut crime within a force area.
- Devolved parliaments and assemblies of Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland.
- by-elections (held to fill a parliamentary seat that becomes vacant between general elections)
The 5 electoral systems used in the UK are: FAMSS
- First-past-the-post [vote for a single candidate in their constituency.The candidate with the most votes wins the seat]
- the additional member system [Voters have two ballots: one for a local candidate (elected by FPTP) and another for regional a party list]
- the multi-member plurality system [Voters choose multiple candidates (usually equal to the number of seats available)]
- the single transferable vote (rank candidates in order of preference on a ballot)
- the suplementary vote (rank top two candidates in 2 columns: the first for their favourite, and the second is optional)
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