United Kingdom What makes up the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

What makes up the United Kingdom?

Constitutions? The United Kingdom does not have a written Constitution. Their electoral system is based off the Magna Carta of 1215 and several Parliamentary Acts from the 17 th century.

Elections are held at least every 5 years. But elections can also be called at any time if they lose a majority vote in the House of Commons. Elections will start when the Prime Minister asks the Queen to dissolve the Parliament. They then have weeks to set up an election.

First Past the Post Voting (FPTP) Elections in the UK are a FPTP election. FPTP: when the candidate, in each constituency, with the most votes wins the seat. This is sometimes called a plurality vote. It is very rare for a candidate to receive a majority. There have been very few in the history of the country to gain more than 50% of the vote. How could this be bad? Is it better than our system?

How are Elections decided? Voters do not directly elect their Prime Minister or head of government. The public elects a candidate to representing a particular party These candidates are called Members of Parliament or MPs. The leader of the majority party is then appointed as the Prime Minister. The party with the majority of elected seats is then asked to form a government. The leader of the second largest party is then asked to form “Her Royal Majesty’s Opposition”

3 Parties? What is this madness? ! The two largest parties are the left-wing Labour Party and the right-wing Conservative Party. A third party is considered to be the central Liberal Democrats. Parties from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland also send a small amount of MPs from smaller parties.

Hung Parliament What if a party doesn’t have the majority of seats?

Head of State vs Head of Government The United Kingdom is both a Monarchy and a Democracy. The Queen is the Head of State meaning her role is largely ceremonial. She makes appearances at events, welcomes dignitaries, and is pictured on their stamp and notes. The queen does have the job of opening parliament every year. The Head of Government is the Prime Minister. His role is to create laws and run the country from a policy standpoint.

Who Runs the Government? The Prime Minister: is the head of the UK government. He is ultimately responsible for all policy and decisions. He: Oversees the operation of the Civil Service and government agencies Appoints members of the government Is the principal government figure in the House of Commons. Current Prime Minister is David Cameron. He resides in 10 Downing Street in London.