Politics of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is governed within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch
is the head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government. The Executive
power is exercised by Her Majesty's Government, on behalf of and by the consent of the Monarch, as well
as by the devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales, and the Northern Ireland Executive. The
Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the House of
Commons and the Supreme Court, as well as in the Scottish parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland
assemblies. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The highest national court is
the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
The UK political system is a multi-party system. Since the 1920s, the two largest political parties have been
the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Before the Labour Party rose in British politics the Liberal
Party was the other major political party along with the Conservatives.
The constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified, being made up of constitutional conventions, statutes
and other elements. This system of government, known as the Westminster system, has been adopted by
other countries, especially those that were formerly parts of the British Empire.

The Crown
The British Monarch, currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the Chief of State of the United
Kingdom. Though she takes little direct part in government, the Crown remains the fount in which ultimate
executive power over Government lies. These powers are known as Royal Prerogative and can be used for a
vast amount of things, such as the issue or withdrawal of passports, to the dismissal of the Prime Minister or
even the Declaration of War. The powers are delegated from the Monarch personally, in the name of the
Crown, and can be handed to various ministers, or other Officers of the Crown, and can purposely bypass
the consent of Parliament.
The head of Her Majesty's Government; the Prime Minister, also has weekly meetings with the sovereign,
where she may express her feelings, warn, or advise the Prime Minister in the Governments work.
According to the uncodified constitution of the United Kingdom, the monarch has the following powers:
Domestic Powers
The power to dismiss and appoint a Prime Minister
The power to dismiss and appoint other ministers
The power to summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament
The power to grant or refuse Royal Assent to bills (making them valid and law)
The power to commission officers in the Armed Forces
The power to command the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom
The power to appoint members to the Queen's Council
The power to issue and withdraw passports
The power to grant Prerogative of mercy (though Capital Punishment is abolished, this power is still
used to remedy errors in sentence calculation)
The power to grant honours
The power to create corporations via Royal Charter
Foreign Powers
The power to ratify and make treaties
The power to declare War and Peace
The power to deploy the Armed Forces overseas
The power to recognize states
The power to credit and receive diplomats

The Executive power in the United Kingdom is exercised by the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II, via Her
Majesty's Government and the devolved national authorities - the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly
Government and the Northern Ireland Executive.

The Legislative power

The UK Parliament is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom (i.e., there is parliamentary
sovereignty), and Government is drawn from and answerable to it. Parliament is bicameral, consisting of the
House of Commons and the House of Lords. There is also a devolved Scottish Parliament and devolved
Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland, with varying degrees of legislative authority..
Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically
elected body, consisting of 650 members (since the 2010 general election), who are known as Members of
Parliament (MPs).
The House of Commons was originally far less powerful than the House of Lords, but today its legislative
powers greatly exceed those of the Lords.
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of
Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster.
The House of Lords is independent from, and complements the work of the House of Commons; the Lords
share responsibility for making laws and checking government action.[2] Bills can be introduced into either
the House of Lords or the House of Commons and members of the Lords may also take on roles as
Government Ministers.
Unlike the elected House of Commons, most new members of the House of Lords are appointed.
Membership of the House of Lords is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. There are currently
26 Lords Spiritual who sit in the Lords by virtue of their ecclesiastical role in the established Church of
England. The Lords Temporal make up the rest of the membership; of these, the majority are life peers who
are appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords
Appointments Commission.[
The UK system of government is based on representative democracy. It has a number of key features.
First, elections, regardless of the system used, are based on democratic rules These include that
there is universal adult suffrage, elections are free and fair, and elections are held regularly either
within a maximum term of according to fixed terms.
Second, the UK is a parliamentary democracy, in that Parliament is the central democratic
institution, operating as a deliberative assembly which establishes an indirect link between
government and the people. Parliament ensures that government is accountable to the people, in that
they are formed as the result of parliamentary elections and only survive as long as they retain the
confidence of the House of Commons.
Third, the party system is democratic in that a number of parties compete for power, affording the
public a choice of candidates and manifestos at election time.
Fourth, democratic processes operating through elections and political parties are supplemented by
the existence of pressure groups, which both broaden political participation and provide the public
with an additional channel of communication with government, particularly in relation to particular
issues.
Fifth, in addition to democratic processes within central government, the UK has a system of elected
local authorities and elected devolved bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Sixth,
representative democracy in the UK has increasingly been supplemented by the use of referendums,
especially to resolve major constitutional issues. Referendums are a device of direct democracy.