Here the party system exerts its influence. The real line of division is not between parts or branches of government, but between parties, policies, programs, and personalities. The people choose the party they prefer; it has even been said that they choose the prime minister they prefer.
The party which wins most seats dominates the Commons, and from its members the prime minister and most of the cabinet are chosen. The ministers and their departmental officials frame bills to carry out the party policy, and their supporters naturally vote for these measures, just as the minority party naturally opposes them.
Some, perhaps most, of the supporters are yes men, who vote faithfully as required. Others may be more independent and critical; but they would not vote with the Opposition if such action meant the defeat of their own party, resignation of the cabinet, or the wear and tear, cost, and uncertainty of a premature general election. Hence the party in power must support its cabinet, critically perhaps, but loyally. In effect this results in cabinet control of the Commons, especially in time of crisis or emergency.
The cabinet is thus the core of the system. The prime minister is the center of the core. His responsibilities, burdens, and power have become enormous in the recent decades of war and postwar dislocation. He names and manages the cabinet.
He has to be well informed on the main problems of the day and have a general idea about the minor ones. He has to keep the king informed of what is going on. Yet in addition he has to play the star role in the House of Commons—leading debates, meeting attacks, and planning strategy. To discharge these many duties as driving force and directing head, he must be a good debater, and be well-grounded in parliamentary procedure and methods. Wealth, good social connections, and education at a famous school and ancient university were once indispensable, but today humble birth is no bar and high birth no sure passport to the office.
Only four had been to Oxford or Cambridge. Three entered the Commons in their mid-twenties, thus starting young on a political career. Nearly all held minor posts and then cabinet positions before becoming prime minister.
Thus they served a long and varied apprenticeship in the House, in office and in Opposition, in the departments, and in the cabinet room at 10 Downing Street. For example, Mr. Churchill entered the House in , when he was twenty-six years old. At one time or another he was in charge of colonial affairs, of home affairs, of foreign trade, the navy, munitions, the air force, and the exchequer. In the intervals he was an ordinary member and a far from tame one.
Prime minister, cabinet, and Commons are the three most important parts of the British constitution, but three other parts call for brief description. The first is the king. George VI is the forty-fifth person to sit on the throne in the last thousand years. During the last three or four centuries the royal power has been so whittled that only one important constitutional function remains.
When a prime minister dies or resigns, the king picks his successor. The government is expected to maintain the confidence of the House of Commons since it requires its support for the passing of primary legislations. If the government loses the confidence of the lower house, it is forced to either resign or a General Election is held. The prime minister heads the central government of the UK. The monarch, who is currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the head of state.
She plays a minor role in governing the country with the Crown remaining the source of the executive power exercised by the government. The Crown possesses the Royal Prerogative which can be exercised for several purposes including issuing and withdrawing passports and declaring war against an external enemy. Most of the Royal Prerogative powers are delegated to various ministries who can use them without seeking the consent of parliament. The premier, who is the head of the UK government, has a weekly meeting with the Queen where the queen can express her views on Government matters.
The meetings are strictly confidential. He is the head of the government and has a seat in the Commons. Among other responsibilities, he recommends a number of appointments to the sovereign, including senior clergy of the Church of England. In Britain local government authorities - generally known as "councils" - only have power because the central government has given them powers. Indeed they only exist because the central government allows them to exist.
The system of local government is very similar to the system of national government. There are elected representatives, called councillors - the equivalent of MPs. They meet in a council chamber in the Town Hall or County Hall - the equivalent of Parliament, where they make policy which is implemented by local government officers - the equivalent of civil servants. For the evidence of written law only, the Queen has almost absolute power, and it all seems very undemocratic.
Every autumn, at the state opening of Parliament, Elizabeth II, who became Queen in , makes a speech. In it, she says what "my government" intends to do in the coming year.
And indeed, it is her government - not the people's. As far as the law it concerned, she can choose anybody she likes to run the government for her. The same is true for her choices of people to fill some hundred or so other ministerial positions. And if she gets fed up with her ministers, she can just dismiss them. Officially speaking they are all "servants of the Crown". Furthermore nothing the parliament has decided can become law until she has agreed to it.
There is also a principle of English law that the monarch can do nothing that is legally wrong. But in reality it is of course very different. Of course she cannot choose anyone she like to be Prime Minister, but she has to choose someone who has the support of the majority of MPs in the House of Commons - because "her" government can only collect taxes with the agreement of the Commons, so if she did not choose such a person, the government would stop function.
With the Parliament it is the same story - the Prime Minister will talk about "requesting" a dissolution of Parliament when he or she wants to hold an election, but it would be normally impossible for the monarch to refuse this "request".
So in reality the Queen cannot actually stop the government going ahead with any of its politics. There are often mentioned three roles of the monarch. First, the monarch is the personal embodiment of the government of the country. This means that people can be as critical as they like about the real government, and can argue that it should be thrown out, without being accused of being unpatriotic. Second, it is argued that the monarch could act as a final check on a government that was becoming dictatorial.
Third, the monarch has to play a very practical role as being a figurehead and representing the country. The family name of the royal family is Windsor. Queen Elizabeth is only the fourth monarch with this name. It is because George V, Elizabeth's grandfather, changed the family name.
Wales has the Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales , which are in charge of things like making laws for Wales and agreeing Welsh taxes.
At the moment Northern Ireland does not have a sitting government but Northern Ireland does have the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly which has powers closer to those already devolved to Scotland.
Legislative power is the power to make new laws or remove old ones. The Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, and the Northern Irish Assembly also have legislative powers; however, they do not have as much authority as Parliament.
Executive power — the power to implement and enforce laws — is controlled by the British government, which works on behalf of the Queen, as well as the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales and the Northern Ireland Executive. Judiciary power, which is the power to prosecute those who break the law, is kept independent of the legislature and the executive.
People vote in elections for Members of Parliament MPs to represent them. The party that gets the most seats in Parliament forms the Government. If, in the next election, Labour wins more seats, we will have a Labour Government.
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