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The UK Parliament is the United Kingdom’s supreme legislative body. The main function of
Parliament is to pass laws and raise finance through taxation. It consists of the Queen and the two
chambers of Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is a
representative body consisting of 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) elected by a system of universal
suffrage. The House of Lords is not elected. It is not allowed to amend in any way certain bills passed
by the House of Commons and has limited powers of revision or delay over others.
Great Britain has a long judicial history. The judiciary is an independent body.
The United
Kingdom doesn’t have a single unified judicial system. Today the UK has three distinct systems of
law: English law, Northern Ireland law and Law of Scotland. Both English law, which applies in
England and Wales, and Northern Ireland law are based on common-law principles. The essence of
common law is that law is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and
knowledge of legal precedent to the facts before them. Law of Scotland, a hybrid system based on both
common-law and
civil-law principles, is applied in Scotland.
For electoral purposes Britain is divided into parliamentary constituencies. General elections
must be called within five years. They are held following a dissolution of Parliament. The Prime
Minister asks the Monarch to dissolve Parliament by Royal Proclamation. Traditionally the date of
general elections is not fixed in advance, and the time is chosen by the governing party to maximize
political advantages. Voting is by secret ballot and takes place on Polling Day. Since 1935 every
general election has been held on a Thursday by universal suffrage.
The voters in the United Kingdom also elect members of the European Parliament on a broadly
proportional system of voting.
The UK is sometimes called a “two-and-a-half” party system, because parliamentary politics is
dominated by the Labour Party and Conservative Party, with the Liberal Democrats holding a
significant number of seats (but still less than Labour and the Conservatives) and several small parties.
The party in power requires the support of the people it governs. Without this most basic requirement,
a government will find it hard to function effectively. If a party loses an election, it will confirm the
right of the victorious party to exercise power. It will not deny its right to govern.
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