Hynek Gerlich 4. A

INTRODUCTION  Country name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland  UK is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system  In fact, it is a parliamentary monarchy

THE UK PARLIAMENT  The supreme body of legislatures  Bicameral, consisting of the House of Commons and the House of Lords  Third component is the Queen  Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster in London  The quasi-official emblem of the Houses of Parliament is a crowned portcullis  There also exists a devolved Scottish Parliament and devolved Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland

HOUSE OF COMMONS  The full title: The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled  The lower house of Parliament  A democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members (known as MPs), who usually belong to a political party

HOUSE OF COMMONS  They can force a Prime Minister to resign or call elections by passing a Motion of No Confidence  Controversial and money bills originate here  The Commons have supremacy over the Lords

HOUSE OF COMMONS  Speaker: John Bercow  Leader: Sir George Young, Conservative  Shadow Leader: Angela Eagle, Labour

HOUSE OF LORDS  The upper house of Parliament  Independent from the Commons  Together with the Commons, they share responsibility for making laws and checking government action  The Lord‘s veto may be overridden by the Commons  826 members currently

HOUSE OF LORDS  Two different types of membership  Lords Temporal – secular members coming from barons and baronesses, mostly life peers (only 90 hereditary), appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of a Prime Minister  Lords Spiritual – represent the Church of England and the Five Ancient Sees – currently 24 bishops of 26

HOUSE OF LORDS  Lord Speaker: Baroness D‘Souza  Leader: Lord Strathclyde, Conservative  Opposition Leader: Baroness de Royall of Blaisdon, Labour

BRITISH MONARCH  The Sovereign; "His/Her Majesty"  The constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states – Commonwealth realms  The Supreme Governor of the Church of England  The Monarch takes little direct part in the Government

SOME OF DOMESTIC POWERS OF THE MONARCH  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 commission officers in the Armed Forces  The power to grant honours

FOREIGN POWERS OF THE MONARCH  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

ELIZABETH II  Elizabeth Alexandra May  Born 21 April 1926 to King George IV and to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother  Coronation: 2 June 1953  Spouse: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

ELIZABETH II - ISSUE  Charles, Prince of Wales  Anne, Princess Royal  Prince Andrew, Duke of York  Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex

ELECTIONS  Five types of elections in the UK  Held on Election Day – Thursday  General elections – must be called within five years of the opening of Parliament  Each constituency in the UK elects one MP by the first-past-the-post system  Both voters and candidates on MPs must be over 18 years old

GENERAL ELECTIONS 2010  Were held on Thursday 6 May 2010 to elect members of the House of Commons  Took place in 650 constituencies  No party gained 326 seats needed to have a majority in Parliament  The Conservatives (306 seats, 1st) made a coalition with the Liberal Democrats (57 seats, 3rd)  The Labour Party (258 seats, 2nd) became the Official Opposition

RESULTS

MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES  Conservative Party  Labour Party  Liberal Democrats

CONSERVATIVE PARTY  Formally Conservative and Unionists Party  Centre-right party, blue colour  Emerged in 1834 of the Tory Party  Ideology: British unionism, soft eurosceptism, conservatism  177,000 members  306 Commons, 217 Lords  Known members: M. Thatcher, J. Major

CONSERVATIVE PARTY  Leader: David Cameron (Prime Minister)  Co-chairman: Andrew Feldman and Sayeeda Warsi

LABOUR PARTY  Founded 1900  Centre-left party, red colours  Ideology: Social Democracy  193,961 members  258 Commons, 212 Lords  Known members: Clement Attlee, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown (preceding Prime Minister)

LABOUR PARTY  Leader: Ed Miliband (Leader of the Opposition)  Deputy Leader: Harriet Harman

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS  Founded 2 March 1988  Radical centre to centre-left party, yellow colours  Ideology: liberalism, social liberalism, cultural liberalism  57 Commons, 79 Lords

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS  Leader: Nick Clegg (Deputy Prime Minister)  Deputy Leader: Simon Hughes  President: Tim Farron

PARTS OF UK  England  Scotland  Wales  Northern Ireland

ENGLAND – BASIC INFO  Capital: London (largest city)  Area: 130,395 km 2  Population: 51,446,000 (2008 estimated)  Language: English (official), Cornish  Ethnic groups: 82,8% British, 2,7% Indian, 1,9% Pakistani, 1,5% African  Currency: Pound sterling (GBP)

ENGLAND Flag of England – St George’s Cross Royal Banner of England

SCOTLAND  Scottish Gaelic name: Alba  Capital: Edinburgh  Area: 78,387 km 2  Population: 5,222,100 (2010 est.)  Language: English (official), Scottish Gaelic, Scots  Ethnic groups: 89% Scottish, 7% English, Irish, Welsh  Currency: Pound sterling (GBP)

SCOTLAND Flag of Scotland - Saint Andrew's Cross Scottish Royal Standard - Lion Rampant of Scotland

EDINBURGH  Scottish Gaelic name: Dùn Èideann  Population: 486,120  The second largest city after Glasgow  Seat of the Scottish Parliament  One of the historical centres of the Enlightenment  "Athens of the North"  University of Edinburgh

EDINBURGH Coat of Arms of Edinburgh View from Calton Hill

WALES  Welsh name: Cymru  Capital: Cardiff (largest city)  Area: 20,799 km 2  Population: 3,006,400 (2010 est.)  Language: English (official), Cornish  Ethnic groups: 75,4% Welsh, 20% English, 0,8% Scottish  Currency: Pound sterling (GBP)

WALES Flag of Wales – the Welsh Dragon Royal Badge of Wales

CARDIFF  Welsh name: Caerdydd  Population: 341,054  Seat of the National Assembly for Wales  Base of most national cultural and sporting institutions  Part of the Eurocities network  An important port

CARDIFF Coat of Arms of CardiffCardiff City Hall

NORTHERN IRELAND  Irish name: Tuaisceart Éireann, Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann  Capital: Belfast (largest city)  Area: 13,843 km 2  Population: 1,789,000 (2009 est.)  Language: English, Irish, Ulster Scots  Ethnic groups: N. I. 91%, other UK 7%  Currency: Pound sterling (GBP)

NORTHERN IRELAND Ulster Banner Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland

BELFAST  Irish: Béal Feirste  Population: 267,500  Seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly  Major seaport  Two airports  Rope-making and shipbuilding centre

BELFAST Coat of Arms of BelfastBelfast City Hall

QUESTIONS  What is the emblem of the Houses of Parliament?  What types of membership are in the House of Lords?  On which day are the elections held?  Name some present or former representatives of Conservative Party.  Name some descendants of Elizabeth II

SOURCES

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