Theme “State System of the u.K.” Part 7 Electoral System in the u.K.

The House of Commons is the only chamber in Parliament that is elected at General Elections:

1. General Elections are held every 5 years.

2. The U.K. is divided into 651 (2005) constituencies (electoral districts). The constituencies do not coincide with counties. Each constituency has the same average number of people - 60 000 - and elects one member to the House of Commons.

3. The candidates may be nominated by different parties of there may be so-called "independents" (candidates that do not belong to any party). The candidate who wins the majority of the votes (it does not have to be over 50%, but merely more votes than any of the other candidates individually has won) wins the elections.

4. The party that wins the majority of the votes becomes the leading party and its leader becomes Prime Minister and forms the Government (the Cabinet). The party that comes second becomes the official opposition. Such system is called "the majority system" or "first-past-the-post" system and is considered to be unfair because it gives little chance to small parties to send their candidates to the Commons while the system of proportional representation aims to give each party the proportion of seats in Parliament corresponding to the proportion of votes it received at General Elections.

5. All parties publish their manifestos before General Elections. They are intended to tell the electorate what the party would do if it formed the next Government.

6. The British citizens may vote provided they are aged 18. If they are/live abroad (less than 15 years) they can vote in a British embassy or by post.

7. The voting is on the same day (usually Tuesday) in all the constituencies from 7 a.m. till 9 p.m. Elections are held by secret ballot.

8. By-elections can be held:

• as a result of elevation of an MP to the House of Lords;

• when a vacancy occurs as a result of death or resignation of an MP or if he can no longer be an MP.

Theme “State System of the u.K.” Part 8 Devolution in Britain

Devolution - the act of giving power from a national government to a group or organisation at a lower or more local level.

Devolution in the U.K. means decentralisation or shifting the responsibility from Parliament in London to local parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Labour Party came to power in 1997 with proposals for parliament in Scotland, assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland. Some people are very optimistic about it, some call it the end of Britain.

The Scottish Parliament:

1. The Referendum of 1997 in Scotland => the Scottish supported the idea of devolution.

2. The Scotland Act of 1998 provided for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament.

3. 1999 - the first elections took place and the Scottish Parliament was officially opened. There are 129 members in it. They decide on "devolved" matters (i.e. education, health, environment, agriculture, justice) while the 72 Scottish MPs represent their constituencies in London on "reserved" matters (defense and national security, employment, foreign affairs).

4. Functions of the Scottish Parliament:

• to hold the Scottish Executive accountable through oral and written questions;

• to make laws on devolved matters;

• to debate important issues;

• to publish reports.

5. Achievements of the Scottish Parliament:

• University tuition fees were abolished and replaced by a graduate tax paid back later, when a person starts to work;

• Abolition of feudal land holding.

The National Assembly for Wales:

1. The Referendum of 1997 in Wales => the Welsh approved the idea of devolution.

2. The Government of Wales Act of 1998 established the National Assembly for Wales.

3. Since 1999 the National Assembly for Wales has power and responsibility to develop policies and make important decisions in the following areas: agriculture, ancient monuments and historic buildings, culture, education, environment, health, industry, local government, tourism, transport, the Welsh language, etc.

4. The Secretary of State for Wales and 39 MPs represent Wales in Parliament in London.

The Northern Ireland Assembly:

The situation in Northern Ireland is more difficult than that in Scotland or Wales.

1. In 1998 a 108-member Assembly (18 constituencies, 6 members from each) was elected using a proportional representation system. The Assembly met in shadow form (without legislative power).

2. The formal powers were devolved from London to the Assembly only in 1999 due to the political tension with IRA.

3. 2000 - political problems led to a return to direct rule from London.

4. 2003 - new elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held. But the road to peace and solution of the Irish issue remains difficult and there was little success so far in devolution in Northern Ireland.

H/w:

1. Units 12-14 in "How do you do, Britain?" by L. S Baranovski, D. D. Kozikis.

2. Chapter 3-5 in "British Studies" by D. D. Kozikis, G. I. Medvedev.

3. Topic for a report:

• Gordon Brown - the British new Prime Minister.

• Additional Material

• The Political System of Great Britain

In Great Britain political power is divided into three parts:

• the legislative power is represented by Parliament

• the executive power is represented by the Government lead by the Prime Minister

• the judicial power is represented by The Supreme Court

The PARLIAMENT

The Parliament consists of three parts:

• I) the sovereign/ monarch

Today the sovereign’s role is mostly formal.

• II) The House of Lords

It is an out-of-date institution; its members are called peers. There are hereditary and life peers. They are not elected by people, they are appointed by the monarch.

• III) the House of Commons

The main law-making body of GB. The members are elected every five years.

The GOVERNMENT

• A general election must be held every five years

• The party which wins the elections forms the Government and its leader becomes the Prime Minister

• The party which is the second forms the Opposition

• Since 2007 Gordon Braun is the Prime Minister of Great Britain

• The main political parties in Britain are The Conservative Party, the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats.

THE ROYAL FAMILY

• Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the official head of the country

• She was born on April 23, 1926

• Her “surname” is Windsor

• The Queen is a hard-working lady. Every day of her life is planned in details, her life isn’t easy at all

• Her biggest hobbies are dogs and horses. She also loves all her family, especially her grandchildren

The Queen

• Elizabeth was a young Princess, she was only 26 when she had to become the Queen

• She was crowned in Westminster Abbey in February, 1953

• Her mother, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born in 1900 and died in 2002. They called her Queen Mother or simply Queen Mum and she was the most favourite member of the Royal Family.

The Queen and her family

• In 1947 Elizabeth married Prince Philip Mountbatten

• They have four children:

1. Prince Charles was born in 1948

2. Princess Ann was born in 1950

3. Prince Andrew was born in 1960

4. Prince Edward was born in 1964