Parliament & Election in UK.docx

Parliament & Election in UK

PARLIAMENT AND ELECTION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

I PARLIAMENT1 Roles of Parliament

Parliament is an essential part of UK politics Its main roles are:  Examining and challenging the work of the government

 Debating and passing all laws Parliament is responsible for approving new laws  Enabling the government to raise taxes.

2 Parts of Parliament

Parliament is the highest legislative authority in the United Kingdom Made up of the House of Commons, House of Lords and the Queen (who is the UK's current hereditary monarch).

 The Monarch, the Queen, opens and closes Parliament every year, asks the winning party in

a general election to become the government and officially signs all the laws that Parliament votes for.

 The House of Commons is made up of 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) People vote for

their MPs and whoever wins represents everyone in their local area (called a constituency) even if they voted for someone else.

 The House of Lords has 840 members, who are not elected but who have been selected by

the prime minister and appointed by the Queen.

2.1 The Monarch

The monarchy is the oldest part of the system of government in this country Time has reduced the power of the monarchy, and today it is broadly ceremonial The Queen plays an essential role in opening and dissolving Parliament and approving Bills before they become law.

2.1.1 Incumbent: Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary)2.2.2 Roles

The Crown is an integral part of the institution of Parliament  Appointing a government

The day after a general election the Queen invites the leader of the party that won the most seats in the House of Commons to become Prime Minister and to form the government.

 Opening and dismissing Parliament

The Crown opens Parliament through the State Opening (marking the beginning of the Parliamentary year) The Crown dismisses Parliament before a general election at the request of the Prime Minister (dissolution).

 Queen's Speech

The Crown informs Parliament of the government's policy ideas and plans for new legislation in a speech delivered from the throne in the House of Lords Although the Queen makes the speech, the government draws up the content.

 Royal Assent

When a Bill has been approved by a majority in the House of Commons and the House of Lords it is formally agreed to by the Crown This is known as the Royal Assent This turns a Bill into an Act of Parliament, allowing it to become law in the UK.

2.2 House of Commons

Full, formal title: The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britainand Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.

2.2.1 History of House of Commons

The House of Commons of England evolved in England during the 14th century and, in practice, has been in continuous existence since, becoming the House of Commons of Great Britain after the political union with Scotland, during the nineteenth century, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the political union with Ireland, finally reaching its current title after independence was given to the Irish Free State in 1922.

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 Moreover, the Government is primarily responsible to the House of Commons; the prime minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains its support.

2.2.2 Members of Parliament (MPs)

a) The leadership

 Speaker: John Bercow

 Leader: Sir George Young (Conservative)

 Shadow Leader: Hillary Benn (Labour)

b) The members

 The Commons is publicly elected The party with the largest number of members in the Commons forms the government

 They hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved (a maximum of five years after the preceding election)

 After the General Election 2010, there were 650 MPs elected Due to the resignation of Mr Gerry Adams on 26 January 2011 and the death of David Cairns on 9 May 2011 there are currently 648 MPs.

2.2.3 Roles

a) Relationship with the government

By convention, the prime minister is answerable to, and must maintain the support of the House of Commons And the prime minister is always a member of the House of Commons, rather than the House of Lords The prime minister chooses the Ministers, and may decide to remove them at any time; the formal appointment or dismissal, however, is made by the Sovereign.

The House of Commons scrutinizes the Government through "Question Time", during which

members have the opportunity to ask questions of the prime minister and of other cabinet ministers Prime minister's question time occurs once each week, normally for a half-hour each Wednesday Questions must relate to the responding minister's official government activities, not to his or her activities as a party leader or as a private Member of Parliament Customarily, members of the Government party and members of the Opposition alternate when asking questions

b) Legislative functions

Bills may be introduced in either House, though controversial bills normally originate in the House of Commons The supremacy of the Commons in legislative matters is assured by the Parliament Acts.

All legislation must be passed by the House of Commons to become law and it controls taxation and the supply of money to the government Government ministers (including the Prime Minister) must regularly answer questions in the House of Commons and there are a number of select committees that scrutinize particular issues and the workings of the government There are also mechanisms that allow members of the House of Commons to bring to the attention of the government particular issues affecting their constituents.

2.3 House of Lords

Full, formal title: The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the UnitedKingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assemble.

2.3.1 Members of House of Lords (Peers)

a) The leadership

 Lord Speaker: Baroness D'Souza

 Leader: Lord Strathclyde (Conservative)

 Opposition Leader: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Labour)

b) The members

The Lords currently has around 830 Members, and there are three different types: life Peers, bishops and elected hereditary Peers Unlike MPs, the public do not elect the Lords The majority are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister or of the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

 Life Peers: Appointed for their lifetime only, these Lords' titles are not passed on to their

children The Queen formally appoints life Peers on the advice and recommendation of the Prime Minister.

 Archbishops and bishops: A limited number of 26 Church of England archbishops and

bishops sit in the House, passing their membership on to the next most senior bishop when

they retire The Archbishops of Canterbury and York traditionally get life peerages on retirement.

 Elected hereditary Peers: The right of hereditary Peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords

was ended in 1999 by the House of Lords Act but 92 Members were elected internally to remain until the next stage of the Lords reform process.

2.3.2 Roles

a) Relationship with the Government

The House of Lords does not control the term of the Prime Minister or of the Government Only the Lower House may force the Prime Minister to resign or call elections by passing a motion of no-confidence or by withdrawing supply Thus, the House of Lords' oversight of the government is limited.

The House of Lords remains a source for junior ministers and members of government Like

the House of Commons, the Lords also have a Government Chief Whip as well as several Junior Whips Where a government department is not represented by a minister in the Lords or one is not available, government whips will act as spokesmen for them.

b) Legislative functions

The House of Lords debates legislation, and has power to amend or reject bills However, the power of the Lords to reject a bill passed by the House of Commons is severely restricted by the Parliament Acts Under those Acts, certain types of bills may be presented for the Royal Assent without the consent of the House of Lords (i.e the Commons can override the Lords' veto)

The House of Lords cannot delay a money bill (a bill that, in the view of the Speaker of the

House of Commons, solely concerns national taxation or public funds) for more than one month.

Other public bills cannot be delayed by the House of Lords for more than two parliamentary sessions, or one calendar year.

2.4 Comparison between House of Commons and House of Lords

Working place House of Parliament (Westminster Palace)

Roles Legislating, supervising the work of Government.

Members - Members of Parliament (MPs) - From all walks of life

- Elected by the people

- Peers

- Upper class, royal… - Appointed by the Queen

Relationshipwith

- The prime minister is always a member of the House of Commons.

- Have right to scrutinize the Government.

- The House of Lords'

oversight of the government is limited.

- The House of Lords does not control the term of the Prime Minister or of the Government.

Power - Legislative powers greatly exceed those of the Lords - Certain types of bills may be

presented for the Royal Assent without the consent of the House of Lords

- Be restricted to reject a bill passed by the House of

3 Comparison between UK’s Parliament and Vietnam’s National Assembly

Power The Parliament of UK was the legislature of the UK Over the centuries, the English Parliament progressively limited the power of the British monarchy.

National Assembly of Vietnam is an important agency in the political system of Vietnam, is the highest representative organ of the people of Vietnam and is the highest state authority of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The leader The Queen – Elizabeth II President of the National Assembly of Vietnam - Nguyen Sinh Hung.

Components - The Queen

- The House of Lords - The House of Commons

- Standing Committee

- Committees (9 committees) - Ethnic council

Functions - Legislation

- Holding the power to set taxes - Monitoring the Government

- Legislation

- Deciding the important issues of the Nation

- Monitoring works of the State

Term Five years (According to Parliament

Members - MPs – elected by people.

- Peers – appointed by the Queen - 1480 MPs and Peers

- Delegation of the National Assembly Deputies - 493 deputies were elected

directly by the people and act on behalf of the people in the National Assembly.

4 House of Parliament

The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or WestminsterPalace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom –

the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

Layout of the principal floor (north is to the right).

Today, the Palace of Westminster covers eight acres (3.24 hectares) It contains around 1100 rooms, 100 staircases and 4.8 km of passageways From the Victoria Tower at the south end to the Clock Tower at the north, the building is nearly 300 meters long The Palace also contains state apartments for the presiding officers of the two houses.

4.1 House of Lords Chamber

The Lords Chamber is the most lavishly-decorated room in the Palace of Westminster It has the grandest interior because it is where the three elements of Parliament (the Sovereign, the Lords and the Commons) come together The furnishings in the Chamber are predominantly decorated in red, while green is the colour of the Commons' end.

4.2 House of Commons Chamber

The Commons Chamber looks very different to that of the Lords.

The current Chamber was rebuilt after the Blitz by the architect Sir Giles The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, the Upper House of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Gilbert Scott in relatively austere style (although it was less ornate than the Lords Chamber even before 1941).

Its benches, as well as other furnishings, are green in colour, a custom which goes back 300 years The adversarial layout - with benches facing each other - is in fact a relic of the original use of the first permanent Commons Chamber on the site, St Stephen’s Chapel.

There are two sets of green benches opposite to each other (so that Government and Opposition MPs sit facing each other), with a table in the middle and the Speaker's Chair at the northern end The Chamber is actually quite small as there is only room for 437 MPs to sit down when there are 646 MPs in total Many of the objects in the Chamber, such as the Speaker's Chair, are gifts from Commonwealth countries

II BRITISH ELECTION

There are five types of elections in the United Kingdom:

1 United Kingdom general elections,

2 Elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, 3 Elections to the European Parliament,

4 Local elections 5 Mayoral elections.

Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday General elections have fixed dates, and must be called within five years of the opening of parliament following the last election Other elections are held on fixed dates though in the case of the devolved assemblies and parliaments, early elections can occur in certain situations.

Presently, six electoral systems are used: the single member plurality system (First Past the Post), the multi member plurality system, party list PR, the single transferable vote, the Additional Member System and the Supplementary Vote.

Elections are administered locally: in each lower-tier local authority, the actual polling procedure is run by the Returning Officer and the compiling and maintenance of the electoral roll by the Electoral Registration Officer (except in Northern Ireland, where the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland assumes both responsibilities) The Electoral Commission only sets standards for and issues guidelines to Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers, but is responsible for nationwide electoral administration (such as the registration of political parties and directing the administration of national referendums)

1 General elections

At United Kingdom general elections are held following a dissolution of Parliament All the Members of Parliament (MPs) forming the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom are elected Following the Parliament Act 1911, parliamentary sessions last a maximum of five years, and are ended by the dissolution of Parliament Traditionally the dates of general elections are not fixed in advance, and the time is chosen by the governing party to maximize political advantage The 2010 election was held on May 6, 2010

Candidates aim to win particular geographic constituencies in the United Kingdom Each constituency elects one MP by the first past the post system of election At the 2005 general election, there were 646 constituencies, thus 646 MPs were elected to Parliament Boundary changes in Scotland reduced the number of MPs from 659 at the 2001 election to 646 The party with the most seats, i.e the most MPs, usually forms the government, and the second largest party forms Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition Almost all successful candidates are members of a political party, with only one independent elected in the 2010 election and only four independent candidates in the entire country gaining more than a hundred votes

2 Polling procedure

A person may only cast a vote if he/she is on the Electoral Register - even if he/she would otherwise qualify to vote If, because of a clerical error, an elector's name has been left off the Electoral Register, the Electoral Registration Officer can amend the Register up to 9pm on polling day Because the franchise between electors varies (for example, EU citizens who are not Commonwealth or Irish citizens cannot vote in UK Parliamentary elections), ballot papers are only issued after checking the marker in the Electoral Register before an elector's name which helps to identify which elections the individual is eligible to vote in.

Votes can be cast either in person at a polling station, by post or by proxy

2.1 In person

Polling stations are usually open from 7am to 10pm on polling day Voters receive a poll card from the returning officer at their local authority with details of their allocated polling place They