Politics

CONSTITUENCIES

In the United Kingdom, people vote in their constituencies (regions) for the candidate they want. These constituencies can be small or very big. When this candidate wins the election (he has got more votes than the other candidates), he becomes a Member of Parliament.

FIRST-PAST-THE-POST

This system is called "First-past-the-post", because a candidate wins a election when he gets one more vote than the other candidates. Big parties are very happy with this system, but small parties want to change it.

GOVERNMENT

The party with most Members of Parliament forms the government. Important!!!! In the UK, they haven't got a President, they have got a Prime Minister. He forms the Cabinet with his ministers and the Shadow Cavinet is the Opposition.

PARLIAMENT

The UK Parliament has got two Houses. The House of Commons is where the Members of Parliament meet and work. The House of Lords has got a lot of hereditary and life members. That means you are a member until you die and you can pass the title to your sons. Some parties make the promise to reduce these members, but there are still a lot of them.

The head of both Houses is Queen Elizabeth II. She has got the Royal assent, a royal right that allows her to stop a law. The problem is that she would never do that.



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