Government of the United Kingdom
TheGovernment of the United Kingdom,formally referred to asHis Majesty's Government,is the central government of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.It is also commonly referred to as simply theBritish Governmentor theUK Government.[1][2]
Leader
[change|change source]The Government is led by thePrime Minister,who chooses the other Ministers. The Prime Minister and the other most powerful Ministers belong to a group known as theCabinet,who are the most important decision makers in the Government.[2]These ministers are all members ofParliament(MPs). Laws are made by MPs voting inParliament,which is called 'legislative authority'. These laws make what is calledprimary legislation.
The Prime Minister now is Keir Starmer, the present leader of theLabour Party.Richi Sunak, the former Prime Minister, succeeded Liz Truss as theConservative Partyleader. In the2024 United Kingdom general election,theLabour Partywon with a landslide majority. TheConservative Partylost 244 seats, giving them their lowest number of seats (121) in the party's history.
Election
[change|change source]The government is chosen by the people indirectly. The people of the United Kingdom vote in ageneral election,appointing representatives to the Parliament, at least once every five years.[3]Themonarchmust select as Prime Minister the person who is likely to have the support of Parliament. By convention, that is normally the leader of the party that has the most MPs in theHouse of Commons.[4][5]The Prime Minister leads the government and exercises executive power on behalf of the monarch, in accordance with the laws set by Parliament, including appointing Ministers to the executive branches of government.[5]
Under theBritish constitution,laws are made or unmade byParliament.The policy and administration of the laws is done by the direction of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. This is calledexecutive authority.[6]The monarch is obliged to follow the advice of the government and has not refused to do so since the 17th century.[7]The Cabinet members advise the monarch as part of a group calledPrivy Council.They also use their power directly as leaders of the Governmentdepartments.
The British kind of government is sometimes calledparliamentary government.[8]
Local governments
[change|change source]There are separate governments inWales,ScotlandandNorthern Ireland,each responsible to their own local parliament. These parliaments have certain limits decided by the main parliament inWestminster.However, there is no separate English Parliament.
References
[change|change source]- ↑Her Majesty's GovernmentParliament of the United Kingdom, 28 June 2010
- ↑2.02.1Overview of the UK system of government: Directgov – Government, citizens and rightsArchived2012-10-15 at theUK Government Web Archive.Direct.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2010-10-19.
- ↑General elections – UK Parliament.Parliament.uk (2010-05-06). Retrieved on 2010-10-19.
- ↑House of Commons – Justice Committee – Written Evidence.Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved on 2010-10-19.
- ↑5.05.1"Parliament and government".UK Parliament.Archived fromthe originalon 2019-06-25.Retrieved2019-06-25.
- ↑The monarchy: Directgov – Government, citizens and rightsArchived2012-10-15 at theUK Government Web Archive.Direct.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2010-10-19.
- ↑House of Lords Record Office."The making and keeping of Acts at Westminster"(PDF).
- ↑Jones, Clyve 2012.A short history of Parliament: England, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Scotland,p. 1;excerpt, "It is a commonly held misconception that the Westminster parliament is the 'mother of all parliaments'... but the original phrase in 1865 was 'Englandis the mother or all parliaments' ".
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