the UK Parliament in Westminster still has an elected chamber including members from English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Iri

The British constitution has evolved over many centuries. Unlike the constitutions of America, France and many Commonwealth countries, the British constitution has not been assembled at any time into a single, consolidated document. Instead it is made up of common law, statute law and convention. Of all the democratic countries in the world, only Israel is comparable to Britain in having no single document codifying the way its political institutions function and setting out the basic rights and duties of its citizens. Britain does, however, have certain important constitutional documents, including the Magna Carta (1215) which protects the rights of the community against the Crown; the Bill of Rights (1689) which extended the powers of Parliament, making it impracticable for the Sovereign to ignore the wishes of the Government; and the Reform Act (1832), which reformed the system of parliamentary representation.
Common law has never been precisely defined - it is deduced from custom or legal precedents and interpreted in court cases by judges. Conventions are rules and practices which are not legally enforceable, but which are regarded as indispensable to the working of government. Many conventions are derived from the historical events through which the British system of government has evolved. One convention is that Ministers are responsible and can be held to account for what happens in their Departments.
The constitution can be altered by Act of Parliament, or by general agreement to alter a convention. The flexibility of the British constitution helps to explain why it has developed so fully over the years. However, since Britain joined the European Community in 1973, the rulings of the European Court of Human Justice have increasingly determined and codified sections of British law in those areas covered by the various treaties to which Britain is a party. In the process British constitutional and legal arrangements are beginning to resemble those of Europe.

What was the Magna Carta?

The Magna Carta (Latin for ‘Great Charter’) is Britain’s best known constitutional document. In 1215 feudal barons forced the ‘tyrannical’ King John (1199-1216) to agree to a series of concessions embodied in a charter which became known as the Magna Carta.
Sixty-one clauses set out a clear expression of the rights of the community against the Crown. The contents deal with the ‘free’ Church; feudal law; towns, trade and merchants; the reform of the law and justice; the behaviour of royal officials; and royal forests.
The King was forced to fix his seal to the Magna Carta in a meadow next to the River Thames at Runnymede between Windsor and Staines. It is said that he behaved pleasantly to the nobles at the time, but as soon as he returned to his own chamber he threw himself on the floor in a mad rage.
Since that day the Magna Carta has become part of English Law and established the important principle that the King is not above the law.
Original copies of the charter exist in Salisbury Cathedral, Lincoln Castle and the British Museum in London.

How does Britain elect its government?

Parliament, the law-making body of the British people, consists of three elements: the Monarchy, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. They meet together only on occasions of ceremonial significance, such as the state opening of Parliament, although the agreement of all three is normally required for legislation.

The House of Commons consists of 646 elected members called Members of Parliament or MPs. Its main purpose is to make laws by passing Acts of Parliament, as well as to discuss current political issues. Elections to the House of Commons are an important part of Britain’s democratic system.
The House of Lords consists of around 700 non-elected members (hereditary peers and peeresses, life peers and peeresses and two archbishops and 24 senior bishops of the Church of England). Its main legislative function is to examine and revise bills from the Commons. It also acts in a legal capacity as the final court of appeal. The Lords cannot normally prevent proposed legislation from becoming law if the Commons insists on it.
General elections are held after Parliament has been ‘dissolved’, either by a royal proclamation or because the maximum term between elections - five years - has expired. The decision on when to hold a general election is made by the Prime Minister.
For electoral purposes Britain is divided into constituencies, each of which returns one MP to the House of Commons. The British electoral system is based on the relative majority method - sometimes called the ‘first past the post’ principle - which means the candidate with more votes than any other is elected. All British citizens together with citizens of other Commonwealth countries and citizens of the Irish Republic resident in Britain may vote, provided they are aged 18 years or over and not legally barred from voting. People not entitled to vote include those serving prison sentences, peers and peeresses who are members of the House of Lords, and those kept in hospital under mental health legislation. Voting is by secret ballot. The elector selects just one candidate on the ballot paper and marks an ‘X’ by the candidate’s name. Voting in elections is voluntary. On average about 70 per cent of the electorate votes.
Any person aged 21 or over who is a British citizen or citizen of another Commonwealth country or the Irish Republic may stand for election to Parliament, provided they are not disqualified. People disqualified include those who are bankrupt, those sentenced to more than one year’s imprisonment, members of the clergy, members of the House of Lords, and a range of public servants and officials. Approved candidates are usually selected by their political party organisations in the constituency which they represent, although candidates do not have to have party backing.
The leader of the political party which wins most seats (although not necessarily most votes) at a general election, or who has the support of a majority of members in the House of Commons, is by convention invited by the Sovereign to form the new government.

What are the origins of the names of the main political parties?

The Conservative and Unionist Party dates back to the Tory Party of the late eighteenth century. This broadly represented the interests of the country gentry, merchant classes and official administerial groups. After Britain’s 1832 (electoral) Reform Act, members of the old Tory Party began forming ‘conservative associations’. The name Conservative was first used as a description of the Party in the Quarterly Review of January 1830 - ‘conservative’ because the Party aims to conserve traditional values and practices. The Conservative Party today is the leading right-wing party. The term ‘Tory’ is still used today to refer to somebody with conservative political views.

The original title of the Labour Party, the Labour Representation Committee, makes the origins of the party clear - to promote the interests of the industrial working class. In 1900 the Trades Union Congress co-operated with the Independent Labour Party (founded 1893) to establish The Labour Representation Committee with Ramsay MacDonald as First Secretary. This took the name Labour Party in 1906.

The Liberal Party emerged in the mid-nineteenth century as a successor to the historic Whig party. ‘Whig’ was originally a Scottish Gaelic term applied to horse thieves! In the late eighteenth century the Whig Party represented those who sought electoral, parliamentary and philanthropic reforms. However, the term ‘Whig’ does not survive today. After 1832 the mainly aristocratic Whigs were joined by increasing numbers of middle-class members. By 1839 the term Liberal Party was being used, and the first unequivocally Liberal government was formed in 1868 by William Gladstone. In 1988 the old Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) merged into a single party called the Liberal Democrats.

How is the Speaker chosen?

The Right Honourable Michael John Martin (MP) the SHC in 2005

Contrary to what the title would imply, the Speaker of the House of Commons does not speak - that is, he or she does not make speeches or take part in debates. The office has been held continuously since 1377 and originally the Speaker spoke on behalf of the Commons to the Monarch. That role is now largely ceremonial and today the Speaker’s central function is to maintain order in a debate, and he or she may not vote other than in an official capacity - that is when the result of a vote is a tie. Even then, he or she is not allowed to express an opinion on the merits of the question under debate and must vote in such a way as to give the House another chance to decide.

The Speaker has three deputies - the Chairman of Ways and Means and his or her two Deputy Chairmen. Like the Speaker, they can neither speak nor vote other than in their official capacity. The Speaker is not a Minister nor a member of any political party. He or she is still a Member of Parliament, representing a constituency and the constituents’ interests.
The choice of Speaker is by election, with Members of Parliament each having one vote. Though the Cabinet and Prime Minister will often be known to favour a particular candidate when a vacancy occurs, support from backbench MPs is vital. In 1992 Betty Boothroyd was elected in a contest with the former Cabinet Minister, Peter Brooke. Usually a Speaker is elected by his or her fellow MPs without opposition.

What is a ‘whip’ in Parliament?

The term ‘whip’ is said to owe its origin to the ‘whippers-in’ - people who keep the hounds in order at fox-hunting meets. Parliamentary whips are supposed to be similar disciplinarians, controlling the pack of MPs in their party!
Government whips are all Ministers of the Crown. The principal task of the Chief Whip is the management of government business in the House. He or she must try to ensure that, in spite of the activities of the opposition, Parliament has passed all the legislation and done all the tasks which it had planned during that session.
Whips in the two main parties are organised by subject and by region. They monitor opinions inside their party and report back to the leadership, maintaining valuable day-to-day contact between ministers and their backbench supporters.
‘The Whip’ also refers to a document sent out weekly to MPs detailing the forthcoming business of the House. Items are underlined once, twice or three times to indicate their importance to the party leadership. When a ‘three-line’ whip is issued, the leadership is letting MPs know that it expects them to turn up and vote on the matter under discussion!

The Constitution

The United Kingdom’s system of government is known as a constitutional monarchy. Ministers of the Crown govern in the name of the Sovereign, who is both head of state and head of the government.

Though Britain is the oldest constitutional democracy in the world it is also one of the few democratic countries (along with Israel) that does not have a ‘written constitution’ set out in one document. Instead, there is a collection of laws and basic rules: statute law, common law, and conventions which lay down the foundations of the system of government and the rights of the individual.

§ The legislative power lies with the Parliament.

§ The executive power consists of the Government and ministerial departments.

§ The judiciary power: There is a major reform process of the judicial system of the UK (2005-9) which has undertaken to remove the “court of last resort” status from the Law Lords (in the House of Lords) and from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council creating a new and separate Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which will have the ultimate say in judiciary decisions in the country.

§ Until the Constitutional Reform Act comes into force the present system will carry on exercising the judicial powers.

The Monarch’s Role in Government

In law, the Monarch is:

§ An integral part of the legislature who summons (összehív), prorogues (berekeszt, elnapol), dissolves (feloszlat) Parliament and signs Bills passed by the UK Parliament, Northern Irish Assembly and Scottish Parliament (this is how a Bill (törvényjavaslat) becomes an Act of Parliament - törvény)

§ Head of the executive (Government)

§ Head of the judiciary

§ The commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown

§ The ‘supreme governor’ of the established Church of England

Devolution

Until 1999 legislation in the UK was uniformly done in London (Westminster). In 1999, however, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each set up their own parliament or assemblies in their respective capital cities (Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast).

Transferring power from London to these self-governing institutions is called devolution or home rule (autonómia). There are major differences in how much power these new institutions have and also in how they operate. The affairs that continue to be decided centrally in London are called reserved powers (fenntartott jogkörök). Since these reserved powers continue to be decided centrally, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland still delegate their representatives to Westminster, and the Secretaries of State for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland still sit in the Cabinet (Kormány). (It should be added that Westminster Parliament retains the ultimate right of legislation and can still, theoretically and legally, legislate for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in all devolved areas, however it chooses not to.)

The reserved powers are:

§ UK constitution

§ Foreign policy

§ Economic and Fiscal policy (gazdasági és költségvetési politika)

§ Social security + employment (társadalombiztosítás és foglalkoztatás)

§ Defence policy (honvédelem)

§ Common markets

The Scottish Parliament (in Edinburgh) has legislative power (devolved power) over domestic affairs:

§ Local government (e.g. local transport)

§ Tax raising power

§ Health policy

§ Education

§ Legal system

§ Judicial system

§ Environment

§ Agriculture

§ Policing

The current powers of the Welsh Assembly (in Cardiff) are:

§ Same as in Scotland except for judiciary and policing powers which are reserved for Westminster in the case of Wales.

§ Local taxation (not de facto taxing power but indirectly such as establishing the charges for government services: prescription charges (much less than in other parts of the UK), university fees, residential care charges, etc)

The powers delegated to the Northern Irish Assembly (Belfast: Stormont) are:

§ Over domestic affairs same as in Scotland, except for issues of policing and judiciary and prisons (These areas are headed by the Secreatary of State for NI.)

UK Parliament in Westminster, London: Legislative power

The UK Parliament comprises the Sovereign (Elizabeth II; 1952 - ), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons.

The Sovereign is an integral part of the legislature:

§ Summons, prorogues, and dissolves the Parliament

§ Signs Bills passed by the UK Parliament, Northern Irish Assembly and Scottish Parliament (this is how a Bill (törvényjavaslat) becomes an Act of Parliament - törvény)

The House of Lords: Upper House of Parliament I

§ Location: Palace of Westminster

§ Its 724 members are not elected but appointed:

ú 26 Lords Spiritual: 2 archbishops and 24 bishops of the established Church of England (Anglican Church)

ú 699 members of the Peerage ("Lords Temporal").

§ Only delaying power: Suspensive veto in the legislative process, to delay bills (törvényjavaslat) passed by the House of Commons for 12 months. After the 12 months are up the bill will automatically go on to the Sovereign to be signed and will become a law (Act of Parliament).

§ The House of Lords used to be one of the courts of last resort (~legfelsőbb bíróság) along with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council . In accordance with the Constitutional Reform Act of 2005, however, judicial functions of the Lords are transferred to a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom!

§ The House is presided over by the Lord Chancellor, who sits on the woolsack and acts as Speaker of the House.

§ Members of the House of Lords receive no salary for their parliamentary work, but can claim for expenses incurred in attending the House (for which there are maximum daily rates) and certain travelling expenses.

§ Average daily attendance in the Upper House is about 350 Members.

The House of Commons: Lower House of Parliament I

§ Location: Palace of Westminster

MPs hold most of their debates in the House of Commons Chamber. The Speaker, who controls proceedings, sits on a raised chair at one end of the Chamber. In the photograph, you are looking towards the Speaker. The Government sit on the benches on the Speaker's right, whilst members of the Opposition party MPs occupy the benches on the Speaker's left. The Opposition's ob is to oppose the Government. The biggest Opposition party sits directly across from the Government benches.

What are the red lines on the carpet in front of each set of benches for?
The red lines in front of the two sets of benches are two-sword lengths apart; a Member is traditionally not allowed to cross the line during debates. The lines are there to prevent either side attacking the other during a debate. Of course, MPs are not likely to attack each other these days.

Interesting Fact:
No King or Queen has entered the House of Commons since 1642, when Charles I stormed in with his soldiers and tried to arrest five members of Parliament who were against the king taking control of the newly raised army. They jumped out the window into the Thames River to save their lives.

§ It is the dominant branch of the legislative

§ Consists of 646 elected Members of Parliament (MPs)

§ Members are elected by the first-past-the-post system (see: Elections) to serve (maximum) 5 year terms – unless the House of Commons is dissolved earlier.

§ (Sometimes the prime minister will choose to have the House dissolved earlier if his/her approval rating is high in order to ensure success at the elections. This happened for instance in 2005 under Tony Blair and in 1983 under Margaret Thatcher.)

§ Of the 646 seats: 529 represent constituencies in England, 40 in Wales, 59 in Scotland, and 18 in Northern Ireland.

§ The chief officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker, elected by MPs to preside over the House. As in the Hungarian Parliament, the Speaker neither speaks nor votes except in his/her official capacity.

§ Bills may originate in both Houses, however they are hardly ever introduced in the Upper House. Only the House of Commons may introduce bills concerning taxation.

§ There a number of Parliamentary committees (some 30 standing committees – állandó bizottság) which review bills in detail and produce reports, make recommendations and amendments. Among the most important ones are the Treasury Committee which scrutinises public spending, The Liaison Committee which comprises all the chairmen of the select committees in the House of Commons and decides which select committee reports the House of Commons should be debating.

How a bill becomes a law

Before a proposal for a new law starts its progress through Parliament, there will have been much discussion. If it is a government proposal, Green and White Papers are published, explaining the ideas behind the proposal. After this, lawyers draft the proposal into a bill. Most bills begin life in the House of Commons, where they go through a number of stages

First reading

Formal announcement with no debate.

Second reading

The House of Commons debates the general principles of the bill and, in most cases, takes a vote.

Committee stage

A committee of MPs examines the details of the bill and suggest changes (amendments).

Report stage

The House of Commons considers the amendments.

Third reading

The amended bill is debated as a whole.

House of Lords

The bill is sent to the House of Lords, where it goes through the same stages. It the House of Lords make further amendments the bill goes back to the House of Common.*

Royal assent

After both Houses have reached agreement, the bill receives (practically automatically) the Royal assent.

§ Prime Minister’s Question Time:

This is the most well-attended, and usually the noisiest, part of the parliamentary day. For about an hour there is no subject for debate. Instead, MPs are allowed to ask questions of government ministers. In this way they can, in theory at least, force the government to make certain facts public and to make its intentions clear. Opposition MPs in particular have an opportunity to make government ministers look incompetent or perhaps dishonest.

The questions and answers, however, are not spontaneous. Questions to ministers have to be 'tabled' (written down and placed on the table below the Speaker's chair) two days in advance, so that ministers have time to prepare their answers. In this way the government can usually avoid major embarrassment.

The trick, though, is to ask an unexpected 'supplementary' question. After the minister has answered the tabled question, the MP who originally tabled it is allowed to ask a further question relating to the minister's answer. In this way, it is sometimes possible for MPs to catch a minister unprepared. Question time has been widely copied around the world. It is also probably the aspect of Parliament most well-known among the general public. The vast majority of television news excerpts of Parliament are taken from this period of its day. Especially common is for the news to show an excerpt from the half-hour on Wednesdays when it is the Prime Minister's turn to answer. Once a week for (only) half an hour MPs can question the Prime Minister or members of his Cabinet.

§ Members are paid an annual salary of £51,822 + travel allowances + allowances for subsistence and for second homes nearer to the Palace of Westminster + up to £70,000 for staff salaries and £18,000 for incidental expenses (mellékköltségek). ( In Hungary the salary of an MP in 2005 was 210.000 Ft + 147.000 + 336.000 Ft/month for travel expenses, depending on the distance between the home of the MP and Budapest. If the MP does not live in the capital city then add to that sum a 100.000 Ft given for apartment rental.)

§ The Commons has a public register of MPs’ financial interests. Members with a financial interest must declare it when speaking in the House or in Committee and must indicate it when giving notice of a question or motion. MPs cannot express favourable views in the House on matters which are related to the source of any personal financial interest.

Elections

General Elections (országgyűlési választások) are held after a Parliament has been dissolved and a new one summoned by the Sovereign (uralkodó). It is the Prime Minister who normally chooses the timing of dissolutions (feloszlatás), or, in other words, the timing of general elections. Logically the circumstances will favour the political interests (party) of the Prime Minister. The last general elections were held in May 2005 though they were not “due” until 2006.

How many Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected at British general elections?

§ There are 646 constituencies in the UK, each of which returns one member to the House of Commons. (To put that number into perspective, Hungary with a population of 10 million has 386 MPs (Members of Parliament) in Parliament, while the UK has 646 MPs for a country of 60 million. (That is 3.5 times as many MPs in Hungary than in the UK…)

§ To ensure that constituency electorates are kept roughly equal, four permanent Parliamentary Boundary Commissions, one each for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, keep constituencies under review.

First past the post system (FPTP)

§ The FPTP voting system is also known as the plurality voting system (relatív többség) or the winner-take-all voting. The name is actually misleading in that there is no “post” or number that the winning candidate must reach and pass in order to win. The candidate who gets the highest number of votes is then (“given all the votes” from that constituency) declared the exclusive winner of that particular constituency.

§ The objective of this electoral system is to ensure a strong government. In countries where FPTP voting system is practiced, such as the UK, Canada and the USA, there is never a need to form a coalition government because the parliamentary seats will be distributed in a way that the winning party by itself will have the overall majority. This explains the apparent “distortions” in the mathematics of distributing seats among parties if we consider the actual percentage results (popular vote) of the elections.

§ In the General Elections of 2005 the Labour Party received 35% of the votes (popular vote), which was only 3% more than what the Conservatives got with their 32%, and yet the Labour Party was “given” 55% of the seats (356) while the Conservative Party received 198 seats (30%)! The biggest “loser” of the FPTP system is the third party, the Liberal Democrats. They received an impressive 22% of the votes cast and yet were allotted only less than 10%, that is 62 seats. It is no wonder that electoral reform is high on the agenda of the Liberal Democrats, who are calling for the replacement of FPTP (or the winner-take-all system) with the much more democratic Proportional Representation system.

	Share of seats	Share of vote	MPs elected
Labour	55%	35%	356
Conservative	30%	32%	198
Liberal Democrats	10%	22%	62
Scottish National	1%	1,5%	6
Plaid Cymru	0,5%	0.6%	3
Ulster Unionist	0,2%	0.5%	1
Democratic Unionist	1,4%	1%	9
Social Democratic and Labour	0,5%	0.5	3
Sinn Fein	0,8%	0.6	5

Others	0,4%	0,6%	3

Who can vote?

§ British citizens

§ Citizens of other Commonwealth countries and

§ Citizens of the Irish Republic resident in the UK if they are:

ú Aged 18 or over

ú Included in the register of electors for the constituency

ú (Not subject to any legal incapacity to vote)

Who can be nominated for election in Britain?

§ British citizens (min. 21 years old )

§ Commonwealth citizen

§ Citizen of the Irish Republic (!!!)

§ Anyone can become a candidate (választásra jelölt) who is nominated by 11 registered electors (választási nyilvántartásba vett választópolgár) from the local constituency (helyi választókerület). Candidates do not have to belong to any political parties. ( In Hungary only those can qualify to become candidates who can collect a minimum of 700 pre-election notes of support - kopogtatócédula.

§ The maximum sum a candidate may spend on a General Election campaign is £5,483 plus 6.2 pence for each elector in the constituency.

New measures to help modernise voting and registration procedures for UK elections?

(These measures were first implemented for the General Election held in June 2001)

§ The right for electors to cast their vote by post if they find that method more convenient;

§ A new rolling register, updated monthly, to enable voters to register at any time of the year (replacing the one which was previously updated once a year)

§ Improved access and facilities for disabled voters (ie. a large print version of the ballot paper and a template for blind voters); and easier registration for homeless people (who were previously barred from voting because they had no fixed address.

§ Local authority (helyhatósági) pilot schemes (kísérleti eljárás) to evaluate innovative electoral procedures, such as:

ú electronic voting

ú all-postal ballots

ú early and weekend voting

ú mobile polling stations (mozgó szavazóhelyiség)

Political Parties

For the last 150 years Britain has had a predominantly two-party system. Since 1945 either the Conservative Party or the Labour Party has held power. The third party in the elections recently has been the Liberal Democrats, formed in 1988. All together 58 parties took part in the general elections for the House of Commons in 2005 out of which 11 parties got seats in Parliament. (These 58 parties were naturally not on the ballot in every single constituency.) The other 8 parties include two national parties, Plaid Cymru (the Welsh national party) and the Scottish National Party, (a leftwing British political party established in 2004) called Respect Party, and 4 Northern Irish parties: the Ulster Unionist Party, the Democratic Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Féin.

Labour Party - 356 MP (55 %)

Traditionally left-wing party, more neo-liberal policies in recent years

Leader: Tony Blair

The Labour Party's victory headed by Tony Blair ended 18 years of Conservative government.

Tony Blair is the longest-serving Prime Minister of the Labour Party as well as the youngest Prime Minister, he was 44 in 1997 (since Lord Liverpool in 1812, age 42).

Successes since 1997

§ The lowest inflation (for 30 years!)

§ The lowest mortgage rates (for 40 years)

§ Highest number of people in work

§ Britain’s 1st National Minimum Wage Act: (improved the living standards of 1.5 million people – much more was expected…)

§ Spending on the National Health Service (NHS) was increased: Hospital waiting lists are at their lowest since 1987 + number of doctors and nurses has been increased

§ Spending on education was increased: number of teachers has been increased ® primary school results have improved

§ Number of policemen has been increased considerably

§ Energy allowance for pensioners during the winter was introduced

§ Tax credits given to those with below-average incomes

§ Surestart: a government program helping families with young children especially in disadvantaged areas

Controversial acts

§ Benefit cuts to lone parents

§ Introduction of tuition fees for university: top-up fees up to £3,000, grants promised to poorest students (without a debate in the Labour Party!!)

§ Deregulation of utilities

§ Outsourcing government services

§ UK forces fighting in Kosovo (1999), Sierra Leone (2000), Afghanistan (2001), and Iraq

Other policies

§ Reduce asylum numbers by tougher rules on settlement and more deportations; electronic register of all crossing borders; skills-based points system for permanent immigrants.

§ Universal, affordable and flexible childcare for parents of all 3 to 14 year-olds; a Sure Start children's centre in every area; extend maternity pay from 6 to 9 months, allow fathers to share

§ Allow civil-union of homosexual couples

§ Further reform of the House of Lords

§ Establishment of an independent New Supreme Court

Conservative and Unionist Party - 198 MPs (30 %)

Centre-right party (in government for most of the 20^th century)

Leader: David Cameron

Policies:

§ Cutting taxes on employment and wealth creation in order to enhance the economy's competitiveness

§ Reduce government intervention in the economic sphere (Free market philosophy)

§ Make the House of Lords a mostly-elected chamber

§ Increase government intervention in certain aspects in the social and cultural sphere in defence of the traditional family (e.g. Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which outlawed "the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship")

§ Paid maternity leave extended to 9 months, or higher pay for 6 months; £50/wk childcare subsidies for all with children under 5; replace child tax credits with tax allowances.

§ In favour of fox-hunting

§ Against converting the NHS to an insurance based system

§ Patients able to choose hospitals or take 50% of NHS operation price to go private

§ Would keep tuition fees (introduced by the Labour Party) in university

§ Restrictions on immigration (yet the party’s 1st black MP was elected in 2005): Annual refugee and immigrant quotas; compulsory health checks; offshore asylum processing centres; new border police; quit UN refugee convention

§ Euroscepticism:

1. Opposition to the Schengen Agreement (which would mean common EU immigration policy + no border checkpoints within the EU);

2. Opposition to the Monetary Union: the introduction of the Euro in the UK

§ Strong Atlanticist foreign policy: especially with the USA

§ In favour of the Iraqi War

Liberal Democrats - 62 MPs (10 %)

Leader: Menzies Campbell

Policies:

§ Support civil liberties (freedom of speech, religion, assembly, right to privacy, etc.) e.g. against anti-terror laws (detention without trial)

§ Referendum on electoral reform; extend vote to 16 year-olds; make House of Lords elected chamber; Proportional Representation for local elections; more powers for Welsh, NI Assembly

§ Want a written Constitution

§ Support the decentralisation of power to the lowest possible level

§ Support "free education for all" and propose to abolish university tuition fees

§ Maternity pay of £170 per week for first 6 months; create Early Years Centre for pre-school education

§ NHS: Reduce diagnostic waiting lists for tests; free long term care for elderly; free eye tests, drugs for long-term illnesses; ban smoking in public places

§ Support anti-discrimination laws (protection of lesbians and gays)

§ In favour of full UK participation in the European Union: e.g. joining the Euro

§ Increasing the top rate of income tax by 10 percent to 50% for those earning over £100,000 to fund increased public spending plans (increase the tax of the wealthiest)

§ Back common EU asylum policy: allow asylum seekers to work so they don't rely on benefits; quota for immigrant workers from outside EU.

§ Opposed to Iraq war: start phased withdrawal of troops

RESPECT the unity coalition - 1 MP

Policies:

§ Renationalisation of the railways and other public services

§ Opposition to the privatisation of the National Health Service

§ Opposition to university tuition fees

§ Support for pensions increases linked to average earnings

§ Raising the minimum wage to the European Union's "decency threshold" of £7.40/hour

§ An increase in income taxes on the rich to fund social welfare programs

§ The defence of the rights of refugees and other asylum-seekers

§ Opposition to the "stability pact" that the E.U. seeks to impose on all those who join the euro

§ Support for the Palestinian people

§ Support for the British environmental movement

Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) - 3 MPs

Nationalist political party in Wales

•

Policies:

§ Used to advocate the independence of Wales from the United Kingdom, but it no longer does

§ One its main objective: promote the Welsh language and culture

§ Supported mainly in the Welsh-speaking areas of north and west Wales. In the UK 2005 general election the party's share of the vote in Wales was 14%, that meant 3 out of 40 Welsh seats in Westminster.

§ Plaid Cymru has 12 of 60 seats in the National Assembly for Wales, and control of 1 of 22 Welsh local authorities.

§ The party has adopted a quasi-socialist platform and called for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Scottish National Party or SNP - 6 MPs

Centre-left party

Policies:

§ Main opposition party of the Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament (since 1999)

§ Wants independence for Scotland! (Would then become a full member state of the EU)

§ Supports the introduction of the Euro (instead of the present Pound Sterling)

§ Close links in Westminster with Plaid Cymru (Welsh nationalist party)

§ Next elections for the Scottish Parliament: 2007

§ Renationalisation of the railways

§ Increase the pay of healthcare workers

§ Wants a Nuclear-free Scotland

Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) - 9 MPs

Hardline Unionist party (wanting to keep the Union with England)

Leader and founder: Ian Paisley

§ Rival of the other unionist party: Ulster Unionist Party

§ Participated in the negotiations leading to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in 1998, but left the negotiating table when Sinn Féin (political wing of the IRA) was invited.

§ The strongest political party in Northern Ireland (since 2004) They won in 2003 portraying themselves as the only competent force with strong leadership on the Protestant side, speaking up against David Trimble (the Protestant First Minister of the NI Government) who, in their view, went too far in giving concessions to Sinn Féin.

DUP insists on:

§ Total decomissioning of the IRA (with a testing period) Otherwise will not admit Sinn Féin into the future coalition government

§ Will not allow for Sinn Féin to give the Policing and Justice Minister to the future NI Cabinet

§ Will not allow terrorists in government (reference to Gerry Adams and .......... in Sinn Féin)

§ All significant future agreements will have to gain Unionist support

Sinn Féin (Northern Ireland) - 5 MPs

Republican party in Northern Ireland. Do not take their seats in the British House of Commons.

Leader: Gerry Adams (since 1983)

§ Irish nationalist party campaigning for the unification of Ireland into a single Republic (= republican)

§ Largest party representing the nationalist (Catholic) community (having overtaken SDLP in 2004 after succeeding in ending the IRA campaign of violence, the armed struggle)

§ Sinn Féin is called Provos by the Protestants

§ Abstentionism: Sinn Féin does not take its seats in Parliament because of their refusal to take the oath (which involves acknowledging The Queen) as well as because they pledged not to take their seats in Westminster

§ Closely associated with the "demobilised" Provisional IRA (political wing of the IRA)

§ Several Sinn Fein party members have been members of the IRA, for example the former education minister Martin McGuinness

§ Advocate socialist values

§ Sinn Féin had two ministers in the now suspended Executive Committee (cabinet) of the Northern Ireland Assembly but has never sat in cabinet in the Republic: Martin McGuinness (Education Minister) and Bairbre De Brun (Health Minister)

Stormontgate (The Irish Watergate)

The Northern Irish Assembly was suspended over a supposed IRA espionage ring 'discovered' at Stormont (home of the NI Assembly) in October 2002. Three IRA men were charged with gathering intelligence on the Protestant politicians (a list of their addresses and phone numbers, etc. This information had been top-secret to protect the lives of the families of the Protestant politicians from a possible IRA attack). 10 days afterwards the NI assembly was suspended. It was only in December 2005 that all charges were dropped against the 3 Sinn Féin "spies". The secret intelligence service that raided the offices of Sinn Féin in Stormont obviously lied about finding a list of classified addresses! There were no such lists. Despite this embarrasing turn of events, both the Irish and British governments have ruled out inquiries into the "controversy"!! To make things worse for the British intelligence it also came to light that not only did they raid the Sinn Féin offices in Stormont as part of a political plot to discredit Sinn Féin, but they had been paying a spy to infiltrate Sinn Féin for the past 20 years in the person of Denis Donaldson (one of the three alleged IRA men charged with intelligence gathering...). At first the British intelligence service (called M15) denied allegations of Donaldson being their spy, but then Donaldson himself confirmed that in fact he had been a British informer. (He moved to the Republic of Ireland after this "incident" and was found shot dead in April 2006). On 8 December 2005 lawyers for the Northern Ireland Public Prosecution Service said that "the prosecution for the offences in relation to the accused are no longer in the public interest".

Social Democratic and Labour Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) - 3 MPs

Constitutional nationalist party in Northern Ireland.

Leader: Mark Durkan

§ SDLP is the smaller of the two majornationalist (Catholic) parties inNorthern Ireland.

§ The party currently has 3 MPs in theHouse of Commons, and 18 MLAs in the Northern Irish Assembly

§ Aims: To satisfy nationalist (Catholic) desires and calm unionist (Protestant) fears. The SDLP were the first to advocate the so-called principle of consent - recognising that fundamental changes in Northern Ireland's constitutional status could only come with the agreement of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland.

§ The former SDLP leader John Hume received the joint Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Northern Irish Peace Process that led to the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement in 1998.

Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) - 1 MP

moderate unionist (Protestant) party

Former leader: David Trimble (see picture) who was the 1st First Minister of the devolved Northern Irish Assembly. He received the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize (with John Hume, SDLP) for his role in finding a peaceful solution to the Northern Irish conflict ('The Troubles'). The NI Government was suspended from Febrary-May 2000, then from July-November 2001 and again since October 2002 as a result of the Stormontgate Affair (see above). At the General Elections of 2005 David Trimble lost his seat to an SDLP politician, after which he decided to resign as the leader of UUP. The new leader of the party is Reg Empey.

§ Pro-devolution with a strong attachment to British Parliamentary Traditions

§ Seeks the restoration of the Stormont Assembly

§ Supports power-sharing with democratic nationalist parties in Northern Ireland

§ Supportive of a positive, co-operative relationship between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic

§ Supports strong UK anti-terrorist legislation, identity cards, anti-social behaviour orders and statutory Victims Charter for victims of crime

§ Demands Assets Recovery Agency actions against loyalist and republican paramilitaties

§ Demands abolition of Parades Commission

§ The party promotes a series of measures to reduce the "brain drain" of educated young Northern Irish people

Political parties: distribution of seats in different governing bodies

House of Commons (646) :

Labour (356)

Conservatives (197)

Liberal Democrats (63)

DUP (9)

SNP (6)

Sinn Féin (abstentionist) (5)

Plaid Cymru (3)

SDLP (3)

Ind KHHC (1)

Respect (1)

UUP (1)

Vacant (1)

Scottish Parliament (129):

Labour (50)

SNP (27)

Conservative and Unionists (17)

Liberal Democrats (17)

Scottish Green Party (7)

Scottish Socialist Party (6)

Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party (1)

Independent (5)

Welsh Assembly (60):

Labour (29)

Plaid Cymru (12)

Conservatives (11)

Liberal Democrats (6)

Forward Wales (1)

Vacant (1)

Northern Ireland Assembly (108)

DUP (32)

UUP (25)

Sinn Féin (24)

SDLP (18)

Alliance (6)

UKUP (1)

Independent (2)

London Assembly (25):

Conservatives (9)

Labour (7)

Liberal Democrats (5)

Greens (E&W) (2)

One London (2)

European Parliament (72 out of 732):

Conservatives (ED, 26)

Labour (PES, 19)

Liberal Democrats (ELDR, 12)

UKIP (ID, 10)

Greens (E&W) (EGP, 2)

SNP (EFA, 2)

DUP (EUD1, 1)

Plaid Cymru (EFA, 1)

Sinn Féin (EUL, 1)

UUP (ED)

Independent (2) (Ind)

The Government

The Cabinet:

§ Made up of about 20 ministers chosen by the Prime Minister

§ There are departmental and non-departmental (tárcanélküli) ministers

§ Meets weekly (when Parliament is in session)

§ Collective responsibility: every member of the Cabinet has to support government policy once it has been decided in an issue. If a minister cannot support the policy he/she is expected to resign! (Except for a very few cases when ministers are allowed to vote freely.)

§ Ministers (often called Secretaries of State, or some other title) have to assume individual responsibility for the work of their departments firstly to the Prime Minister then to Parliament.

§ No minister can be the director of any private or public company or be in any way involved that would be conflicting with their public duties.

§ Most important ministers: Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary.

The Prime Minister:

§ First Lord of the Treasury

§ Minister of the Civil Service

§ Appoints and dismisses the ministers

§ He is the head of the Government: in charge of the Cabinet

§ Makes the “recommendations” to the Monarch concerning the appointments of:

ú Lord Chief Justice

ú Archbishops, bishops, deans of the Church of England (political appointments!!)

ú Privy Counsellors

ú Lords Lieutenants

ú University rectors and deans

ú The Poet Laureate

ú BBC board members

ú Etc… (The PM has an impressive say in picking the key persons of the country, doesn’t he/she? The winner really “takes it all”.)

§ Informs the Sovereign of the dealings of the Government

Chancellor or the Exchequer (Pénzügyminiszter):

§ The most powerful minister after the Prime Minister.

§ His official residence is Downing street 11, right next to the Prime Minister.

§ He is responsible for all financial matters. Every year he formulates the Budget which will define government spending for the following fiscal year.

Local government

§ There are much fewer local councils in England and Wales than in Hungary!! (~410 vs 3200) Over 20,000 councillors represent the people in England and Wales in the 410 local authorities

§ Councillors are elected for 4 years in England and Wales and 3 years in Scotland. Local councillors, although they spend on average 25 hours a week on council business, do not get paid (unlike the Members of Parliament), they only get reimbursed for certain expenses.

§ Councils are headed by a mayor of chairman who belongs to the majority politiacal party of the council.

§ Local governments are the largest employers, giving 2.3 million jobs in England and Wales (e.g. 58% are teachers and support staff, 14% are social workers)

§ Local governments in England are linked to the central government through various Departments (e.g. Department for Local Government and Transport, etc.)

§ Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish local governments deal with the devolved Parliament and Assemblies in their respective countries

§ The expenses of mandatory functions and discretionary functions are covered mostly by the central government, business rates and council taxes (only 26% of all costs are covered by council tax).

§ Mandatory functions: services that are required by law (providing health and education services, housing, support for people with disabilities as well as for older people and the homeless, transport responsibilities, local libraries and other cultural provisions, rubbish collection, fire services, seweage services, regulatory responsibilities...etc.)

§ Discretionary functions: services not required by law, yet offered by the local government

§ In England and Wales local councils are regularly awarded ratings between excellent and poor by the Audit Commission. (Currently only 69 councils have an 'excellent' rating, while 146 have been deemed 'good', 119 'fair', 44 'weak' and 10 'poor'.)

§ Depending on the financial situation of the people pertaining to a local council there can be big differences in the quality and quantity of services offered by the local government. (Higher income from local taxation leads to higher demands and spending.)

vocabulary:

statute law	írott jog
common law	szokásjog, polgárjog
conventions	egyezmények, szokások
legislative power	törvényhozó hatalom
executive power	végrehajtó hatalom
government / local government	kormány / helyi önkormányzat
ministerial departments	minisztériumok
judiciary power	bírói hatalom / igazságszolgáltatás
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council	Királyi Titkos Tanács Ítélőszéke
constituency	választókerület
Member of Parliament	országgyűlési képviselő
summon	összehív
prorogue	berekeszt, elnapol
dissolve	feloszlat
Bill	törvényjavaslat
Act of Parliament	törvény
approval rating	népszerűségi mutató
Speaker	képviselőház elnöke
amendment	itt: törvényjavaslat módosítása ill. kiegészítése
Treasury Committee	Költségvetési Bizottság

sources:

National Statistics, UK 2002, The Official Yearbook of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Wikipedia: Politics of the UK, UK General Elections 2005

BBC.co.uk

local.gov.uk

The United Kingdom Parliament

James O'Driscoll: Britain Oxford University Press 1997

Documents about: Debates in Parliament, House of Commons, Making a Law, Parliament & Government, Parliamentary Elections and The House of Lords are used by permission under Parliamentary Licence