- •Conservative Party
- •Origins in the Whig Party
- •John Major William Hague
- •Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard
- •The Conservative Party today
- •Current policies
- •Defence of the Union
- •Economic policy
- •Social policy
- •Foreign policy
- •Defence policy
- •Party factions One Nation Conservatives
- •Free-Market Conservatives
- •Traditionalist Conservatives
- •Minor parties in the United Kingdom
- •Electoral coalitions
- •Minor English parties
- •Minor Scottish parties
- •Minor Welsh parties
- •Minor Northern Ireland parties
- •Minor far-left parties
- •Minor far-right parties
- •Minor religious parties
- •Party ideology
- •Party constitution and structure
- •History
- •Labour Representation Committee
- •"New Labour" - in government (1997-2010)
- •Labour Prime Ministers Liberal Democrats
- •History
- •Campbell Clegg (2007–present) On 18 December 2007, Nick Clegg won the leadership election, becoming the party's fourth leader. Clegg won the leadership with a majority
- •Coalition government (2010)
- •Structure
- •Ideology and internal factions
- •Leaders
- •The political system of Great Britain
- •Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- •Authority
- •Position
- •Constitutional background
- •Revolutionary settlement
- •Treasury Bench
- •Standing Order 66
- •Beginnings of the Prime Minister's party leadership
- •Cabinet
- •"One Party Government"
- •Treasury Commission
- •"First" Prime Minister
- •Ambivalence and denial
- •[Edit] Emergence of Cabinet government
- •Loyal Opposition
- •Great Reform Bill and the Premiership
- •Populist Prime Ministers
- •Modern Premiership Parliament Act and the Premiership
- •[Edit] "Presidential" Premiership
- •[Edit] Powers and constraints
- •[Edit] Precedence, privileges and form of address
- •[Edit] Retirement honours
- •The English Judicial System
- •Scottish Government
- •[Edit] Executive arm of government
- •[Edit] Ministers
- •[Edit] Cabinet
- •[Edit] Cabinet sub-committees
- •[Edit] Offices
- •[Edit] Scottish Government Home Civil Service
- •[Edit] Directorates
- •[Edit] Strategic Board
- •[Edit] Permanent Secretary
- •[Edit] Executive agencies
- •[Edit] Public bodies
- •[Edit] Change of name
- •National Assembly for Wales
- •[Edit] Enhanced powers: The Government of Wales Act 2006
- •[Edit] Buildings [edit] Senedd
- •[Edit] Tŷ Hywel, Pierhead Building and Cathays Park Buildings
- •[Edit] Elected officials
- •[Edit] Permanent officials
- •[Edit] Powers and status
- •[Edit] Devolved areas
- •[Edit] Members, constituencies, and electoral system
- •[Edit] Current composition
- •Northern Ireland Executive
- •[Edit] Ministers
- •[Edit] Structure
- •[Edit] History
[Edit] Current composition
Following the 2007 election, no party held a majority of seats in the Assembly. On Friday 25 May 2007, Rhodri Morgan was renominated unopposed as First Minister, the Queen then confirmed his appointment. Talk of a Plaid-led "Rainbow Coalition" with the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats came to nothing. Instead a Welsh Labour-led "Red-Green" coalition between the Welsh Labour Party and Plaid Cymru was formed. The deal was ratified by a special party conference of Welsh Labour members on 6 July 2007 and a National Council of Plaid Cymru members on 7 July 2007.[27] Mohammed Asghar, elected for Plaid Cymru, joined the Conservative Party group in December 2009.[28] Mick Bates AM, was suspended by the Welsh Liberal Democrats after he was given a court summons for an alleged assault against a paramedic.[29][30]
Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. It is referred to in the legislation as the Executive Committee of the Assembly. The Executive is an example of a consociationalist government.
The executive consists of a First Minister and deputy First Minister (a diarchy) and various ministers with individual portfolios and remits. The Assembly elects the members of the Executive. It is one of three devolved governments in the United Kingdom, the others being the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government.
[Edit] Ministers
First Minister and deputy First Minister
Junior Ministers
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Minister for Education
Minister for Employment and Learning
Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
Minister of the Environment
Minister of Finance and Personnel
Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Minister of Justice
Minister for Regional Development
Minister for Social Development
[Edit] Structure
In contrast with Westminster System cabinets, which generally need only be backed by a majority of legislators, ministerial positions in the Northern Ireland Executive are allocated to all of those parties with significant representation in the Assembly. The number of ministries to which each party is entitled is determined by the D'Hondt system. In effect, major parties cannot be excluded from participation in government, and power-sharing is enforced by the system. The Executive can not function if either of the two largest parties refuse to take part, as these parties are allocated the First Minister and deputy First Minister positions. However, other parties are not required to enter the Executive even if they are entitled to do so; instead, they can choose to go into opposition if they wish. There were some calls for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (the S.D.L.P.) and the Ulster Unionist Party (the U.U.P.) to do just this after the 2007 Assembly elections[1], but ultimately the two parties chose to take the seats in the Executive to which they were entitled.