Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative authority and consists of three separate elements: the Queen, the House of Lords and the elected House of Commons. Over the centuries the balance between the three parts of the legislature has changed, so that the Queen’s role, as has been stated above, is now only formal and the House of Commons has gained supremacy over the House of Lords.

As has been stated above, Britain has no written constitution and Parliament is able to legislate as it pleases. It can make, abolish or change any law; it can destroy established conventions or, vice versa, turn a convention into law. Thus, Parliament rather than the will of the people is clearly the real sovereign in the state.

Functions of Parliament.

The main functions of British Parliament today are as follows:

• to pass laws

• to vote on financial bills so that the government could carry on its work

• to discuss the government’s administrative policies – foreign affairs, the state of agriculture, educational problems, etc.

• to debate important political issues of the day.

By custom, Parliament is also informed before the ratification of all important international treaties and agreements. The making of treaties is, however, a royal prerogative exercised on the advice of the government and is not subject to parliamentary approval.

Electoral System

The maximum legal life of the House of Commons is five years and the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister may dissolve it before the end of this term. The Prime Minister is bound to this if his Ministry is defeated on an important issue by the vote of the House of Commons. Nowadays, though, when the electorate often votes for a particular party leader rather than the party itself, government leaders try to use the power of dissolving Parliament and hold elections at moments of highest popularity, as, for example, Mrs. Thatcher did after her victory in the Falklands War.

When it has been decided to hold a General Election, the old Parliament is dissolved and 20 clear days must elapse before the new Parliament meets. A notice, or writ, has to be sent to each constituency, where the Returning Officer makes provisions for the holding of the election.

For electoral purposes the whole of the United Kingdom is divided into 659 electoral constituencies. Each constituency usually contains about 66, 000 voters and returns one member to the House of Commons.

General elections for parliamentary seats are by secret ballot. British citizens, together with citizens of other Commonwealth countries and citizens of the Irish Republic resident in Britain, may vote provided they are at least 18 years old, are registered in the annual register of electors for the constituency and are not subject to any disqualifications. People not entitled to vote include the Royal Family; members of the House of Lords; mentally ill people, convicted prisoners still in prison; and persons convicted within the previous five years of corrupt or illegal practices.

People vote for any one of the candidates in the constituency in which they are registered. Each elector normally casts one vote in person, at a polling station. But there are always people who are not able to vote in person. These people may apply for and become entitled to an absent vote – a vote by post or a vote by proxy (authorizing another person to cast a vote).

The candidate that obtains the largest number of voices in a constituency, irrespective of whether he or she has an overall majority, is returned as MP for that area. The other candidates, even if they come close to the winner, will not get a seat in Parliament and their votes are ‘wasted’. The system is known as the simple majority, or ‘the first-past-the post’.

British citizens may stand and be elected as MPs provided they are over 21 and are not subject to any disqualifications. Among those disqualified are undischarged bankrupts; people sentenced to more than 0ne year’s imprisonment; clergy of the Church of England, the Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic Church; peers, and holders of certain offices like civil servants, some local government officers, members of the regular armed forces or the police service.