The Liberal Party

The Liberal Party, which traces its origins to the eighteenth century “Whigs”, merged with the new Social Democratic Party in 1988 to become the Liberal Democrats, after fighting the 1987 election unsuccessfully as an alliance of both parties.

Regional systems

The United Kingdom is divided into four parts.

Scotland has a Parliament in Edinburgh, which legislates on affairs such as education, health and criminal justice. It appoints a First Minister, who leads the Scottish Executive, which is the government in Scotland for these matters. It has a little control over its revenue, by varying the basic rate of income tax by up to 3% either way from the national rate (it has not done so yet).

Wales has an Assembly in Cardiff. This can pass subordinate legislation - regulations implementing primary legislation passed in Westminster. It cannot raise its own taxes.

Northern Ireland has an Assembly, currently suspended. It has a complicated method of selecting its Executive, which ensures representation from both the Nationalist (wanting to unite with the Republic of Ireland) and Unionist (wanting to remain in the United Kingdom) communities. With the largest parties currently being Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party, no agreement can be reached on forming the executive (this had earlier been acheived by the Ulster Unionsts and the Social and Democratic Labour Party). Legislation and government that would be controlled by this Assembly is looked after by the Northern Irish Office of the UK Government.

England does not have a separate parliament from the national one. Devolution of a few powers to 9 regional assemblies has been proposed, but in 2004 a referendum in the region thought most likely to want it, the North East, decisively rejected it. Legislation for England, and primary legislation for Wales, can be voted upon by any member of the UK Parliament, even if they come from Scotland or Northern Ireland.

The Government

The Prime Minister

“Her Majesty’s Government” governs in the name of the Queen, and its hub, Downing Street, lies in Whitehall, a short walk from Parliament. Following a general election, the Queen invites the leader of the majority party represented in the Commons, to form a government on her behalf. In other words, the party which wins the majority of seats in the General Election forms the Government and its leader usually becomes Prime Minister (PM). Unlike an American President, a British prime minister can remain in the job as long as the party he or she represents is in power. Margaret Thatcher, the first woman prime minister, served for eleven and a half years until the Conservative Party voted to replace her. The Prime Ministers runs the country, chooses senior ministers and recommends their appointment to the king or queen. While other ministers are responsible for particular government departments, the prime minister is concerned with policy as a whole. The Prime Minister has regular meetings with the sovereign to inform him or her of the activities of the government.

The Cabinet

The PM chooses a committee of ministers (from his or her party) called the Cabinet. This is made up of a selection of senior MPs from the House of Commons (about 20 MPs) and some members from the House of Lords. Each member of the Cabinet is a Minister responsible for government department and for a Civil Service department. For example, the most important ministers are: the Minister of Defense is responsible for defense policy and armed forces, the Chancellor of the Exchequer for financial policy (presents the Budget annually in March), and the Home Secretary – for, among other things, law and order and immigration. Their Civil Service departments are called the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Treasury and Home Office. They are staffed by civil servants who are politically neutral and who do not change if the Government changes. The Cabinet of ministers runs the country.

Areas of government Ministry Minister

Income tax the Treasury the Chancellor of the Exchequer

The army the Ministry of Defense the Minister of Defense

Prisons the Home Office the Home Secretary

Government spending the Treasury the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Law and order the Home Office the Home Secretary

Nuclear weapons the Ministry of Defense the Minister of Defense

Immigration the Home Office the Home Secretary

The Police the Home Office the Home Secretary

International relations the Foreign Office the Foreign Secretary

Each member of the Cabinet is a minister responsible for a government department: for example, the Secretary of State for Education and Science is responsible for all the schools, universities and teachers in Britain. The Cabinet of ministers runs the country. There are also: Ministers of Transport, Health, and many others.

The Cabinet meets at the Prime Minister’s house – at 10 Downing Street, above the offices used by the Cabinet. Chequers, in the countryside outside London, is also an official home for the prime minister and is used at weekends and for more informal meetings.

The Cabinet works as a team and all ministers must accept the decisions of the “group”. The team of ministers must always agree in public because they are collectively responsible for the decisions they make. If a minister cannot agree with all the others, he usually resigns from the cabinet. Cabinet meetings are held in private and the details must remain secret for at least 30 years. It has been argued that Margaret Thatcher tried to change this style of cabinet and she was forced to resign when the other ministers could not agree with her.

Cabinet ministers cannot, however do as they please! They are responsible to Parliament and must answer questions from backbenchers in the House of Commons. Even the PM must answer the questions every Tuesday and Thursday in the Commons – this is called Prime Minister’s Question Time and can be one of the most interesting discussions in British politics. Everyone wants to know what has been decided behind the closed doors of the Cabinet Room!

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