Parliament. The Palace of Westminster

Britain is administered from the Palace of Westminster in London. This is also known as the Houses of Parliament. Parliament is made up of two chambers — the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The members of the House of Lords are not elected: they qualify to sit in the House because they are bishops of the Church of England, aristocrats who have inherited their seats from their fathers, people with titles. There has been talk of reform in this century because many Britons think that this system is undemocratic. The House of Commons, by contrast, has 651 seats which are occupied by Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected by the British public. The United Kingdom is divided into constituencies, each of which has an elected MP in the House of Commons.

Each of the major political parties appoints a representa­tive (candidate) to compete for each seat. Smaller parties may have a candidate in only a few constituencies. There may be five or more parties, fighting for one seat, but only one per­son - the candidate who gets the greatest number of votes - can win. Some parties win a lot of seats and some win very few, or none at all.

The Queen, who is the Head of State, opens and closes Par­liament. All new laws are debated (discussed) by MPs in the Commons, then debated in the Lords, and finally signed by the Queen. All three are part of Parliament in Britain.

1. What is Parliament made up of?

2. Are the members of the House of Lords elected?

3. What do Britons think about this system?

4. Who appoints a representative to compete for each seat?

5. Who can win the seat?

6. Who is the Head of State?

3. Transcribe the following words, read them and memorize them: elected, inherited, seat, constituency, candidate, origins, convention, enhanced by, execution, Monarchy, signs, assent.

& 4. Learn some important dates in the history of the House of Lords for further discussions.

14th century - The Lords begin to sit in a separate House from the Commons. Members of the House of Lords are drawn from the Church (Lords Spiritual) and from magnates chosen by the Monarch (Lords Temporal), while Commons members represent the shires and boroughs.

15th century - Lords Temporal become known as "peers".

18th century - Acts of Union with Scotland (1707) and Ireland (1800) entitle Scottish and Irish peers to elect representatives to sit in the Lords.

1834 -The Palace of Westminster, including the House of Lords, is destroyed by fire. Rebuilding of the new Palace, designed by Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin, begins in 1840.

1847 -The House of Lords first sits in its new chamber.

1876 Appellate Jurisdiction Act - Creates Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (Law Lords) to carry out the judicial work of the House as the final Court of Appeal.

1911 and 1949 Parliament Acts - Allow some bills to become Acts without the consent of the Lords and limit the power to delay other bills to one year.

1958 Life Peerages Act - Creates baronies "for life" for men and women; women sit in the House for the first time.

1963 Peerage Act —Allows hereditary peers to disclaim their peerages, and hereditary peeresses and all Scottish peers to sit in the House.

1999 House of Lords Act - Removes the right of all except 92 hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House.

2005 Constitutional Reform Act - Sets up a Supreme Court (from October 2009), separating the judicial and legislative functions.

& 5. Read the texts, translate them into Ukrainian. Be ready to give full answers to the questions below.

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