When British journalists refer to ‘MPs’, who are they talking about? /members of the House of commons/members of the House of Lords/both By what name is the Palace of Westminster known?
QUIZ
PARLIAMENT
When British journalists refer to ‘MPs’, who are they talking about? / members of the House of common s/members of the House of Lords/both
By what name is the Palace of Westminster known? The House of Commons/the House of Lords/ the Houses of Parliament
Who chairs the debates and other proceedings in the House of Commons? Lack Rod/the Chief Whip/ the Speaker
Which pronoun must an MP never use when speaking in Parliament? I / you/ she
What is the name of the daily reports of debates in the Commons? The Bulletin/ Hansard /Sittings
By what name is a proposal for a new law called when it is debated in Parliament? A Bill / a Reading/ a White paper
When the division bell rings in the Houses of Parliament, what do MPs do? Finish for the day/ go to their seats/ vote
Match a-g with 1-7 to summarize the reforms of the House of Lords in the last century.
1910 The House of Lords…6
1911 The first Parliament Act…7
1949 The second Parliament Act ….5
1958 The Life Peerage Act ….3
1963 The Peerage Act…4
1999 The House of Lords Act…1
2000 Establishment of…2
…removes the automatic right of aristocrats to sit in the House of Lords.
…the House of Lords Appointment Commission.
…allows for the appointment of (non-hereditary) life peers.
…gives people the right to disclaim their hereditary peerage (so that they can be elected to the House of Commons)
…reduces the Lords’ legislation-blocking power to one year.
...twice rejects a budget passed by the House of Commons.
…removes the Lords’ ability to stop a bill passed by the Commons becoming law. It can now merely delay the bill for two years.
ELECTIONS
Choose the correct answer.
For which institution are general elections held in Britain? The Cabinet/ the House of Commons/ the House of Lords
Which party won the general elections of 1979, 1983, 1987, and 1992?conservative
Which party won the general elections of 1997, 2001, and 2005?labour
In Britain, a party is normally said to have ‘won’ an election if it… a)… gets more votes than any other party b)…gets at least 50% of the votes c)… wins at least 50 % of the seats in Parliament.
How many members of each party normally stand for election in each constituency? One /two/ three or more
What is the word to describe a ballot paper which has been incorrectly or unclearly filled in? discounted/ s poiled / void
Which of these is not a true description of the electoral system used in Britain?
a. First past the post
b. Proportional
c. Simple majority
The law says that the period between one general election and the next must be …5 years at most
How long after the polls close does it take for the result in most constituencies to be declared? Four minutes/ four hours / four days
To which party do MPs representing their inner city areas in Britain normally belong?labour
To which party do MPs representing their rural areas in England normally belong?conservative
When was universal suffrage (so that all adults could vote) introduced in Britain?
a. The 1880s b. the 1920s c. the 1960s
Why was voting by post offered as an option to all voters for the first time in 2005.
a. To reduce cheating b. to reduce costs c. to increase the turnover
When were political parties first regulated in Britain? 1901/ 1951/ 2001
Fill in the gaps in this text about the formal conduct of a British election with the words and phrases from the list.
Ballot box count polling booth ballot boxes electoral register (used twice) polling day ballot paper (used four times) MP polling station constituency (used three times) polls(used twice) Returning Officer (used twice)
After the date for the election has been fixed, nominations for candidates are invited in each 1…constit………….In order to get their names on the 2…ballot paper……….., candidates have to deposit 500 pounds with the 3returning officer…………….(the person responsible for the conduct of the election in each constituency). They get this money back if they get five per cent of the votes or more. They can also, if they wish, indicate their political affiliation after their names on the 4…ballot paper…………..
About three weeks later, the election takes place. On 5…polling day……….., which is always a Thursday, the 6polls……………..open at seven in the morning. To be eligible to vote, a person must be at least eighteen years old and be on the 7…electoral register…………... this is compiled every year for each 8…constituenc…….. separately. Nobody is obliged to vote. Each voter has to vote at a particular 9…polling station……..
After being ticked on the 10electoral register…………….., the voter is given a blank 11balot paper……………..which he or she takes to a 12polling booth…………………... There, he or she makes a choice by putting an’X’ next to the name of one candidate and then drops the marked 13ballot paper…………..into a 14…ballot box………….
The 15…polls……………..close at ten in the evening. Then, all the 16…ballot boxes………………are taken to a central place in the constituency, where they are opened and the 17…count……………..begins. When all the votes have been counted, the 18…returning………….makes a public announcement of the number of votes cast for each candidate and declares the winner to be the 19mp………….for the 20…constituency……..
