United Kingdom of Great Britain

and Northern Ireland

The United Kingdom is a union
of four constituent countries:

England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Map of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is
a parliamentary
monarchy with
Queen Elizabeth II as
head of state; the
monarch of the UK
also serves as head of
state of fifteen other
Commonwealth
countries.
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
 Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
Elizabeth was born at 17
Bruton Street, in Mayfair,
London,the first child of
Prince Albert, Duke of York,
and Elizabeth, Duchess of
York, the first
granddaughter of King
George V and Queen
Mary, and the first princess
born into the immediate
royal family since Princess
Mary in 1897.
Elizabeth became Queen
of the United Kingdom
upon the death of her
father, George VI, on 6
February 1952. Elizabeth II
is currently the second
longest reigning monarch
of the United Kingdom,
who reigned over the UK
for 63 years..
In the past:

The Prime Minister was chosen by the

Monarch.

Now:

Accordance with the current

'unwritten constitution', the Prime
Minister is the leader of the largest
party in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

He is the political leader of the United Kingdom and

the Head of Her Majesty's Government.

The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively

accountable for their policies and actions to the
Sovereign, to Parliament (of which they are
members), to their political party, and ultimately the
electorate.

The cabinet has about 20 members; all are members

of the House of Commons or House of Lords. Ministers
of a specific department are called secretaries of
state; if the do not have a specific department, they
are called ministers without portfolio. They do specific
tasks as needed. The prime minister is also the First
Lord of the Treasury and Minister of Civil Service. The
Lord Chancellor, although having executive duties is
also head of the judiciary.
 Prime Ministers
Winston Churchill (1951-1955)
Anthony Eden (1955-1957)
Harold Macmillan (1957-1963)
Alec Douglas-Home (1963-1964)
Harold Wilson (1965-1970) y (1974-1976)
James Callaghan (1976-1979)
Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990)
John Major (1990-1997)
Tony Blair (1997-2007)
Gordon Brown (2007 - Presente )
 James Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown
(born 20 February 1951)
is the Prime Minister of
the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and
Northern Ireland. He
took office on 27 June
2007, three days after
becoming leader of
the Labour Party.
The Queen and her Relations with
ministers
Carrying on the tradition of her
predecessors, the Queen holds
weekly audiences with her British
Prime Minister usually on
Tuesdays, and with no other
advisers and with her other
prime ministers when they and
she are in the same country; be
they in the UK, she in the
minister's respective realm, or
both in another country for a
Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting.
 Bicameral
Type

House of Lords
Houses House of Commons

Baroness Hayman, since May 2006

Lord Speaker

Speaker of the House of Michael Martin MP, since 5 May 2005

Commons
1,378
Members 732 Lords
646 Commoners (MPs)

5 May 2005
Last elections

Palace of Westminster, Westminster,

Meeting place London, United Kingdom
 THE PARLIAMENT

It is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom

and British overseas territories.

It is composed of:

The Queen Elizabeth II

The House of Lords (upper house)

The House of Commons (lower house)

-The two Houses meet in
separate chambers in
the Palace of
Westminster (commonly
known as the "Houses of
Parliament"), in the City
of Westminster in
London.
In theory, supreme
legislative power is
vested in the Queen;
in practice in modern
times, real power is
vested in the House of
Commons.
 Parliament's role
Its main roles are:

Examining and challenging the work

of the government (scrutiny).

Debating and passing all laws

(legislation).

Enabling the government to raise

taxes.
 HOUSE OF LORDS
The House of Lords has the principal function
of studing and approving bills.

This House includes two different types of

members:

The Lords Spiritual (the senior bishops of the

Church of England)

The Lords Temporal (members of the

Peerage)
All bills except money bills are
debated and voted upon in
House of Lords.

Its members are

not elected by
the population at
large but are
appointed by
past or current
governments.
Members
Members of the House of
Lords are mostly
appointed by the Queen,
a fixed number are
elected internally and a
limited number of Church
of England archbishops
and bishops sit in the
House.
 HOUSE OF COMMONS

Members of the Commons (MPs) debate the big

political issues of the day and proposals for new
laws. They are responsible for making decisions on
financial Bills, such as proposed new taxes.

The members of this House are elected

democratically.

All government ministers, including the Prime

Minister, are members of the House of Commons or,
less often, the House of Lords.
 The party with the
largest number of
members in the
Commons forms the
government.

There are representantives of every country member of

the United Kingdom ( Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales
and England )
The speakers
Both houses of the British Parliament are
presided over by a speaker, the Speaker of
the House for the Commons and the Lord
Speaker in the House of Lords.

Speaker of the House of Commons:

Baroness Hayman.

Lord Speaker:
Michael Martin.
 ELECTIONS
General elections

When Parliament is dissolved every seat in the House of

Commons becomes vacant and a general election is held.

By-elections

A by-election takes place when a seat in the House of

Commons becomes vacant between general elections.

Parliamentary constituencies
The UK is currently divided into 646 parliamentary
constituencies, each of which is represented by one MP in the
House of Commons.
 During an election, the United
Kingdom is divided in 646
electoral districts so every
citizen votes for one member
of the House of Commons.