1. OVERVIEW OF BRITISH POLITICAL SYSTEM
1) The history of British politics
2) The governmental model
3) The branches of government
4) The English monarchy
5) The Privy Council
6) British Parliament
7) Political parties

2. 1The history of British politics
• Situation over the last 800 years: British
government has been breaking down the
monarch's former power (800 years)
• Result: struggle has produced bitter conflicts
on governmental, social and religious levels
• Modern situation: the real authority in the
British governmental and political system now
rests with the Prime Minister, as it had once
belonged predominantly to the monarch.

3. The governmental model
The governmental model is usually described as:
1) Constitutional monarchy
2) Parliamentary democracy:
• members of the government (ministers) are also members of one of the two
Houses of Parliament (the House of Commons and the House of Lords)
• government is directly accountable to Parliament (through parliamentary
questions and debates on policy);
• It owes its existence to Parliament: the governing party is only in power because
it holds a majority in the House of Commons, and at any time the government
can be dismissed by the Commons through a vote of ‘no confidence’

4. The governmental model
• the monarch still has a limited role to play
on some executive and legislative levels
BUT it is Parliament which possesses the
essential legislative power, and the
government of the day which governs

5. The governmental model
The correct constitutional definition of
Parliament is the 'Queen-in-Parliament‘
Result: all state and governmental
business is carried out in the name of
the monarch by the politicians and
officials

6. The governmental model
• In constitutional theory, the British people hold
the political sovereignty to choose their
government, while Parliament, consisting partly
of their elected representatives in the Commons,
possesses the legal sovereignty to make laws.
• The monarch is formally the head of 1) the
executive, 2) the legislature and 3) the judiciary

7. The branches of government
The legislature
the House of Commons
the House of Lords
formally the monarch
IS
the supreme law-making body

8. The branches of government
The executive
comprises
the sitting government and its Cabinet
government ministries or departments
headed by ministers or secretaries of state
formally the monarch

9. The branches of government
The judiciary
consists of
the judges of the higher courts
formally the monarch

10. The English monarchy
• Succession to the throne is still hereditary, but
only for Protestants in the direct line of descent
• The continuity of the English monarchy has
been interrupted only by the Cromwell republic
of 1649-1659
• there have been different lines of descent who
governed Britain

11. The British monarchy
Queen ELIZABETH II

12. The British monarchy

13. The British monarchy
The monarch has a number of roles, and serves
formally as:
1) head of state
2) head of the executive
3) head of the judiciary
4) head of the legislature
5) commander-in-chief of the armed forces
6) supreme governor of the Church of England
AS A RESULT

14. The British monarchy
• all ministers and officials of the central
government are the monarch's servants,
and judges, military officers, peers, and
bishops of the Church of England
swear allegiance to the Crown

15. The British monarchy
• In spite of these roles, the monarch acts
only on the advice of political ministers
The monarch can not
• make laws
• impose taxes
• spend public money

16. The British monarchy
• The monarch still performs some important
executive and legislative duties:
1 The summoning, opening and dissolving of
Parliament
2 Giving Royal Assent to bills
3 Granting honours
4 Holding audiences with the Prime Ministers
5 Giving pardons to some convicted criminals
6 Fulfilling international duties as the head of state

17. The Privy Council
• Privy
PRIVY COUNCIL used to be a small group
of royal advisers at court
TODAY its main role is to advise the
monarch on a range of matters

18. The Privy Council
• Life membership of the council is given by the
monarch, on the recommendation of the Prime
Minister.
• There are 380 Privy Councilors at present.

19. The Privy Council
A full council is usually only summoned:
• on the death of a monarch;
• when there are serious constitutional
issues;
• or occasionally when a Commonwealth
Heads of State Conference is held in
London

20. British Parliament
• British Parliament consists of:
the House of Lords
the House of Commons
formally the monarch
It assembles as a unified body only on
ceremonial occasions, such as the State
Opening of Parliament by the monarch in
the House of Lords

21. British Parliament
• Parliament has a maximum duration of five years
• The maximum has sometimes been prolonged by
special parliamentary legislation on occasions of
national emergency like the two World Wars

22. Parliamentary sovereignty
• The legislative body has ‘absolute sovereignty’. i.e. it is
supreme to all other government institutions.
• In the UK, it is still Parliament that decides what the law is.
Judges interpret the law, but they do not make the law.

23. British Parliament
House of Lords
consists of
the Lords Temporal and the Lords Spiritual
The Lords Spiritual are the Archbishops of
York and Canterbury and twenty-four senior
bishops of the Church of England

24. British Parliament
The Lords Temporal
consist of
• (1) hereditary peers and peeresses who
have kept their titles;
• (2) life peers and peeresses, who have
usually been created by political parties;
• (3) the Lords of Appeal (Law Lords), who
become life peers on their judicial
appointments

25. British Parliament
• 1,200 members of the House of Lords
• Peers receive no salary for their parliamentary
work
• The House is presided over by the Lord
Chancellor
• the Lord Chancellor is a political appointee of
the sitting government,
• the Lord Chancellor sits on the Woolsack (or
stuffed woollen sofa) as Speaker (Chairman) of
the House and controls the procedure and
meetings of the House

26. Chris Grayling has been the Lord
Chancellor and Secretary of State for
Justice since 2012

27. British Parliament
• Attempts to reform the House of Lords were
made several times during the 20 century.
• The Parliament Act of 1911 removed from the
House of Lords the power of veto a bill.
• Instead the Lords could delay a bill up to two
years.
• Now it is one year.

28. British Parliament
The House of Commons
• consists of Members of Parliament (MPs) who
are elected by the adult suffrage of the British
people
• 650 MPs
• 10% are women
Country Parliamentary seats
England 523
Wales 38
Scotland 72
Northern Ireland 17

29. British Parliament
The House of Commons
• Britain is divided for electoral purposes
into constituencies or geographical areas
usually containing about 60 000 voters
each of which returns one elected MP to
the House of Commons.

30. The Cabinet (and the Prime Minister )
• The Cabinet is a formal body made up of the most senior
government ministers chosen by the prime minister.
• Most members are heads of government departments
with the title 'Secretary of State'.

31. • Originated in Great Britain: The cabinet developed from the Privy Council in the 17th and
early 18th centuries.
• The English monarchs Charles II (reigned 1660–85) and Anne (1702–14) began
regularly consulting leading members of the Privy Council in order to reach decisions.
• Queen Anne used to have meetings of this select committee of leading ministers and
became the accepted machinery of executive government, and the Privy Council’s
power declined.
• After George I (1714–27), who spoke little English, ceased to attend meetings with the
committee in 1717, the decision-making process within that body, or cabinet, as it was
now known, gradually became centred on a chief, or PM.
• This office began to emerge during the long chief ministry (1721–42) of Sir Robert
Walpole and was definitively established by Sir William Pitt later in the century.
• The passage of the Reform Bill (1832) clarified two basic principles of cabinet
government: that a cabinet should be composed of members drawn from the party or
political faction that holds a majority in the House of Commons and that a cabinet’s
members are collectively responsible to the Commons for their conduct of the
government.

32. • The cabinet consists of 25 members, or ministers, appointed by PM, who in turn has been
appointed by the monarch on the basis of his ability to command a majority of votes in the
Commons.
• Though formerly empowered to select the cabinet, the sovereign is now restricted to the mere
formal act of inviting the head of Parliament’s majority party to form a government.
• PM must put together a cabinet that represents and balances the various factions within his own
party (or within a coalition of parties).
• Cabinet members must all be members of Parliament, as PM.
• The members of a cabinet head the principal government departments, or ministries, such as
Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and the Exchequer (treasury).
• The cabinet does much of its work through committees headed by individual ministers, and its
overall functioning is coordinated by the Secretariat, which consists of career civil servants.
• The cabinet usually meets in the prime minister’s official residence at 10 Downing Street in
London.
• Ministers are responsible for their departments, but the cabinet as a whole is accountable to
Parliament for its actions.
• Cabinet members can freely disagree with each other within the secrecy of cabinet meetings, but
once a decision has been reached, all are obligated to support the cabinet’s policies, both in the
Commons and before the general public.
• The loss of a vote of confidence or the defeat of a major legislative bill in the Commons can mean
a cabinet’s fall from power.

33. • The Cabinet meets on a regular basis, usually weekly on a
Thursday morning to discuss the most important issues of
government policy, and to make decisions.
• Despite the custom of meeting on a Thursday, after the
appointment of Gordan Brown as PM the meeting day was
switched to Tuesday.
• However, since becoming PM, David Cameron has held his
cabinet meetings on Thursdays again.
• The length of meetings varies according to the style of the PM
and political conditions, but today meetings can be as little as
30 minutes in length.
• The Prime Minister normally has a weekly audience with the
Queen.

34. DAVID CAMERON: BRITISH PM

35. Political Parties
• The great majority of the MPs in the House of
Commons belong to either the Conservative or
the Labour Party, which are the main political
parties.
• This division emphasizes the continuation of the
traditional two-party system in British politics, in
which power has alternated between two major
parties.

36. Political Parties:
The Labor Party
• traditionally gathers its support from the trade
unions, the working class, the middle-class .
• Its electorates have always been in south
Wales, Scotland, and the Midland and northern
English industrial cities.

37. Political Parties:
the Conservative Party
• the party's support comes mainly from business
interests and the middle and upper classes
• the party's strongholds tend to be in southern
England

38. Smaller political parties
• have some representation in the House of Commons
• among these have been:
- the Liberals and Social Democrats;
- the Scottish National Party;
- Plaid Cymru (the Welsh National Party);
- the Protestant Northern Irish parties of the Official Unionists,
- the Democratic Unionists and the Ulster Popular Unionists;
- the Social Democratic and Labour Party (moderate Roman
Catholic Northern Irish party);
- Sinn Fein (Republican Northern Irish party).
- the Greens
- Communist Party

39. The British Judiciary

40. Courts in the United Kingdom
• The court system in England and
Wales consists of 5 levels:

41. Supreme Court & Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Court of Appeal
Magistrates’ Courts & the Tribunals Service
Crown Court & County Courts
High Court
The Court System

42. High Court
Crown Court & County Courts
Magistrates’ Courts & the Tribunals Service
Court of Appeal
Supreme Court & Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council

43. Supreme Court (formerly the House of Lords)
• In 2009 the Supreme Court replaced the House of Lords
as the highest court in England, Wales and Northern
Ireland.
• The Supreme Court hears appeals from the Court of
Appeal and the High Court.
• It also hears appeals from the Inner House of the Court of
Session in Scotland.
• Appeals are normally heard by 5 Justices, but there can
be as many as 9.

44. Court of Appeal
• The Court of Appeal consists of two divisions: the Criminal
Division and the Civil Decision.
• Decisions of the Court of Appeal may be appealed to the
Supreme Court.
Civil Division Criminal Division
The Civil Division of the Court of
Appeal hears appeals
concerning civil law and family
justice from the High Court, from
Tribunals, and certain cases
from the County Courts.
The Criminal Division of the
Court of Appeal hears appeals
from the Crown Court.

45. High Court
• The High Court consists of three divisions: the Chancery Division, the Family
Division, and the Queen’s Bench Division.
• Decisions of the High Court may be appealed to the Civil Division of the
Court of Appeal.
Chancery
Division:
Companies
Court
The Companies Court deals with cases
concerning commercial fraud, business
disputes, insolvency, company
management, and disqualification of
directors.
Chancery
Division:
Divisional
Court
The Divisional Court deals with cases
concerning equity, trusts, contentious
probate, tax partnerships, bankruptcy and
land.
Chancery
Division:
Patents
Court
The Patents Court deals with cases
concerning intellectual property, copyright,
patents and trademarks, including passing
off.

46. Family
Division:
Divisional
Court
The Divisional Court deals with all matrimonial matters,
including custody of children, parentage, adoption, family
homes, domestic violence, separation, annulment, divorce
and medical treatment declarations, and with uncontested
probate matters.
Queen’s Bench
Division
Mercantile Court
Commercial Court
Technology and
Construction Court
Admiralty Court
Administrative
Court

47. Administrative
Court
The Administrative Court hears judicial reviews, statutory appeals and
application, application for habeas corpus, and applications under the
Drug Trafficking Act 1984 and the Criminal Justice Act 1988. It also
oversees the legality of decisions and actions of inferior courts and
tribunals, local authorities, Ministers of the Crown, and other public
bodies and officials.
Commercial
Court
The Commercial Court deals with cases arising from national and
international business disputes, including international trade, banking,
commodities, and arbitration disputes.
Mercantile
Court
The Mercantile Court deals with national and international business
disputes that involve claims of lesser value and complexity than those
heard by the Commercial Court.
Technology &
Construction
Court
The Technology and Construction Court is a specialist court that deals
principally with technology and construction disputes that involve issues
or questions which are technically complex, and with cases where a trial
by a specialist TCC judge is desirable.
Admiralty
Court
The Admiralty Court of the Queen’s Bench Division deals with shipping
and maritime disputes, including collisions, salvage, carriage of cargo,
limitation, and mortgage disputes. The Court can arrest vessels and
cargoes and sell them within the jurisdiction of England and Wales.

48. County Courts Crown Court
 The County Courts deal with all except
the most complicated and the most
simple civil cases (including most
matters under the value of £5000), such
as claims for repayment of debts,
breach of contract involving goods or
property, personal injury, family issues
(including adoption and divorce),
housing issues (including recovery of
mortgage and rent arrears, and re-
possession), and enforcement of
previous County Court judgments.
 Cases are heard by a judge, without a
jury. Decisions of the County Courts
may be appealed to the appropriate
Division of the High Court.
 The Crown Court deals with indictable
criminal cases that have been
transferred from the Magistrates’ Courts,
including hearing of serious criminal
cases (such as murder, rape and
robbery), cases sent for sentencing, and
appeals.
 Cases are heard by a judge and a jury.
 Decisions of the Crown Court may be
appealed to the Criminal Division of the
Court of Appeal.

49. Magistrates’ Courts Tribunals Service
 The Magistrates’ Courts deal with
criminal cases and committals to
the Crown Court, with simple civil
cases including family proceedings
courts and youth courts, and with
licensing of betting, gaming and
liquor.
 Cases are normally heard by either
a panel of 3 magistrates or by a
District Judge, without a jury.
 Criminal decisions of the
Magistrates’ Courts may be
appealed to the Crown Court.
 Civil decisions may be appealed to
the County Courts.
 The Tribunals Service makes
decisions on matters including
asylum, immigration, criminal
injuries compensation, social
security, education, employment,
child support, pensions, tax and
lands.
 Decisions of the Tribunals Service
may be appealed to the appropriate
Division of the High Court.