Britain is the parliamentary monarchy with a Constitutional monarch – Queen Elisabeth II. The British Constitution, unlike of most other countries, is not a single document. Instead it is made up of a combination of laws and conventions. In fact, some aspects of the system are not even covered by laws, but rather by custom and practice. So it is often said that Britain has an unwritten constitution, which is a three-fold unity: 1) Statute Laws – acts of Parliament; 2) Common Law – traditional unwritten laws based on judges’ decisions (called sometimes ‘case law’) and customs; 3) Convention – generally accepted practice, i.e. rules that have developed historically. (e.g. It’s another convention that the Government must resign if denied a vote of confidence by the House of Commons)
The constitutional situation is a contradictory one. On the one hand, as a result of the historical process the people of Britain are subjects to the Crown, accepting the Queen as the head of state. On the other hand, the Queen receives her authority from Parliament, which governs the country in the Queen’s name, (although the Queen performs certain important acts of government on the advice of her ministers). Technically, British sovereignty consists of the three elements of Parliament: the Crown (the monarch) and Parliament’s two chambers (the House of Lords and the House of Commons).
The Separation of Powers. The British system of government is based on separation of powers between the legislature (законодательная власть), the executive branch (исполнительная власть) and the judiciary (судебная власть). The legal system is independent to a large degree: although the government appoints judges, it can’t interfere with their work. But the executive and the legislature are not separated at all: the former is part of the latter. The law-making body is Parliament.
Government. The executive (or the government) consists of Cabinet and government ministers headed by the Prime Minister, although formally the executive is headed by the monarch. The government is formed by the party with the majority support in the Commons. The Queen appoints its leader as Prime Minister. As head of the government the Prime Minister appoints 100 ministers, who are responsible for the government decisions. But in fact, there is a group of top 20 ministers, known as Cabinet, who, together with the PM, decide on the policies of the government. They have a rule of collective responsibility: in public they all have to agree with the decisions of the whole Cabinet. If they don’t, they have to resign.
The second largest party forms the official opposition with its own leader and the “shadow cabinet.”
The role of PM is extremely important, because he appoints all the members of the government. Much depends on the personal style of the PM.
The British executive branch is located in White Hall.
Prime Minister. The position of a British Prime Minister (PM) is in direct contrast to that of the monarch. Although the Queen appears to have a great deal of power, in reality she has very little. The PM, on the other hand, appears not to have much power but in reality has a great deal indeed. The Queen appoints Prime Minister – the leader of the party with the largest number of MPs. The traditional phrase describes him (or her) as primus inter pares (Latin for ‘first among equals). But in fact, the other ministers are not nearly as powerful and there are several reasons for it.
Firstly, the monarch’s power of patronage (i.e. the power to appoint people to all kinds of jobs and to confer honours on people) is, by convention, the PM’s powers of patronage. The Queen appoints people to government jobs ‘on advice of the Prime Minister’, which actually means that the PM simply decides. The strength of PM’s power of patronage is apparent from the modern phenomenon known as the ‘cabinet reshuffle’ (i.e. the PM’s change of some cabinet members at least once every two years).
Secondly, the reason for the PM’s dominance over other ministers is the power of the PM’s public image. The mass media has tended to make politics a matter of personalities.
Thirdly, all ministers, except the PM are kept busy looking after their government departments. They don’t have time to think about or discuss government policy as a whole. But the PM does, and the cabinet committees usually report directly to him/her, not to the cabinet as a whole. Moreover, the cabinet office is directly under the PM’s control and works in the same building. As a result, the PM knows more about what is going on than the other ministers do. As the cabinet can’t discuss all the matters, a choice of what is to be discussed is made by the PM; besides, the matters that aren’t discussed can, in fact, be decided by the PM. The convention of collective responsibility then means that the rest of the government have to go along with whatever the PM has decided.
Local Government. Local authorities have the powers and duties given to them by Parliament. They are responsible for providing housing, education, personal social services, police and fire brigades.
Monarchy. Though the strangest feature of the system is the role of the monarch, political stability owes much to the monarchy. Its continuity in over a thousand years was interrupted only once (the republic of 1649-1660). Today the Queen is not only head of State, but also an important symbol of national unity. Her royal title in Britain is: “Elisabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith” (Её Высочество Елизавета 2-я милостью божьей, Королева Соединенного королевства Великобритании и Северной Ирландии, других её владений и территорий, глава Содружества наций, защитница веры и суверенитета Британского порядка и рыцарских орденов)
In law the Queen is head of the executive branch, an integral part of the legislature, head of judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown (главнокомандующий армии) and the “supreme governor” of the established Church of England (глава церкви).
Each new law starts with the words: “Be it enacted by the Queen’s most excellent Majesty.” («постановлением Королевы – самого справедливого правителя). The Queen’s official residence is Buckingham Palace.
The Queen doesn’t participate in the everyday work of Parliament. They meet only on separate occasions such as the state opening of Parliament. The Queen’s role in legislature is only formal as the House of Commons has gained Supremacy over the House of Lords in the past centuries.
The Queen and the royal family continue to take part in many traditional ceremonies. Their visit to different parts of Britain and to many other countries attracts considerable interest and publicity, and they are also closely involved in the work of many charities.
The Queen is the second biggest landowner in the country. But the Queen is well-known for her being economical in spending money on herself. She certainly has royal clothes and jewellery, as the royal etiquette demands, but in everyday life she dresses in a very simple way. It is said that no other British monarch could compete with her in this respect. British people adore their queen and respect her very much.
Political Party System. It is an essential element in the working of the constitution. Although the parties are not formally recognized by law, in practice, most candidates in elections belong to one of the main parties. For the past 250 years Britain has had a two-party system. The two parties are the Conservative Party (their nickname is the Tory) and the Labour Party. A number of other smaller parties are also represented in parliament, and they are also represented in local government.
The Labour Party was formed in the early 20th century by James Hardy. It takes its origin in the Trade Union Congress movement for the working class representation in Parliament. It is the party of social reforms and justice. It has a record of some very significant achievements: the National Health Service, National Insurance for pensions and benefits, the Race Relation Acts, equal pay to women, safety at work legislations, and a minimum wage.
The Conservative Party has a longer history than Labour, as it was formed in the 1830s by Robert Peel. The first Prime Minister was Benjamin Disraeli, who is said to have shaped modern conservatism. Originally it was the party of Church, aristocrats and landowning gentry (which is considered as the Right). They have always been
supporters of the status quo, of tradition and hierarchy, of wealth and power, as well as the commercial middle classes.
The Smaller Parties. The largest of the minority parties is the Liberal Democrats, who originate from the Liberal Party, which formed the government for much of the 19th century, but since 1914 was replaced by the Labour Party. They pursue the policy of capitalism but with good social services and strong local government, which becomes more and more popular, but they rarely succeed in elections because of the dominant two main parties. Consequently, much of their energy has been devoted to campaigning for proportional representation – PR.
The British Green Party has little chance of getting elected under the present system either, but they aim at PR as well, because green issues are likely to be ever more important as political actions, for such challenges as climate change and nuclear waste, as well as testing, production and sales of modified food keep returning to the political arena.
The main parties are also challenged by nationalist parties – Plaid Cymry [ˌplaɪd ˡkʌmrɪ] (the Welsh nationalist party which is for a separate Welsh state and more use of the Welsh language) and the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) (which also is for autonomy). As a result of their activity the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly were established.
In Northern Ireland the parties are split on religious grounds – the opposition between Catholics and Protestants. The Social Democratic and Labour Party and the paramilitary Irish Republican Army are in favour of a united Ireland (i.e. they want Northern Ireland to become part of the Irish Republic). Their opponents are the numerous Protestant parties including the Ulster Unionists and the Democratic Unionist Party, who want to keep Northern Ireland in the UK.
