The United Kingdom is a unitary governed within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is the head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government.
The British Parliament or Parliament, is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. Its head is the Sovereign of the United Kingdom (currently Queen Elizabeth II) and its seat is the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, located in Greater London.
The parliament is bicameral, consisting of an upper house (the House of Lords) and a lower house (the House of Commons). The Sovereign forms the third component of the legislature (the Queen-in-Parliament). The House of Lords includes two different types of members: the Lords Spiritual, consisting of the most senior bishops of the Church of England, and the Lords Temporal, consisting of members of the peerage and life peers who are appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister. Prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009, the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords.
The House of Commons is a democratically elected chamber with elections held at least every five years. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster (commonly known as the Houses of Parliament) in London. By constitutional convention, all government ministers, including the Prime Minister, are members of the House of Commons. The House is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected to represent constituencies by first-past-the-post and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved. The MPs are elected by the popular vote of citizens age 18 and over. The Prime Minister is actually a member of the House of Commons, too.
Each Member of Parliament represents a single constituency (избирательный округ).The boundaries of the constituencies are determined by four permanent and independent Boundary Commissions, one each for England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The number of constituencies assigned to the four parts of the United Kingdom is based roughly on population, but subject to certain statutory regulations.
A House of Commons of England evolved during the 13th and 14th centuries, and became the House of Commons of Great Britain after the political union with Scotland in 1707; and assumed its current title after the political union with Ireland in the 19th century.
Обстанока
The Commons chamber (палата) is small and modestly decorated in green, in contrast to the large, lavishly (обильно) furnished red Lords chamber. There are benches on two sides of the chamber, divided by a centre aisle(проход). The Speaker's chair is at one end of the Chamber; in front of it, is the Table of the House, on which the Mace (скипетр) rests. The Clerks sit at one end of the Table, close to the Speaker so that they may advise him or her on procedure when necessary. Members of the Government sit on the benches on the Speaker's right, whilst members of the Opposition occupy the benches on the Speaker's left. In front of each set of benches a red line is drawn, which members are traditionally not allowed to cross during debates. Government ministers and the leader of the Opposition and the Shadow Cabinet sit on the front rows, and are known as frontbenchers. Other members of parliament, in contrast, are known as backbenchers. Not all Members of Parliament can fit into the Chamber at the same time as it only has space to seat 427 of the 650 members. Members who arrive late must stand near the entrance of the House if they wish to listen to debates.
Процедура сессий
Each year, the parliamentary session begins with the State Opening of Parliament, a ceremony in the Lords Chamber during which the Sovereign, in the presence of Members of both Houses, delivers an address outlining the Government's legislative agenda. During debates, Members may speak only if called upon by the Speaker. The Standing Orders of the House of Commons do not establish any formal time limits for debates. When the debate concludes, or when the Closure is invoked, the motion in question is put to a vote. The House first votes by voice vote; the Speaker or Deputy Speaker puts the question, and Members respond either "Aye" (in favour of the motion) or "No" (against the motion). The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote, but if his or her assessment is challenged by any member or the voice vote is unclear, a recorded vote known as a division follows.
Most members of the House of Lords are appointed. The membership of the House of Lords is drawn from the peerage (звание пэра - члены высшего дворянства, пользующиеся особыми политическими привилегиями.)and is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26 bishops in the established Church of England.Of the Lords Temporal, the majority are life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. However, they also include some hereditary peers including four dukes. Membership (членство)was once an entitlement of all hereditary peers (лорды), other than those in the peerage of Ireland, but under the House of Lords Act 1999, the right to membership was restricted to 92 hereditary peers. Very few of these are female since most hereditary peerages can only be inherited by men. The number of members in the House of Lords is not fixed. There are currently 801 sitting Lords.
The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It works with the House of Commons to:
- make laws
- check and challenge the actions of the government, and
- provide a forum of independent expertise
The House of Lords Chamber spends about 60% of its time on legislation; the other 40% is spent on scrutiny – questioning Government and debating issues and policy. Committee work takes place outside the Chamber.
Реформы палаты лордов – жирным шрифтом – наиболее важные для запоминания
Reform of the House of Lords is a topic of much debate. Catch up on key reform :
14 May 2014: The House of Lords Reform Act receives Royal Assent. It introduces the principle of resignation from the House of Lords, and allows for the expulsion of members in certain specified circumstances.
3 September 2012: Deputy prime minister makes a statement announcing the withdrawal of the House of Lords Reform Bill.
6 August 2012: Deputy prime minister announces that legislation to reform the House of Lords has been dropped.
July 2012: Lords library publishes note on public attitudes on Lords reform on 3 July. House of Commons debates Lords Reform Bill on 10 July and the bill is given a second reading by 462 to 124 votes. Catch up on the Commons debate on the bill.
2012: The Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill publishes its report on 23 April recommending an electoral mandate and that 80 per of members should be elected and 20 per cent nominated. Members follow the report with a debate on 30 April. The House of Lords Reform Bill is introduced in the Commons on Wednesday 27 June.
2011: Deputy Prime Minister presents Parliament with the House of Lords Reform Draft Bill in May. Read report from May 2011.
2007: The Government published its White Paper, The House of Lords: Reform, setting out the policy for a hybrid House of Lords with 50 per cent elected members and 50 per cent appointed members. In March, the House of Commons votes on the options for composition supporting an elected House of Lords. A week later the House of Lords votes on composition favouring a fully appointed House.
2002: A joint committee is appointed to consider House of Lords reform in May 2002 and reappointed at the start of the new session in November 2002. It publishes House of Lords Reform: First Report in December.
2001: The Queen confirms her intention to create 15 new non party-political House of Lords members.
2000: The independent House of Lords Appointments Commission is established to recommend and approve suitable candidates for membership.
1999: The House of Lords Act receives Royal Assent, reducing the number of hereditary peers by more than 600 and freezing the number which remains at 92 until further reform.
1997: After the general election, the Labour government announces a bill to remove the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House as ‘the first stage in a process of reform’.
1978: A committee chaired by Lord Home of the Hirsel proposes a chamber in which two-thirds of members would ultimately be elected and one-third appointed, but reform is not pursued.
1968 and 1969: A White Paper, House of Lords Reform and a Parliament (No.2) Bill proposing new roles for members are abandoned by the prime minister after debate in both Houses.
1963: The Peerages Act is introduced making it possible for hereditary peeresses and all Scottish peers to sit in the House and for Lords to surrender their peerages.
1958: Peers who do not or are unable to attend the House can apply for ‘leave of absence’ from this date. The Macmillan government initiates the Life Peerages Act 1958, giving the crown authority to create life peers (including women members for the first time), who can sit and vote in the House and whose peerages expire on death.
1949: The Parliament Act, dealing with the powers of the Lords, becomes law and updates the terms of the 1911 Act with regards to vetoing bills.
1929-1935: Various private members bills covering life peerage are introduced and withdrawn.
Early 1920s: The King mentions reform in three consecutive speeches. The government then puts forward resolutions including that ‘hereditary peers be elected by their own order’ in 1922. The debate is adjourned and never resumed. Similar proposals are put forward and rejected in 1927.
1918: The Bryce Report outlines proposals for functions and structure of the House, including the examination and revision of bills and general questions of policy. No action is taken as the government is preoccupied with World War I at the time.
1911: The Leader of the Opposition proposes that members be indirectly elected in a bill which is later dropped. The Parliament Act 1911 is introduced to enable the Commons to pass money bills and public bills.
1910: The new Liberal government proposes a ‘strong and efficient second chamber’, but fails to make agreements on the degree of power.
1907: The Rosebery Report makes recommendations on how peers should be selected in the Lords. No action is taken on the report.
End of 19th century: The House of Lords is represented by hereditary peers, representative peers for Scotland and Ireland, noblemen, bishops and lords of appeal.
1893: Gladstone’s Home Rule Bill defeat is attributed to ‘political imbalance’ in the House.
1886 and 1888: The Commons debates the hereditary right to sit in the Lords.
18th century: A single UK Parliament is established.
The UK political system is a multi-party system. Since the 1920s, the two largest political participation have been the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Before the Labour Party rose in British politics, the Liberal Party was the other major political party along with the Conservatives.
