1. UNITED KINGDOM
GOVERNMENT
BY J UAN ANTONIO OL I VAS GAL LARDO 1 4 2 4 1 9 8

2. THE CROWN
• The title to the Crown derives partly from statute
and partly from common law rules of descent.
Despite interruptions in the direct line of succession,
inheritance has always been the way royal power
has passed down the generations, with sons of the
sovereign coming before daughters in succeeding
to the throne.

3. • Under the Act of Settlement of 1700, only
Protestant descendants of Princess Sophia, the
Electress of Hanover (a granddaughter of James I
of England and VI of Scotland) are eligible to
succeed. The order of succession to the throne
can be altered only by common consent of the
countries of the Commonwealth of which the
monarch is sovereign.

4. THE CABINET
• The Cabinet is a formal body made up of the most
senior government ministers chosen by the prime
minister; is the committee at the center of the British
political system and the supreme decision making
body in government.

5. • Every Tuesday while Parliament is in session, the
Cabinet meets in the Cabinet room at 10
Downing Street to discuss the issues of the day.
Historically the Government Cabinets have met
in the same room since 1856, when it was
called the Council Chamber. The Prime Minister
chairs the meeting and sets its agenda; he also
decides who speaks around the Cabinet table
and sums up at the end of each item.

6. THE PRIME MINISTER.
• As head of the UK government, the Prime Minister
oversees the operation of the civil Service and
government agencies, he appoints members of the
Cabinet, and he is the main government figure in
the House of Commons.

7. • The Prime Minister’s unique position of authority
come from majority support in the House of
Commons and the power to appoint and
dismiss ministers. By modern convention, the
Prime Minister always sits in the Commons. The
Prime Minister presides over the Cabinet, he is
responsible for allocating functions among
ministers and, at regular meetings with the
Queen, he informs her of the general business
of the government.

8. THE PARLIAMENT: HOUSE OF
COMMONS AND HOUSE OF LORDS.
• The main functions of Parliament are to pass laws,
to finance through taxation the work of
government, to scrutinize government policy and
administration, including proposals for expenditure,
and to debate the major issues of the day.

9. The parliament consists of two chambers, one
known as the House of Commons consists of 659
members elected by universal suffrage and free,
which are responsible for representing all the
districts of the kingdom, the second is the famous
House of Lords, where there are about 733
members, among which there is a division between
the Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual as this also
part 24 bishops and archbishops of York and
Canterbury.

10. • The Westminster Parliament still has UK wide
responsibility in a number of areas including
defense, foreign affairs, economic and
monetary policy, social security, employment,
and equal opportunities.