General Information » Economy » Government & Politics

Britain is a constitutional monarchy, whereby the monarch acts as head of state while an elected parliament makes and passes legislation. The present sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II, who has held the throne since 1952 when she succeeded her father, George VI. The heir is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest of the Queen and Prince Philip’s four children. The Queen is also head of state of the 15 other Commonwealth Realm countries, which include Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and 14 overseas territories, as well as being head of the Commonwealth. The monarch’s powers may appear to be significant but they don’t hold much weight in terms of law or policy making; ambassadorial duties and providing fodder for tabloid stories are the royal family’s principal public roles today.



XXX L 4 XXX Parliament and the Prime Minister

The Queen generally acts on the advice of the prime minister, whose party is democratically elected every four or five years by the public. The current ruling party is Labour, which has been in power since 1997. Tony Blair is party leader, and therefore prime minister, although he has indicated he will hand over leadership within the party in 2007 (the open secret is that this will be to the present chancellor, Gordon Brown). Parties gain power by having a majority of representatives elected by the public to sit in the House of Commons as members of parliament (MPs) for local constituencies – at the last general election, in 2005, Labour retained power by winning 355 ’seats’, compared with the Conservative party’s 197 and the Liberal Democrats’ 62. There is a second chamber of parliament, the House of Lords, which studies legislation passed by the Commons and is also the highest court of appeal in the UK. Unlike the Commons, the House of Lords is not democratically elected; its members are appointed by the Queen, Church of England, or internal elections.



XXX L 4 XXX The Mayor

Greater London is divided into 74 local constituencies, with an MP representing each one in the House of Commons. The city also has its own administration, which is coordinated by the Greater London Authority (GLA). The principal figure of the GLA is a mayor, who is democratically elected every four years and has executive powers covering London’s planning, transport, policing, economic development and cultural activities. The London Assembly, also part of the GLA and elected by the public, has the authority to approve and question various elements of the mayor’s work.

The GLA was formed in 2000, 16 years after Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher abolished the largely left-wing Greater London...