Britain is a monarchy. The queen or king is officially the head of Parliament but it is the Government that rules the country. The Government is split into two 'houses', the House of Commons and the House of Lords. It is the House of Commons that decides on laws and policies. Politicians form political parties, these are groups of people who have similar ideas about how the country should be run. The number and names of the parties change over time, for example, the party that was called the Whigs (pronounced wigs) in the nineteenth century is now called the Liberal Democrats. The... Show more Britain is a monarchy. The queen or king is officially the head of Parliament but it is the Government that rules the country. The Government is split into two 'houses', the House of Commons and the House of Lords. It is the House of Commons that decides on laws and policies. Politicians form political parties, these are groups of people who have similar ideas about how the country should be run. The number and names of the parties change over time, for example, the party that was called the Whigs (pronounced wigs) in the nineteenth century is now called the Liberal Democrats. The politicians who make up the Government are called MPs, which stands for Members of Parliament. Each MP represents a community which is called their constituency. Normally, an MP belongs to a political party, but those who don't are called independent MPs. At the moment, there are six hundred and fifty constituencies in Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England so there are six hundred and fifty MPs. The Government is led by the Prime Minister who is the leader of the party that has the largest number of MPs. Occasionally, one party only has a small majority. When this happens, they can join together with another party to form a Coalition Government. The Government cannot run the day-to-day services like refuse collection, road mending etc. in counties and towns. These are managed by local governments which are usually referred to as councils or local authorities. The full, formal style and title of the House of Commons is 'The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled', which is a bit of a mouthful! A Parliament is the period of time between general elections. It is split into sessions. Sessions don't have a fixed length but they usually last a year, from one spring to the next spring. During each session, there are breaks (called recesses). In between these breaks, we say that Parliament is sitting. A sitting is a meeting of the House of Commons (or the House of Lords). The Speaker of the House of Commons chairs the debates between the MPs. There are four Great Offices in a Parliament. They are the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary. Soon after a general election, the Prime Minister selects some MPs from their political party to form the Cabinet. These MPs are responsible for different government departments. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is in charge of the finances and, every year, must deliver the Budget. This is broadcast publicly so that the electorate (people who can vote) and anyone else can find out what changes the Government will make to taxes, allowances and government spending. Beginnings: On 4 June 1913, Emily Davison tried to stop the King's racehorse at the Epsom Derby. There was not enough time for the jockey to avoid hitting her and she died a few days later from her injuries. She did this in order to raise awareness of the suffragette movement. The word suffragette comes from suffrage which means 'the right to vote'. Women were banned from voting in elections by the Great Reform Act of 1832. By the end of the century, women had set up groups to campaign for the right to vote. These were not very effective. Then, in 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst formed The Women's Social and Political Union. They realised that they needed to be militant to be taken seriously and carried out public order offences like setting fire to post-boxes and places where wealthy men met, smashing windows, chaining themselves to railings and detonating bombs. Many of them were sent to prison. In 1918, certain women over the age of 30 were granted the right to vote and in 1928, women were finally granted the same rights as men to vote. A Parliament can last any length of time up to a maximum of five years. Parliament is officially dissolved 25 days before the general election to elect a new government. During this time, the political parties campaign for votes. They issue a manifesto which sets out their promises for what they will do if they are voted in. Members and supporters of each party canvass the public to persuade them to vote for their party. They often wear rosettes to show which party they support, for example, the Labour Party wear red ones, the Conservatives blue and the Liberal Democrats have orange rosettes. Show less
Britain is a monarchy. The queen or king is officially the head of Parliament but it is the Government that rules the country. The Government is split into two 'houses', the House of Commons and the House of Lords. It is the House of Commons that decides on laws and policies. Politicians form political parties, these are groups of people who have similar ideas about how the country should be run. The number and names of the parties change over time, for example, the party that was called the Whigs (pronounced wigs) in the nineteenth century is now called the Liberal Democrats.
The politicians who make up the Government are called MPs, which stands for Members of Parliament. Each MP represents a community which is called their constituency.
Normally, an MP belongs to a political party, but those who don't are called independent MPs. At the moment, there are six hundred and fifty constituencies in Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England so there are six hundred and fifty MPs. The Government is led by the Prime Minister who is the leader of the party that has the largest number of MPs. Occasionally, one party only has a small majority. When this happens, they can join together with another party to form a Coalition Government.
The Government cannot run the day-to-day services like refuse collection, road mending etc. in counties and towns. These are managed by local governments which are usually referred to as councils or local authorities.
The full, formal style and title of the House of Commons is 'The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled', which is a bit of a mouthful! A Parliament is the period of time between general elections. It is split into sessions. Sessions don't have a fixed length but they usually last a year, from one spring to the next spring. During each session, there are breaks (called recesses). In between these breaks, we say that Parliament is sitting. A sitting is a meeting of the House of Commons (or the House of Lords). The Speaker of the House of Commons chairs the debates between the MPs.
There are four Great Offices in a Parliament. They are the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary.
Soon after a general election, the Prime Minister selects some MPs from their political party to form the Cabinet. These MPs are responsible for different government departments. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is in charge of the finances and, every year, must deliver the Budget. This is broadcast publicly so that the electorate (people who can vote) and anyone else can find out what changes the Government will make to taxes, allowances and government spending.
Beginnings: On 4 June 1913, Emily Davison tried to stop the King's racehorse at the Epsom Derby. There was not enough time for the jockey to avoid hitting her and she died a few days later from her injuries. She did this in order to raise awareness of the suffragette movement.
The word suffragette comes from suffrage which means 'the right to vote'. Women were banned from voting in elections by the Great Reform Act of 1832. By the end of the century, women had set up groups to campaign for the right to vote. These were not very effective.
Then, in 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst formed The Women's Social and Political Union.
They realised that they needed to be militant to be taken seriously and carried out public order offences like setting fire to post-boxes and places where wealthy men met, smashing windows, chaining themselves to railings and detonating bombs. Many of them were sent to prison. In 1918, certain women over the age of 30 were granted the right to vote and in 1928, women were finally granted the same rights as men to vote.
A Parliament can last any length of time up to a maximum of five years. Parliament is officially dissolved 25 days before the general election to elect a new government. During this time, the political parties campaign for votes. They issue a manifesto which sets out their promises for what they will do if they are voted in. Members and supporters of each party canvass the public to persuade them to vote for their party. They often wear rosettes to show which party they support, for example, the Labour Party wear red ones, the Conservatives blue and the Liberal Democrats have orange rosettes.
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