British Politics - Pt.3

Everything I've forgotten, plus a few other bits.

As I'm sure you're aware, our Prime Minister, or PM, is the Conservative, Theresa May.
She got the top job after David Cameron stepped down, following the public's decision to 'leave' in the EU referendum. Normally, to find a new party leader/PM, there is a formal election process; the candidates campaign across the party, then all members are allowed to vote for their choice.

Crabb (top left), Gove (bottom left) May (bottom middle),
Fox (bottom right), and Leadsom (top right). Lovely door for sale (top middle).

However, in the running for the PM everyone just sort of dropped out, or was eliminated, way before the elctions. Boris Johnson (a favoured candidate) withdrew before it even started; his political ally Michael Gove declared his intention to compete against him. Liam Fox was eliminated as he didn't have enough support, then Stephen Crabb withdrew. Gove was eliminated in the second round- he didn't have enough supporters either - leaving just Andrea Leadsom and Theresa May. The media put a lot of pressure on Leadsom after she made some controversial remarks, and she pulled out too. This led to May, the only competitor left, being chosen as PM. All this happened in the space of 17 days.

The 2015 election results. The conservatives have
a slim majority.

Normally, however, a Prime Minister becomes a Prime Minister through a General Election - when every registered voter has one vote to choose the person that they want to represent their area and become an MP (although most voters just vote for an MP depending on which party they're part of).


The country is split into 650 zones, called constituencies, and each one is represented by an MP. If the UKIP candidate wanted to become Prime Minister (you see the joke I made there?), they would have to have the majority of constituencies (326) so that they can vote new laws through Parliament.

In the 2015 General Election, the Conservatives won outright, but with a slender majority. This means that if some Conservative MPs oppose a bill, it only takes a few of them voting with opposition MPs to stop it being passed. (Remember, everyone in Parliament can vote on a law, and Labour and Conservatives normally vote against each other).

But...and here's the clincher...what if you don't win a majority?

He (on the right) is Nick Clegg, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats. On the left, as I hope you'd know, is David Cameron; the former Conservative leader and ex-PM.

The problem?

In the 2010 election, there was a 'Hung Parliament'. This is when no party has a clear majority because the votes are so widely distributed. No-one could legally form a government, and if a solution wasn't found then there would be repeated elections until a majority was reached.

The solution?

The Conservatives had the most votes, (307)  and if they could ally with another smaller party - say, the Liberal Democrats - they'd have a majority. This is known as a 'Coalition' and it last happened in WWII. The Lib Dems had 57 seats; it could work. But Labour were sniffing around, and were open to allying with SNP (Scottish National Party) and the Lib Dems - this would've given them a majority too.

And?

It took just four days to thrash out a deal with the Tories; Labour's leader, Gordon Brown, wasn't desirable for the Lib Dems.  A few minor pledges had to be dropped, but negotiations were largely peaceful and set the tone for the five years to come, and I can now stop writing.


And that brings us full circle! Kind of. Hopefully. Potentially.

Ideally, you now know Britain's main political parties, how Parliament functions, and the way elections work. You can talk at length about UKIP's shortcomings *cough* of which there are many *cough*, discuss the intricacies of passing law, and question Theresa May's legitimacy as Prime Minister.


As always, give improvements, suggestions, or ideas in the comments below. After Christmas, we'll be looking at war in Yemen. Not strictly political, but then again, neither is Donald Trump.

Merry Christmas!

British Politics - Pt.2

We more or less covered the parties last time, so let's see where and how they actually operate.

British Parliament for dummies.



The Houses of Parliament on the banks of the Thames

This (on the right) is the Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster. It's a set of buildings on the North Bank of the River Thames, in the centre of London.

The Houses of Parliament is where the Government (the political party with the most MPs*) and the 'opposition' operates. Parliament itself is the various groups and bodies that try to pass laws, or oppose them, and create a democratic way of running a country. Basically, the Government is within Parliament. It's where new proposals are debated, laws are passed, and the Government's actions are challenged. War is declared within those chambers. So how does it all work?



An empty House of Commons - there's more seats upstairs.

First, we have the House of Commons, which is where MPs meet and discuss laws, as well as vote on them or challenge them. Each MP has one vote, and they generally vote depending on what their party believes, i.e. Conservative leaders might ask their MPs to vote in favour of raising the minimum wage (although they are allowed to refuse and vote differently). If a law is passed through here, it then goes to the House of Lords.




The House of Lords is the second chamber, and its main task is examining laws passed by the Commons. It contains around 800 members, who are mostly hand-picked for their knowledge of law, business, society etc. It also contains Bishops and hereditary peers (their parents were Lords and passed the title down to them) They are required to examine the law in physical form and check for errors and loopholes, as well as challenging the government about anything questionable.

A law can be stopped and returned to the House of Commons, if the members feel that it needs improvement.


House of Lords on a quiet day

The third stage of Parliament is the Monarch (i.e. the Queen). She mainly has a ceremonial role, meeting the Prime Minister once a week to discuss various affairs, and officially approving laws - which she must do. (Although if she feels that a law will cause harm to Britain, or isn't justified, she may object). Once she approves a law, it becomes legally binding, and the government can begin to implement it.

There we go, the British Parliament in a nutshell! I know there's probably still some gaps, but hopefully we'll cover those off in the third and last post of this series - coming soon (hopefully before Christmas). 

Also, check out Joel's film blog, I don't have the link, but it's on some of my other posts at the bottom. He's started a sweet little 'Thursday rant' section, where he discusses all sorts of things. It's actually rather good.


*MPs: the person, often from a certain party, that an area chooses to represent their people's interests in Parliament. All of the 650 MPs can vote once on each law, often voting how their party wants them to vote.

British Politics - Pt.1

British Government is a little bewildering, so I'll try and explain everything in a few short posts. It makes it much easier for you to understand what I'm on about, especially as I'll be trying to stay in UK politics for a while. Here's an overview of how Britain works:

Parties

There are three or four main political groups, or 'parties', in the UK. They all have different views and aims, depending on how they feel the country should be managed. They are the:

• Conservatives - the people currently in charge (they pass laws, have the biggest vote on those laws, and represent the UK overseas). They like to encourage small businesses, a disciplined community, and they prefer low tax rates. They're sometimes called the 'Tories'

• Labour - currently the main 'opposition' party (they frequently challenge the Conservatives, and can also vote on laws, but can't pass them) They want to be much more involved with the people, encourage a more liberal community and that tax must change depending on how much money you make.

• Liberal Democrats - A previously large party, but they lost a lot of 'seats' (the areas that vote you into parliament) in the 2015 election. They campaign for personal freedom, as well as investment into key services. They are reluctant to get directly involved with smaller companies.

• UKIP - a more recent party that have campaigned strongly for the UK to leave the European Union (which is a group of European nations encouraging friendly relations and more open borders). They want  a much tighter immigration system, greater transparency in Parliament, and a single tax level for everyone. They're called all sorts of things, but don't really care.

Yep. That's it! Pt. 2 will be around soon. Please comment what you want me to cover after I finish these info blogs - see you soon!