For Dummies - British Politics & the Monarchy

Mixing withthe MonarchyTHE MAIN POWERS OF THE MONARCH

The monarchy has been of crucialimportance in British history,and while its power has beenreduced, modern monarchs still have their role to play in British life and politics.

Opening andDissolving ParliamentThe monarch opens the Parliamentceremony with a speech outlining

the upcoming session.

While public business may notoccur before the speech is read by the monarch, the monarch does not actually write the speech; the government does.

Appointing thePrime Minister

As head of the UK government,the prime minister is responsible forgovernment policies and appointing other members of the government.

The power to appoint the primeminister sounds great, but it’s aconstitutional convention that the monarch must appoint theleader of the biggest party inthe House of Commons.

Giving Consent to Bills Passed By Parliament

Without this consent a billcan’t become law.

Under a convention of the UK’sunwritten constitution, themonarch must always take theadvice of their ministers—that is, the elected government.

Appointing Bishops and Members of the

House of LordsMembers of the House of Lordshear bills that are introduced tothe upper house of Parliament.

The power to appoint membersof the House of Lords iscurtailed by the fact that themonarch only does so inaccordance with the adviceof the prime minister.

The monarch appearsto have a lot of power,but in reality it’s largely ceremonial.

Want to learn more about how the Governmentand Monarch work together in British Politics?

Check out http://bit.ly/BritishPoliticsFD.

Want to learn more about how the Governmentand Monarch work together in British Politics?

Check out http://bit.ly/BritishPoliticsFD.