Hynek Gerlich 4. A

INTRODUCTION

Country name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

UK is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system

In fact, it is a parliamentary monarchy

THE UK PARLIAMENT

The supreme body of legislatures Bicameral, consisting of the House of

Commons and the House of Lords Third component is the Queen Both Commons and Lords meet in the

Palace of Westminster in London The quasi-official emblem of the Houses

of Parliament is a crowned portcullis There also exists a devolved Scottish

Parliament and devolved Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland

HOUSE OF COMMONS

The full title: The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled

The lower house of Parliament A democratically elected body,

consisting of 650 members (known as MPs), who usually belong to a political party

HOUSE OF COMMONS

They can force a Prime Minister to resign or call elections by passing a Motion of No Confidence

Controversial and money bills originate here

The Commons have supremacy over the Lords

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Speaker: John Bercow

Leader: Sir George Young, Conservative

Shadow Leader: Angela Eagle, Labour

HOUSE OF LORDS

The upper house of Parliament Independent from the Commons Together with the Commons, they share

responsibility for making laws and checking government action

The Lord‘s veto may be overridden by the Commons

826 members currently

HOUSE OF LORDS

Two different types of membership Lords Temporal – secular members

coming from barons and baronesses, mostly life peers (only 90 hereditary), appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of a Prime Minister

Lords Spiritual – represent the Church of England and the Five Ancient Sees – currently 24 bishops of 26

HOUSE OF LORDS

Lord Speaker: Baroness D‘Souza

Leader: Lord Strathclyde, Conservative

Opposition Leader: Baroness de Royall of Blaisdon, Labour

BRITISH MONARCH

The Sovereign; "His/Her Majesty" The constitutional monarch of 16

sovereign states – Commonwealth realms

The Supreme Governor of the Church of England

The Monarch takes little direct part in the Government

SOME OF DOMESTIC POWERS OF THE MONARCH The power to dismiss and appoint a

Prime Minister The power to dismiss and appoint other

ministers The power to summon, prorogue and

dissolve Parliament The power to commission officers in the

Armed Forces The power to grant honours

FOREIGN POWERS OF THE MONARCH The power to ratify and make treaties The power to declare War and Peace The power to deploy the Armed Forces

overseas The power to recognize states The power to credit and receive

diplomats

ELIZABETH II

Elizabeth Alexandra May

Born 21 April 1926 to King George IV and to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

Coronation: 2 June 1953

Spouse: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

ELIZABETH II - ISSUE

Charles, Prince of Wales

Anne, Princess Royal

Prince Andrew, Duke of York

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex

ELECTIONS

Five types of elections in the UK Held on Election Day – Thursday General elections – must be called within

five years of the opening of Parliament Each constituency in the UK elects one

MP by the first-past-the-post system Both voters and candidates on MPs must

be over 18 years old

GENERAL ELECTIONS 2010

Were held on Thursday 6 May 2010 to elect members of the House of Commons

Took place in 650 constituencies No party gained 326 seats needed to

have a majority in Parliament The Conservatives (306 seats, 1st) made

a coalition with the Liberal Democrats (57 seats, 3rd)

The Labour Party (258 seats, 2nd) became the Official Opposition

RESULTS

MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES

Conservative Party Labour Party Liberal Democrats

CONSERVATIVE PARTY

Formally Conservative and Unionists Party Centre-right party, blue colour Emerged in 1834 of the Tory Party Ideology: British unionism, soft

eurosceptism, conservatism 177,000 members 306 Commons, 217 Lords Known members: M. Thatcher, J. Major

CONSERVATIVE PARTY

Leader: David Cameron (Prime Minister)

Co-chairman: Andrew Feldman and Sayeeda Warsi

LABOUR PARTY

Founded 1900 Centre-left party, red colours Ideology: Social Democracy 193,961 members 258 Commons, 212 Lords Known members: Clement Attlee, Tony

Blair, Gordon Brown (preceding Prime Minister)

LABOUR PARTY

Leader: Ed Miliband (Leader of the Opposition)

Deputy Leader: Harriet Harman

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

Founded 2 March 1988 Radical centre to centre-left party,

yellow colours Ideology: liberalism, social liberalism,

cultural liberalism 57 Commons, 79 Lords

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

Leader: Nick Clegg (Deputy Prime Minister)

Deputy Leader: Simon Hughes

President: Tim Farron

PARTS OF UK

England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland

ENGLAND – BASIC INFO

Capital: London (largest city) Area: 130,395 km2

Population: 51,446,000 (2008 estimated)

Language: English (official), Cornish Ethnic groups: 82,8% British, 2,7%

Indian, 1,9% Pakistani, 1,5% African Currency: Pound sterling (GBP)

ENGLAND

Flag of England – St George’s Cross

Royal Banner of England

SCOTLAND

Scottish Gaelic name: Alba Capital: Edinburgh Area: 78,387 km2

Population: 5,222,100 (2010 est.) Language: English (official), Scottish

Gaelic, Scots Ethnic groups: 89% Scottish, 7%

English, Irish, Welsh Currency: Pound sterling (GBP)

SCOTLAND

Flag of Scotland - Saint Andrew's Cross

Scottish Royal Standard - Lion Rampant of Scotland

EDINBURGH

Scottish Gaelic name: Dùn Èideann Population: 486,120 The second largest city after Glasgow Seat of the Scottish Parliament One of the historical centres of the

Enlightenment "Athens of the North" University of Edinburgh

EDINBURGH

Coat of Arms of Edinburgh

View from Calton Hill

WALES

Welsh name: Cymru Capital: Cardiff (largest city) Area: 20,799 km2

Population: 3,006,400 (2010 est.) Language: English (official), Cornish Ethnic groups: 75,4% Welsh, 20%

English, 0,8% Scottish Currency: Pound sterling (GBP)

WALES

Flag of Wales – the Welsh Dragon

Royal Badge of Wales

CARDIFF

Welsh name: Caerdydd Population: 341,054 Seat of the National Assembly for Wales Base of most national cultural and

sporting institutions Part of the Eurocities network An important port

CARDIFF

Coat of Arms of Cardiff Cardiff City Hall

NORTHERN IRELAND

Irish name: Tuaisceart Éireann, Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann

Capital: Belfast (largest city) Area: 13,843 km2

Population: 1,789,000 (2009 est.) Language: English, Irish, Ulster Scots Ethnic groups: N. I. 91%, other UK 7% Currency: Pound sterling (GBP)

NORTHERN IRELAND

Ulster BannerCoat of Arms of Northern Ireland

BELFAST

Irish: Béal Feirste Population: 267,500 Seat of the devolved government and

legislative Northern Ireland Assembly Major seaport Two airports Rope-making and shipbuilding centre

BELFAST

Coat of Arms of Belfast Belfast City Hall

QUESTIONS

What is the emblem of the Houses of Parliament?

What types of membership are in the House of Lords?

On which day are the elections held? Name some present or former

representatives of Conservative Party. Name some descendants of Elizabeth II

SOURCEShttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/maps/maptemplate_uk.htmlhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/flags/flagtemplate_uk.htmlhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_House_of_Commonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Parliament_portcullis.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_House_of_Commonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Lordshttp://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00807/SNN2009DN-280_807470a.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lords_Spiritualhttp://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/lords-by-type-and-party/http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/jan2011/3/1/lord-strathclyde-846904470.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_IIhttp://nd01.jxs.cz/876/615/a0f202f731_23681059_o2.jpghttp://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/HRH+Prince+Charles+Turns+60+vq2RkZropY1l.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_the_United_Kingdomhttp://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/electing-mps/candidates/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_general_election,_2010http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Party_(UK)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/2432632/UK-General-Election-2010-political-map.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_(UK)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b6/Conservative_logo_2006.svg/230px-

Conservative_logo_2006.svg.pnghttp://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01801/David-Cameron_1801517c.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/05/Logo_Labour_Party.svg/250px-

Logo_Labour_Party.svg.pnghttp://www.whitebunnywabbit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ed-miliband1.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Democratshttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Liberal_Democrats_Logo.svg/250px-

Liberal_Democrats_Logo.svg.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Clegg-portrait.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_anthem_of_Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_England.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Banner_of_England.svghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/United_Kingdom_labelled_map7.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Scotland.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Scotlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Standard_of_Scotlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburghhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Edinburgh-coa.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Edinburgh._View_from_Calton_Hill.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_Waleshttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Flag_of_Wales_2.svghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Royal_Badge_of_Wales_

%282008%29.svg/500px-Royal_Badge_of_Wales_%282008%29.svg.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiffhttp://www.internetbusinessdirectory.co.uk/arms/cardiff-coat-arms.jpghttp://www.europeish.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/cardiff-city-hall.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Irelandhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/

Coat_of_Arms_of_Northern_Ireland.svg/500px-Coat_of_Arms_of_Northern_Ireland.svg.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/500px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Ulster_banner.svg/500px-Ulster_banner.svg.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfasthttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Belfast_Coat_of_Arms_

%28Partial%29.svg/500px-Belfast_Coat_of_Arms_%28Partial%29.svg.pnghttp://lh4.ggpht.com/_r2lxEqiyf9Y/R9fVoClsC8I/AAAAAAAA5bQ/gpJ-wkdA3GQ/

OTHTOIE00300Belfast%20City%20Hall.jpg