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The Major Political Parties
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British parliamentary democracy has traditionally been dominated by the two-party system, with two main parties forming the government and the official Opposition. Over the years these have been Whigs and Tories, i.e. Liberals and Conservatives and, since the development of the Labour Party at the beginning of the 20th century, Labour and Conservatives. A number of other parties have also won seats in Parliament.
Nowadays there are three major national political parties in the United Kingdom. They are:
- The Labour Party
- The Conservative Party
- The Liberal Democrats.
Observe the topic about UK government and UK Parliament
9. Complete the following text with the verbs from the box, using them in the appropriate form (active or passive).
| Form; determine; govern; support; become; appoint; exercise(2) |
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy. This means that Great Britain (1) is governed by Parliament and the Queen is Head of State.
The legislative power in the country (2) … by the House of Parliament. The British parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The executive power (3) … by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The government (4) … usually … by the political party which (5) … by the majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister is the majority party leader and (6) … by the Queen. The Prime Minister chooses a team of ministers; twenty of the ministers are in the Cabinet.
The second largest party (7) … the official opposition with its own leader and the Shadow Cabinet. The two leading parties in Great Britain are the Conservative Party (the Tories) and the Labour Party.
The judiciary branch of the government (8) … common law and is independent of both the legislative and the executive branches.
There is no written constitution in Great Britain, only precedents and traditions.
10. Choose the right answer:
1. The Chairman in the House of Commons of Great Britain is the …
a)Clerk of the House; b) Lord Chancellor; c) Prime Minister; d) Speaker;
2. The collective decision making body of Her Majesty’s Government in the UK, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers is called ---
a) the British Parliament; b) the Shadow Cabinet; c) the Cabinet; d) Ministry of Justice of the UK
3. A British Prime Minister know chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II is …
a) Frankling Roosevelt
b) Clement Richard Attlee
c) James Gordon Brown
d) Sir Winston Leonard Spencer – Churchill
4. The term of the … has a maximum duration of five years
a ) Parliament of New Zealand
b) United States Congress
c) Parliament of Australia
d) British Parliament
5. The leader of the party that has a majority in the House of Commons
a) Lord Chancellor; b) Prime Minister; c) Speaker; d)Her Majesty
6. The highest judicial body in the English judicial system is …
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a) House of Lords; b) British Parliament; c) the Cabinet; d) Ministry of Justice of the UK
7. The powers of Queen are limited by …
a) House of Commons; b) the Cabinet; c) Parliament; d) the Shadow Cabinet
8. The Prime Minister usually takes policy decisions with the agreement of his …
a) Cabinet; b) Lord Chancellor; c) House of Commons; d) Parliament
9. The … is technically appointed by the Monarch
a) Speaker; b) Minister of Justice; c)Home officer; d) Prime Minister
10. The … is composed of hereditary and life peers and peeresses
a ) House of Lords; b) House of Commons; c) Parliament; d)Home Office.
11. Complete the following text with the words and expressions from the box.
| Proportional representation; polling day; by-election Member of Parliament; canvassing; eligible; Call an election; secret ballot; campaigns; House of Commons; constituents; turn-out. Stand for election; constituencies; General Election polling stations |
Middleford Election Result. No. of registered voters: 100,000
Mr. G. Smith (Labour) 30,000 votes
Mrs. R. Green (Conservative) 25,000 votes
Miss L. Jones (Independent) 10,000 votes
Mr. W. Woods (Communist) 5,000 votes
A (a)________ has just taken place all over the United Kingdom, These must take place every five years unless the Prime Minister decides to (b)___________ earlier. Above is the result in Middleford, one of the approximately 650 (c)__________ into which the country is divided for this purpose. (d)_________ was last Thursday, when the election (e)_________ and door-to-door (f) stopped and the people of Middleford went to the (g)__________ to make their choice, in a (h)_________, from the four candidates (anyone over the age of 21 can (i)__________.Voting is not compulsory and the number of people (j)_________ to vote in Middleford (everyone over 18) was 100,000, so the (k)_________was 70 per cent. Now Mr. Smith will become the (l)_________ for Middleford, which means he will represent the people of Middleford in the (m)________ in London. If he should die or be forced to give up his seat, the people of Middleford will have to vote again, in a (n)_________ to replace him. It is a very simple system and Mr. Smith will try to represent all his (o)________ fairly, whether they voted for him or not. However, the fact remains that most voters in Middleford voted for candidates (and parties) other than Mr. Smith, and their votes are now lost. It is seats which are important in Parliament, not votes, and it is easy to see why smaller parties would like a system of (p)___________, in which the number of votes they won was reflected in the number of seats they received in Parliament.
Complete the following text with the words and expressions from the box.
The House of Commons
| Cabinet; benches; Foreign Secretary; Bask benchers; Budget; Shadow Cabinet; Prime Minister; Speaker; Home Secretary; Ministers; Front bench; Leader of the Opposition; Debates; Opposition; Chancellor of the Exchange |
This is the House of Commons, where Members of Parliament take their seats on the green leather (a)________according to their party and position. One of them is chosen to be the (b)________, who acts as a kind of chairman of the (c)_________ which take place in the House. In from of him on his right sit the MPs of the biggest party, which forms the government, and facing them sit the MPs of the parties who oppose them, the (d)___________. The leaders of these two groups sit at the front on each side. MPs without special positions in their parties sit behind their parties sit behind their leaders at the back. They are called (e)____________.
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The leader of government, the (f)____________, sits on the government (g)______, of course, next to his or her (h)___________. The most important of these form the (i)______________. The minister responsible for relations with other countries is called the (j)___________. The one responsible for law and security is called the (k)____________. The one who deals with financial matters and prepares the annual (i)__________ speech on the economic state of the country is called the (m)____________. Opposite this group sits the (n)________ (the main person in the largest party opposing the government) and the (o)__________, each member of which specializes in a particular area of government.
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