Parliament of Uk

Parliament

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Introduction

The parliament of UK is composed of two houses. The House of Lords (Lord Speaker is Baroness Hayman since May 2006) and the House of Commons (Speaker of the House of Commons is John Bercow since June 2009). The parliament meets at the Palace of Westminster in London and is composed of 1 436 members (786 Peers and 650 MPs). The emblem is the Crowned Portcullis.

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Privileges

House is the guardian of its privileges. They are 3 principals which are the Freedom of speech in debate, Freedom from arrest and the power to punish breaches of their privilege.

History

* 1706 treaty of Union :

* New Kingdom

* New Parliament

* Since George I : power from Sovereign -> Parliament

* 1801 : merger of Great Britain & Ireland

* House of Lords > House of Commons:

* Antiquated electoral system

* rotten borough

* 1832 Reform Act : regularisation of electoral system

* 20th century : House of Commons supremacy

* 1922 :

* Irish Free State independent

* Parliament of the UK of Great Britain & Nothern Ireland

Procedure

It begins with the Oaths of allegiance which are a promise to be loyal to the monarch. Then, this is what is called « The State Opening » consisting of :

* Speech from The Throne : the Government’s agenda for the year

* Address in Reply to Her Majesty’s Gracious Speech : indication of independence from the Crown

The end of a session is called a Prorogation.

A parliament is elected for 5 years maximum since 1911 and comes to an end either by the command of the Sovereign or by effluxion of time. A dissolution can be done by the Sovereign always on Prime Minister advice either because the time is politically advantageous to his/her party or because the Prime minister lost the support of the House of Commons.

Relationship with the government...