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England's politics are the bulk of the wider politics of the United Kingdom. Given that England has a larger population than all of the other constituent countries in the United Kingdom combined. In 1066, William of Normandy brought the concepts which would one day morph into the parliamentary system. He secured the advice of what was essentially a council of his tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before he made any laws. In 1215, King John of England agreed to the Magna Carta, which gave the people freedoms and protections which were to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. The first elected Parliament was convened in 1265, and the so-called "Model Parliament" was adopted in 1295. And by 1284, the beginning of King Edward II, Parliament had been broken in to two houses.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of the government of the UK. He or she is ex officio the First Lord of the Treasury as well as the Minister for the Civil Service, chairs Cabinet meetings, and acts as the public face as well as the voice of the Monarch's government at home as well as abroad.The office of the Prime Minister was not established by the constitution or by statute. Instead, it is a long-established tradition which dictates that he Monarch appoints the Prime Minister, and that he or she must be the person who is most likely to garner the confidence of the House of Commons. Typically, this is the leader of a political party or a coalition of various parties. Along with the Cabinet members, the Prime Minister are collectively accountable to the Monarch, to Parliament, to their parties, and finally to the electorate for both their actions and policies. The Prime Minister lives in the residence at 10 Downing Street during the term in office.

The Parliament of the United Kingdom, which is also called either the UK Parliament or British Parliament, is situated at Westminster in London. It is the highest legislature of the United Kingdom, overseas territories, and Crown dependencies and as such, it has power over all other political bodies in the United Kingdom and the territories. The head of Parliament is the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, meaning the reigning British monarch. So, at this time, Queen Elizabeth II is the Sovereign of the UK. Its seat is in the Palace of Westminster in London.

Parliament is bicameral, meaning there are two houses which make up the body. The first is the upper house, called the House of Lords. The House of Lords has two different kinds of members: the Lords Spiritual, which consists of the Church of England's most senior bishops, and the Lords Temporal, which is made up of life peers, members of the peerage who, rather than inheriting their titles, are appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister. The second kind of Lords Temporal are 92 hereditary peers who either hold royal office or are elected by their fellow hereditary peers. Until the establishment of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the House of Lords performed many of the judicial tasks which are now covered by the Supreme Court. Although these functions were technically borne by the Queen-in-Parliament and delegated to the lords who were legally qualified. Among these tasks were impeachment cases, being the court of first instance for trials of peers, and functioning as the court of last resort in the United Kingdom.

The second house is the lower house, called the House of Commons. This house is made up of 650 elected members. Elections for seats in the House of Commons are held at least every five years. The Parliament is dissolved 25 business days before election day. (Until 2015, the length of time prior to election day was 17 days.) Once Parliament is dissolved, members cease to be members, and once the Prime Minister announces the dissolution, now-former members of Parliament may not enter the Palace of Westminster.

 

 

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