Uk Monarchy Notion L2 Lvl Medium

Notion : Uk monarchy

Parliamentary sovereignty:

- Thanks to the core constitutional principal of “parliamentary sovereignty”, the Parliament possesses the authority to make its own laws, repeal those laws passed by previous Parliaments that prevent the new elected parliament from being bound by the actions of a predecessor-government.

Members of both houses enjoy the protection of parliamentary privilege like the freedom of speech during debates.

- The UK Parliament consists of the Monarch and a bicameral body comprising the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Both Houses have similar functions, making and passing laws and checking the work of the government and debating current issues. The successive acts of parliaments have given supremacy to the commons which is now by far the more powerful of the two chambers.

Every year, in the House of Lords during the annual state opening of parliament, the monarch reads a speech written by the prime minister and outlines the government’s policies and proposed new legislation. Mps and lords start examining and debating the speech and look at specific policy issues or legislation before introducing new bills.

House of Commons:

- Has 650 members called members of parliament, they all belong to a political party. Each MP must represent a constituency in the house. MPS are elected for 5 years according to the first past the post principle: the candidate with the most votes is elected even if he does not achieve a simple majority. If an MP’s seat become vacant, a by election will be organised in their constituency to elect a new one.

- MPs choose the speaker by voting in a secret ballot until the candidate gets fifty percent of the vote. He must remain impartial, keeps order and call MPS to speak and take part in the debate.

MPs are seated in a very specific way in the House. The Pm and his government are seated on the right hand side of the speaker with the frontbenchers (mps belonging to the cabinet) and backbenchers who sit on the benches behind because they don’t hold any official position in the government.

- The queen can request the dissolution of parliament for two reasons: if the majority of the house does not vote a motion of confidence to support the government, or if a motion for a general election is agreed by 2/3 of the total number of seats on the commons.

House of Lords:

Lords are not elected by UK citizens and they don’t represent constituency. Composed of 26 lords spiritual, and 692 lords temporal (600 appointed for life by the Queen on the advice of the PM and 92 elected hereditary peers). Most of lords are independent crossbenchers (they belong to no particular party), that is why the House of Lords is regarded as a more independent chamber than the Commons. The lord speaker’s main duty is to represent the house and speak ceremonial occasions.

Monarchy:

- The monarchy of the UK is a constitutional one. So the monarch is meant to be a non-partisan figure but with ceremonial, representation and diplomatic functions. Various oppositions between the monarch and parliament have brought a decrease in royal prerogatives. The monarch’s powers have been curtailed even if the monarch

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