Parliament of Great Britain

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a parliamentary monarchy. The Parliament consists of two Houses: the House of Commons, having 630 members and the House of Lords with approximately 800 peers.

That party which obtains the majority of seats in the House is called the Government, and the others – the Opposition.

The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the party that has a majority in the House of Commons. All the affairs of the state are conducted in the name of the Queen (or King), But it is the Prime Minister who is the ruler of the country, presiding over the meetings of the Cabinet, which are always secret. The Cabinet consists of the Primer Minister and ministers.

People outside Great Britain believe that if a man is elected to sit in Parliament, he ought to have a seat. The new House of Commons, built after the war instead of the bombed one, has, however, seats for only two-thirds of its 630 members.

Only four members of the House of Commons have reserved seats. One, of course, is the Speaker. Another is the member who has sat in the House for the longest unbroken period, the member who is know as “the Father of the House of Commons". The other two reserved seats are for the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

Any M.P. may introduce a bill to the Parliament. Every bill has three readings: at first in the House of Commons. There is no debate allowed after the first reading. After the second reading there may be a discussion. The speaker calls upon different members who are eager to speak. All speeches are addressed to him, beginning with “Mr. Speaker, sir”.

After the discussion the members have to leave (must) their benches and walk out into two corridors (called the Lobbies), to show which way they are voting. As they pass out they are counted by four persons - two for each side - and it may take ten or fifteen minutes before the Speaker reads out the results of the voting.

After the third reading the bill goes before the House of Lords. If the Lords agree to the bill, it will be placed before the Queen for signature. The Queen, having signed it, it becomes an Act of Parliament.