The United Kingdom

UK parliament• House of Commons

The UK public elects 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent their interests and concerns in the House of Commons. MPs consider and propose new laws, and can scrutinize government policies by asking ministers questions about current issues either in the Commons Chamber or in Committees.

• House of Lords The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It is independent from, and complements the work of the House of Commons. Members of the Lords play a vital role making laws and keeping a check on government.

Government & Opposition

House of Commons Library

• The House of Commons Library provides research, analysis and information services for MPs and their staff. It is part of the Department of Information Services.

Members of Parliament

All-Party Groups (APGs) are informal cross-party groups that have no official status within Parliament. They are essentially run by and for Members of the Commons and Lords.

UK parties•Labour Party •Conservative Party •Liberal Party

Conservative Party

• The Conservative Party was founded in 1834. It is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom.

• Leader David Cameron• Official colors Blue • House of Commons 306 / 650• House of Lords 217 / 724• European Parliament 25 / 73• London Assembly 11 / 25• Scottish Parliament 16 / 129• Welsh Assembly 13 / 60• Local government 9,405 / 21,871

Website www.conservatives.com

Labour Party • The Labour Party was founded in 1900. It is a centre-left

democratic socialist political party in the United Kingdom.• Leader Ed Miliband MP• Official colors Red• House of Commons 258 / 650• House of Lords 212 / 724• European Parliament 13 / 73• London Assembly 8 / 25• Scottish Parliament 46 / 129• Welsh Assembly 26 / 60• Local Government 4,831 / 21,871

Website http://www.labour.org.uk/

Liberal Party• The Liberal Party was founded in 1834.• Official colors Yellow; historically

orange, and before that green

• Leader Jeremy Thorpe

Website http://www.liberal.org.uk/

Elections in the United Kingdom• There are five types of elections in the United Kingdom:

United Kingdom general elections, elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, elections to the European Parliament, local elections and mayoral elections. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. General elections have fixed dates, and must be called within five years of the opening of parliament following the last election. Other elections are held on fixed dates though in the case of the devolved assemblies and parliaments, early elections can occur in certain situations. Presently, six electoral systems are used: the single member plurality system (First Past the Post), the multi member plurality system, party list PR, the single transferable vote, the Additional Member System and the Supplementary Vote.

Elizabeth II (1926-)

• Elizabeth II became queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1952. In addition, she is head of the Commonwealth of Nations.

• Elizabeth was born on 21 April 1926 in London, the first child of Albert, Duke of York, and his wife, formerly Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She initially had little prospect of succeeding to the throne until her uncle, Edward VIII, abdicated in December 1936. Her father then became George VI.

• Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret were educated at home. On the outbreak of war in 1939, they were evacuated /moved/ to Windsor Castle. In 1945, Elizabeth joined the war effort, training as a driver in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service (WATS). In November 1947, she married a distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten (formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark), who was created duke of Edinburgh. The couple have four children.

• George VI died on 6 February 1952 while Elizabeth and Philip were in Kenya. She returned home immediately, and was crowned at Westminster Abbey in June 1953. For more than 50 years, during a period of great change in Britain, the queen has carried out her political duties as head of state, the ceremonial responsibilities of the sovereign and a large annual program of visits in the United Kingdom as well as numerous foreign tours.

• In 2002, Elizabeth celebrated her golden jubilee (50 years on the throne) and in 2006 her 80th birthday.

Prince Charles

• Charles was born at Buckingham Palace on 14 November 1948, he is the first child, then Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

• When Prince Charles begged to get married to Diana in February 1981, she accepted. The couple had two children: Princes William (born 21 June 1982) and Henry (known as "Harry") (born 15 September 1984).

• The marriage of Charles and Diana was formally ended in divorce on 28 August 1996.

• On 31 August 1997, the year after the Prince and Princess divorced, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris.

• Thus, they announced on 10 February 2005 that Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles were engaged; the Prince presented her with an engagement ring that had belonged to his grandmother. The marriage was on 8 April of that year. They got married.

David Cameron

• The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior ministers, who are government department heads) are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign /queen or king/, to Parliament, to their political party. Prime Minister, David Cameron, was appointed on 11 May 2010.

• David Cameron is the younger son of the stockbroker Ian Donald Cameron. He was born in London.

• Cameron has a brother, Allan Alexander (born 1963) and two sisters, Tania Rachel (born 1965) and Clare Louise (born 1971).

• Cameron married Samantha Gwendoline Sheffield, the daughter of Sir Reginald Adrian Berkeley Sheffield, 8th Baronet and Annabel Lucy Veronica Jones (now the Viscountess Astor), on 1 June 1996 at the Church of St. Augustine of Canterbury, East Hendred, Oxford shire. The Cameron have had four children.

Living former Prime Ministers

There are four living former British Prime Ministers:

The Baroness Thatcher Sir John Major Tony Blair Gordon Brown MP

served 1979–1990 served 1990–1997 served 1997–2007 served 2007–2010

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