Politics Of The United Kingdom

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast where I help you drift off one fact at a time.

I'm your host Benjamin Boster and today's episode is about the politics of the United Kingdom.

Thanks to Nick Saunders for sponsoring today's episode.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy which by legislation and convention operates as a unitary parliamentary democracy.

A hereditary monarch,

Currently King Charles III,

Serves as head of state while the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,

Currently Sir Keir Starmer since 2024,

Serves as the head of the elected government.

Under the United Kingdom's parliamentary system,

Executive power is exercised by His Majesty's government,

Whose Prime Minister is formally appointed by the King to act in his name.

The King must appoint a Member of Parliament that can command the confidence of the House of Commons,

Usually the leader of the majority party or apparent majority party.

Though the King may choose to appoint an alternative if they say that they cannot expect the confidence of the House.

Having taken office,

The Prime Minister can then appoint all other ministers from Parliament.

The Parliament has two houses,

The House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The Crown and Parliament is the UK's supreme legislative body with unlimited powers of legislation subject only to convention.

Normally,

Bills passed by both houses become law when presented for royal assent.

However,

There is provision in the Parliament Acts by which the democratically elected House of Commons could exceptionally obtain royal assent to a bill which the House of Lords has repeatedly failed or refused to pass.

However,

Any use of this Parliament Acts procedure could provoke a constitutional crisis.

Parliament has devolved some legislative powers to the Parliaments of Scotland and Wales and the Assembly of Northern Ireland.

Many other limited powers are granted by statute to the Privy Council,

HM Ministers or other authorities to make delegated legislation on particular subjects.

The British political system is a multiple-party system and was,

According to the V-Dem Democracy Indices 2023,

The 22nd most electorally democratic in the world.

From the 1920s to date,

The two dominant parties have been the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

Before the Labour Party rose in British politics,

The Liberal Party was the other major political party,

Along with the Conservatives.

While coalition and minority governments have been an occasional feature of parliamentary politics,

The first-past-the-post electoral system used for general elections tends to maintain the dominance of these two parties,

Though each has in the past century relied upon a third party,

Such as the Liberal Democrats,

To deliver a working majority in Parliament.

The Conservative-Liberal-Democrat coalition government held office from 2010 until 2015,

The first coalition since 1945.

The coalition ended following parliamentary elections on May 7,

2015,

In which the consecutive party won an outright majority of seats,

330 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons,

While their coalition partners lost all but eight seats.

With the partition of Ireland,

Northern Ireland received Home Rule in 1920,

Though civil unrest meant direct rule was restored in 1972.

Support for nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales led to proposals for devolution in the 1970s,

Though only in the 1990s did devolution happen.

Today,

Scotland,

Wales and Northern Ireland each possess a Parliament,

Assembly and a Government.

With devolution in Northern Ireland being conditional on participation in certain all-Ireland institutions.

The British government remains responsible for non-devolved matters,

And in the case of Northern Ireland,

Cooperates with the government of the Republic of Ireland.

Devolution of executive and legislative powers may have contributed to increased support for independence in the constituent parts of the United Kingdom.

The principal Scottish pro-independence party,

The Scottish National Party,

Became a minority government in 2007,

And then went on to win an overall majority of MSPs at the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections,

Which formed the current Scottish Government Administration.

In a 2014 referendum on independence,

44.

7% of voters voted for independence versus 55.

3% against.

In Northern Ireland,

Irish nationalist parties,

Such as Sinn Féin,

Advocate Irish reunification.

In Wales,

Welsh nationalist parties,

Such as Plaid Cymru,

Support Welsh independence.

The constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified,

Being made up of constitutional conventions,

Statutes and other elements.

This system of government,

Known as the Westminster system,

Has been adopted by other countries,

Especially those that were formerly parts of the British Empire.

The United Kingdom is also responsible for several other territories,

Which fall into two categories.

The Crown dependencies,

In the immediate vicinity of the UK,

Are strictly speaking subject to the British Crown,

I.

E.

The monarch,

But not part of the United Kingdom,

Though de facto British territory.

And British overseas territories,

As British colonies were re-designated in 1983,

Which are part of the sovereign territory of the United Kingdom,

In which different aspects of internal governance have been delegated to local governments,

With each territory having its own First Minister,

Though the titles differ,

Such as in the case of the Chief Minister of Gibraltar.

They remain subject to the Parliament of the United Kingdom,

Which refers only to Great Britain and Northern Ireland,

Governed directly by the British government,

And not via local subsidiary governments or officers.

The British monarch,

Currently King Charles III,

Is the head of state of the United Kingdom.

Though he takes little direct part in government,

The Crown remains the found in which ultimate power over the executive government,

The judiciary,

The legislative and the established Church of England formally lies.

These powers are known as the Royal Prerogative and cover a vast amount of things,

Such as the issue or withdrawal of passports,

The appointment or dismissal of the Prime Minister,

Or even the declaration of war.

The powers are delegated from the Crown primarily to the Prime Minister,

Who may freely appoint privy councillors,

Junior ministers,

And other officers and servants of the Crown,

Civil,

Military,

Diplomatic,

And others such as the secret services,

To exercise them.

All powers are subject to the rule of law,

So that the legality of their exercise may always be judicially reviewed and quashed by the High Court,

And their exercise is supervised by Parliament when it is sitting.

The exercise of most powers by His Majesty's government generally does not require the consent of Parliament,

But certain statutory powers are subject to positive or negative resolutions of Parliament,

Notably the powers to make delegated legislation by statutory instruments,

And to make certain rules and orders.

The head of His Majesty's government,

The Prime Minister,

Has weekly meetings to consult the Sovereign when they may express their feelings,

Warn or advise the Prime Minister in the government's work.

According to the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom,

The monarch has the following powers.

Domestic powers.

The power to appoint and theoretically to dismiss a Prime Minister.

The powers to appoint members to the Privy Council,

To dismiss privy councillors,

And to summon only selected privy councillors to meetings of the Cabinet.

The powers to summon,

Prorogue,

And dissolve Parliament.

The power to grant or theoretically to refuse Royal Assent to Parliamentary Bills,

Making them legal acts of Parliament.

The power to create new peers to be summoned to Parliament as members of the House of Lords.

The powers to commission officers in the Armed Forces and to command the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom.

The powers to create and grant offices and employments to exercise Royal Powers,

Including the senior judiciary,

And to dismiss most other officers at the pleasure of the Crown.

The power to issue and withdraw passports.

The power to exercise the prerogative of mercy to pardon criminal convictions or reduce sentences.

The powers to grant honours,

Ranks,

Titles,

Decorations,

Medals,

And patronage.

The power to create corporations by Royal Charter.

Foreign powers.

The power to make and ratify treaties.

The power to declare war and peace.

The power to deploy the Armed Forces overseas.

The power to recognise states.

The power to accredit and receive diplomats.

Executive power in the United Kingdom is exercised by the Sovereign King Charles III,

Via His Majesty's Government and the devolved national authorities,

The Scottish Government,

The Welsh Government,

And the Northern Ireland Executive,

And by up to three more layers of elected local authorities,

Often county councils,

District councils,

And parish councils.

For example,

The Corporation of the City of London,

Which administers only about one square mile of the capital historically,

Enjoys some exceptional local powers,

To the exclusion of all other local authorities below Parliament.

The monarch appoints a Prime Minister as the head of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom,

Guided by the strict convention that the Prime Minister should be the member of the House of Commons,

Most likely to be able to form a government with the support of that House.

In practice,

This means that the leader of any political party with a majority of seats in the House of Commons is chosen to be the Prime Minister.

If no party has an absolute majority,

The leader of the largest party is given the first opportunity to form a coalition.

The Prime Minister then selects other ministers who make up the government and act as political heads of various government departments.

About 20 of the most senior government ministers make up the Cabinet,

And approximately 100 ministers in total comprise the government.

In accordance with constitutional convention,

All ministers within the government are either members of Parliament or peers in the House of Lords.

As in some other parliamentary systems of government,

Especially those based upon the Westminster system,

The executive,

Called the government,

Is drawn from and is answerable to Parliament.

A successful vote of no confidence will force the government either to resign or to seek a parliamentary dissolution and a general election.

In practice,

Members of Parliament of all major parties are strictly controlled by whips,

Who try to ensure they vote according to the party policy.

If the government has a large majority,

Then they are very unlikely to lose enough votes to be unable to pass legislation.

The Prime Minister is the most senior minister in the Cabinet.

Their tenure begins when they are appointed by the Monarch.

The Prime Minister is responsible for chairing Cabinet meetings,

Selecting Cabinet ministers and all other positions in His Majesty's government,

And formulating government policy.

The Prime Minister,

Being the de facto leader of the UK,

Exercises executive functions that are nominally vested in the Sovereign,

By way of the royal prerogatives.

Historically,

The British Monarch was the sole source of executive powers in the government.

However,

Following the lead of the Hanoverian Monarchs,

An arrangement of a Prime Minister chairing and leading the Cabinet began to emerge.

Over time,

This arrangement became the effective executive branch of government,

As it assumed the day-to-day functioning of British government away from the Sovereign.

Theoretically,

The Prime Minister is primus inter pares,

Which is Latin for first among equals,

Among their Cabinet colleagues.

While the Prime Minister is the senior Cabinet minister,

They are theoretically bound to make executive decisions in a collective fashion with the other Cabinet ministers.

The Cabinet,

Along with the PM,

Consists of Secretaries of State from the various government departments,

The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain,

The Lord Privy Seal,

The Lord President of the Council,

The President of the Board of Trade,

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster,

And ministers without portfolio.

Cabinet meetings are typically held weekly,

While Parliament is in session.

The Government of the United Kingdom contains a number of ministries known mainly,

Though not exclusively,

As departments,

E.

G.

Department for Education.

These are politically led by a government minister who is often a Secretary of State and member of the Cabinet.

The minister may also be supported by a number of junior ministers.

In practice,

Several government departments and ministers have responsibilities that cover England alone,

With devolved bodies having responsibility for Scotland,

Wales,

And Northern Ireland,

E.

G.

The Department of Health,

Or responsibilities that mainly focus on England,

Such as the Department for Education.

Implementation of the minister's decisions is carried out by a permanent politically neutral organisation known as the Civil Service.

Its constitutional role is to support the government of the day,

Regardless of which political parties empower.

Unlike some other democracies,

Senior civil servants remain imposed upon a change of government.

Administrative management of the department is led by a head civil servant,

Known in most departments as a permanent secretary.

The majority of the civil service staff in fact work in executive agencies,

Which are separate operational organisations reporting to departments of state.

Whitehall is often used as a metonym for the central core of a civil service.

This is because most government departments have headquarters in and around the former Royal Palace Whitehall.

HM Government of the United Kingdom is the central government of the United Kingdom.

Based in London,

It is headed by the Prime Minister.

As England does not have its own separate government,

It is governed directly by the Prime Minister and UK Government.

The Scottish Government is the devolved government of Scotland and is based in the capital city of Scotland,

Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government is headed by the First Minister and is supported by their Deputy First Minister.

The Northern Ireland Executive,

Based in Belfast,

Is headed by both the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement,

1998,

Whilst the First Minister of Wales serves as the leader of the Welsh Government,

Located in the Welsh capital,

Cardiff.

The Scottish Government is responsible for all issues that are not explicitly reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament at Westminster by the Scotland Act,

Including NHS Scotland,

Education,

Justice,

Rural affairs,

Agriculture,

Forestry and fisheries,

Some aspects of the benefit system,

Elections to the Scottish Parliament and local government,

Some aspects of the energy network,

The environment,

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service,

Some aspects of equality legislation,

Housing,

Planning,

Sport,

Culture,

Tourism,

The Crown Estate,

Onshore oil and gas licensing,

Some aspects of taxation,

Including Scottish Council tax and transport.

In the 2024-25 financial year,

Its annual budget was almost £60 billion.

The Government is led by the First Minister,

Assisted by the Deputy First Minister,

Alongside various ministers with individual portfolios and remits.

The Scottish Parliament nominates a member to be appointed as First Minister by the King.

The First Minister then appoints their ministers,

Known as Cabinet Secretaries,

And Junior Ministers,

Subject to approval by the Parliament.

The First Ministers,

The Ministers,

But not Junior Ministers,

The Lord Advocate and Solicitor General,

Are the members of the Scottish Government and attend meetings of the Scottish Cabinet,

As set out in the Scotland Act 1998.

They are collectively known as the Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government has been described as one of the world's most powerful devolved administrations.

The Welsh Government and the Senedd have more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland,

Although following the passing of the Government of Wales Act 2006 and the 2011 Welsh devolution referendum,

The Senedd can now legislate in some areas through an active Senedd Cymru.

The current First Minister of Wales,

Or Prif Weinidodg Cymru in Welsh,

Is Eluned Morgan of Welsh Labour.

Assembly have powers closer to those already devolved to Scotland.

The Northern Ireland Executive is led by a diarchy,

Most recently First Minister Michelle O'Neill,

Sinn Féin,

And Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelli,

DUP.

The British Parliament is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom,

I.

E.

There is parliamentary sovereignty,

And government is drawn from and answerable to it.

Parliament is bicameral,

Consisting of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

There are also devolved Scottish and Welsh Parliaments,

And a devolved Assembly in Northern Ireland,

With varying degrees of legislative authority.

The four countries of the United Kingdom are divided into parliamentary constituencies of broadly equal population by the four Boundary Commissions.

Each constituency elects a Member of Parliament,

MP,

To the House of Commons at general elections,

And,

If required,

At by-elections.

As of the 2010 general election,

There are 650 constituencies.

There were 646 before that year's general election.

At the 2017 general election,

Of the 650 MPs,

All but one,

Sylvia Herrmann,

Were elected as representatives of a political party.

However,

As of the 2019 general election,

There are currently 11 independent MPs,

Who have either chosen to leave their political party,

Or have had the whip withdrawn.

In modern times,

All Prime Ministers and leaders of the opposition have been drawn from the Commons,

Not the Lords.

Alec Douglas Holme resigned from his peerages days after becoming Prime Minister in 1963,

And the last Prime Minister before him,

From the Lords,

Left in 1902,

The Marquess of Salisbury.

One part usually has a majority in Parliament,

Because of the use of the first-past-the-post electoral system,

Which has been conducive in creating the current two-party system.

The monarch normally asks a person commissioned to form a government,

Simply whether it can survive in the House of Commons,

Something which majority governments are expected to be able to do.

In exceptional circumstances,

The monarch asks someone to form a government with a parliamentary minority,

Which,

In the event of no party having a majority,

Requires the formation of a coalition government,

Or confidence and supply arrangement.

The option is only ever taken at a time of national emergency,

Such as wartime.

A government is not formed by a vote of the House of Commons.

It is a commission from the monarch.

The House of Commons gets its first chance to indicate confidence in the new government when it votes on the Speech from the Throne,

A legislative program proposed by the new government.

The House of Lords was previously a largely hereditary aristocratic chamber,

Although including life peers and lords spiritual.

It is currently midway through extensive reforms,

The most recent of these being enacted in the House of Lords Act 1999,

In which it sought to reduce the number of hereditary peers within the Lords to remove their automatic right to sit and vote.

Although through negotiation,

92 peers remain temporarily in the Lords.

However,

In September 2024,

Starmer's Labour government introduced the House of Lords Hereditary Peers Bill.

The bill strives to remove all individuals who hold legislative positions,

Resulting from birthright,

To improve democratic representation within the legislative system.

This is expected to become law by the end of 2025 or early 2026.

The House consists of two very different types of member,

The Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual.

The Lords Temporal include appointed members,

Life peers with no hereditary right for their descendants to sit in the House,

Elected from among and by the holders of titles which previously gave a seat in the House of Lords.

The Lords Spiritual represent the established Church of England and number 26,

The five ancient sees,

Canterbury,

York,

London,

Winchester and Durham,

And the 21 next most senior bishops.

Secular organizations such as Humanist UK oppose bishops sitting in the House of Lords.

The movement to end the Church of England's status as the official state religion of the United Kingdom is known as De-establishmentarianism.

Alternatives include a secular state in which the state purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion.

The House of Lords currently acts to review legislation initiated by the House of Commons with the power to propose amendments and can exercise a suspensive veto.

This allows it to delay legislation if it does not approve it for 12 months.

However,

The use of vetoes is limited by convention and by the operation of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949.

The Lords may not veto the money bills or major manifesto promises.

Persistent use of the veto can also be overturned by the Commons under a provision of the Parliament Act 1911.

Often governments will accept changes in legislation in order to avoid both the time delay and the negative publicity of being seen to clash with the Lords.

However,

The Lords still retain a full veto in acts which would extend the life of Parliament beyond the five-year term limit produced by the Parliament Act of 1911.

The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 outlined plans for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to replace the role of the Law Lords.

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom replaced the House of Lords as the final Court of Appeal on Civil Cases within the United Kingdom on October 1,

2009.

Though the British Parliament remains a sovereign Parliament,

Scotland and Wales have devolved Parliaments and Northern Ireland has an Assembly.

Each can have its powers broadened,

Narrowed or changed by an Act of the UK Parliament.

Both the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Senate gained legislative power over some forms of taxation between 2012 and 2016.

Their power over economic issues is significantly constrained by an Act of Parliament passed in 2020.

The UK is a unitary state with a devolved system of government.

This contrasts with a federal system in which sub-Parliaments or State Parliaments and Assemblies have a clearly defined constitutional right to exist and a right to exercise certain constitutionally guaranteed and defined functions and cannot be unilaterally abolished by Acts of the Central Parliament.

All three devolved Parliaments are elected by proportional representation.

The additional member system is used in Scotland and Wales and single transferable vote is used in Northern Ireland.

England,

Therefore,

Is the only country in the UK not to have its own devolved Parliament.

However,

Senior politicians of all main parties have voiced concerns in regard to the West Lothian question,

Which is raised where certain policies for England are set by MPs from all four constituent nations,

Whereas similar policies for Scotland or Wales might be decided in the devolved Assemblies by legislators from those countries alone.

Alternative proposals for England regional government have stalled,

Followed by a poorly received referendum on devolved government for the northeast of England,

Which had hitherto been considered the region most in favour of the idea,

With the exception of Cornwall,

Where there is widespread support for a Cornish Assembly,

Including all five Cornish MPs.

England is therefore governed according to the balance of parties across the whole of the United Kingdom.

The government has no plans to establish an English Parliament or Assembly,

Although several pressure groups are calling for one.

One of their main arguments is that MPs,

And thus voters from different parts of the UK,

Have inconsistent powers.

Currently,

An MP from Scotland can vote on legislation which affects only England,

But MPs from England,

Or indeed Scotland,

Cannot vote on matters devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

Indeed,

The former Prime Minister Gordon Brown,

Who was an MP for a Scottish constituency until the 2015 General Election,

Introduced some laws that only affect England,

And not his own constituency.

This anomaly is known as the West Lothian Question.

The policy of the British government in England was to establish elected regional Assemblies with no legislative powers.

The London Assembly was the first of these,

Established in 2000 following a referendum in 1998,

But further plans were abandoned following rejection of a proposal for an elected Assembly in North East England in a referendum in 2004.

Unselected regional Assemblies remain in place in eight regions of England.

The Scottish Parliament is the national unicameral legislature of Scotland,

Located in the Holyrood area of the capital Edinburgh.

The Parliament,

Informally referred to as Holyrood,

CF,

Westminster,

Is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members who are known as Members of the Scottish Parliament,

Or MSPs.

Members are elected for four-year terms under the Mixed Member Proportional Representation system.

As a result,

73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality First Past the Post system,

With a further 56 returned from eight additional member regions,

Each electing seven MSPs.

The current Scottish Parliament was established by the Scotland Act 1998,

And its first meeting as a devolved legislature was on 12 May 1999.

The Parliament has the power to pass laws,

And has limited tax-varying capability.

Another of its roles is to hold the Scottish Government to account.

The devolved matters over which it has responsibility include education,

Health,

Agriculture,

And justice.

A degree of domestic authority and all-form policy remains within the British Parliament in Westminster.

The public take part in Parliament in a way that is not the case at Westminster through cross-party groups on policy topics,

Which the interested public join and attend meetings of alongside members of the Scottish Parliament.

The resurgence in Celtic language and identity,

As well as regional politics and development,

Has contributed to forces pulling against the unity of a state.

This was clearly demonstrated when,

Although some argue it was influenced by general public disillusionment with Labour,

The Scottish National Party,

SNP,

Became the largest party in the Scottish Parliament by one seat.