Editing Politics of the United Kingdom (section)

==Legislatures==

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 of the United Kingdom|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.

===British Parliament===
{{Main|Parliament of the United Kingdom}}

====House of Commons====
{{Main|House of Commons of the United Kingdom}}
[[File:UK Parliament HDR.jpg|thumb|left|Parliament meets at the [[Palace of Westminster]]]]

The four [[countries of the United Kingdom]] are divided into parliamentary [[constituencies]] of broadly equal population by the four [[Boundary commissions (United Kingdom)|Boundary Commissions]]. Each constituency elects a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) to the House of Commons at general elections and, if required, at by-elections. As of the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]] there are 650 constituencies (there were 646 before that year's [[2010 United Kingdom general election|general election]]). At the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]], of the 650 MPs, all but one – [[Sylvia Hermon]] – were elected as representatives of a [[political party]]. However, as of the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|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there are currently 11 independent MPs, who have either chosen to leave their political party or have had the whip withdrawn.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 [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|leaders of the opposition]] have been drawn from the Commons, not the Lords. [[Alec Douglas-Home]] 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 [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Marquess of Salisbury]]).

One party 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''<ref>The formal request from the monarch is either to (a) form a government capable of ''surviving'' in the House of Commons (which by implication does not require a majority behind it, given that skilled minority governments can and do survive for long periods); or (b) form a government capable of ''commanding'' a majority in the Commons, which by implication requires a majority behind it</ref> which in the event of no party having a majority requires the formation of a [[coalition government]] or 'confidence and supply' arrangement. This option is only ever taken at a time of national emergency, such as war-time. It was given in 1916 to [[Bonar Law]], and when he declined, to [[David Lloyd George]] and in 1940 to [[Winston Churchill]]. 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]] (the legislative programme proposed by the new government).

====House of Lords====
{{Main|House of Lords}}
{{See also|Reform of the House of Lords}}

The House of Lords was previously a largely [[hereditary]] [[aristocratic]] chamber, although including [[life peer]]s, 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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wright |first1=Oliver |title=House of Lords reform to remove hereditary peers in 18 months |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/house-of-lords-reform-to-remove-hereditary-peers-in-18-months-2vg20k8h7?utm_source=chatgpt.com |website=The Times |publisher=The Times |access-date=13 January 2025}}</ref> 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. Lords Temporal include appointed members (life peers with no hereditary right for their descendants to sit in the house) and ninety-two remaining hereditary peers, elected from among, and by, the holders of titles which previously gave a seat in the House of Lords. The Lords Spiritual represent the [[State religion|established]] [[Church of England]] and number twenty-six: the Five Ancient Sees ([[Archbishop of Canterbury|Canterbury]], [[Archbishop of York|York]], [[Bishop of London|London]], [[Bishop of Winchester|Winchester]] and [[Bishop of Durham|Durham]]), and the 21 next-most senior bishops. Secular organisations such as [[Humanists UK]] oppose bishops sitting in the House of Lords.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://humanists.uk/campaigns/secularism/constitutional-reform/bishops-in-the-lords/ |title= Bishops in the House of Lords |website= humanists.uk |access-date= 12 March 2022}}</ref> The movement to end the Church of England's status as the official state religion of the United Kingdom is known as [[disestablishmentarianism]]. 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 twelve 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 (see [[Salisbury convention]]). 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 5-year term limit introduced by the Parliament Act 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 1 October 2009.

===Devolved national parliaments===
{{Main|Devolution in the United Kingdom}}
[[File:Prime Minister Keir Starmer host Council of Nations and Regions (54059291918).jpg|thumb|right|A meeting of the [[Council of the Nations and Regions]] which brings together the prime minister, first ministers of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales as well as the regional mayors in England]] 

Though the British parliament remains the 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 [[Senedd]] 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.{{refn|name=UKIM|<ref name=Keating21>{{cite journal |last1=Keating |first1=Michael |title=Taking back control? Brexit and the territorial constitution of the United Kingdom |journal=[[Journal of European Public Policy]]|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|location=Abingdon|date=2 February 2021 |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=6–7 |doi=10.1080/13501763.2021.1876156|quote=The UK Internal Market Act gives ministers sweeping powers to enforce mutual recognition and non-discrimination across the four jurisdictions. Existing differences and some social and health matters are exempted but these are much less extensive than the exemptions permitted under the EU Internal Market provisions. Only after an amendment in the House of Lords, the Bill was amended to provide a weak and non-binding consent mechanism for amendments (equivalent to the Sewel Convention) to the list of exemptions. The result is that, while the devolved governments retain regulatory competences, these are undermined by the fact that goods and services originating in, or imported into, England can be marketed anywhere.|hdl=1814/70296 |s2cid=234066376 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name=KenMcEw21>{{cite journal |last1=Kenny |first1=Michael |author-link1=Michael Kenny (political scientist)|last2=McEwen |first2=Nicola |title=Intergovernmental Relations and the Crisis of the Union |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing]]|journal=Political Insight |date=1 March 2021 |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=12–15 |doi=10.1177/20419058211000996|s2cid=232050477 |quote=That phase of joint working was significantly damaged by the UK Internal Market Act, pushed through by the Johnson government in December 2020...the Act diminishes the authority of the devolved institutions, and was vehemently opposed by them.|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=WolffeDevol>{{cite journal |last1=Wolffe |first1=W James |title=Devolution and the Statute Book |journal=[[Statute Law Review]] |date=7 April 2021 |doi=10.1093/slr/hmab003 |author-link=James Wolffe|location=Oxford|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|url=https://academic.oup.com/slr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/slr/hmab003/6213886 |access-date=18 April 2021|quote=the Internal Market Bill—a Bill that contains provisions which, if enacted, would significantly constrain, both legally and as a matter of practicality, the exercise by the devolved legislatures of their legislative competence; provisions that would be significantly more restrictive of the powers of the Scottish Parliament than either EU law or Articles 4 and 6 of the Acts of the Union...The UK Parliament passed the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 and the Internal Market Act 2020 notwithstanding that, in each case, all three of the devolved legislatures had withheld consent.}}</ref><ref name=Wincott21>{{cite journal |last1=Wincott |first1=Daniel |last2=Murray |first2=C. R. G. |last3=Davies |first3=Gregory |title=The Anglo-British imaginary and the rebuilding of the UK's territorial constitution after Brexit: unitary state or union state? |journal=Territory, Politics, Governance|author-link1=Daniel Wincott|location=Abingdon/Brighton|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]; [[Regional Studies Association]]|date=17 May 2021|volume=10 |issue=5 |pages=696–713 |doi-access=free|quote=Taken as a whole, the Internal Market Act imposes greater restrictions upon the competences of the devolved institutions than the provisions of the EU Single Market which it replaced, in spite of pledges to use common frameworks to address these issues. [[David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead|Lord Hope]], responsible for many of the leading judgments relating to the first two decades of devolution, regarded the legislation's terms as deliberately confrontational: 'this Parliament can do what it likes, but a different approach is essential if the union is to hold together'.|doi=10.1080/21622671.2021.1921613}}</ref><ref name=DouganMcEwen20>{{cite report |last1=Dougan |first1=Michael |last2=Hayward |first2=Katy |last3=Hunt |first3=Jo |last4=McEwen |first4=Nicola |last5=McHarg |first5=Aileen |last6=Wincott |first6=Daniel |year=2020 |title=UK and the Internal Market, Devolution and the Union |url=https://www.centreonconstitutionalchange.ac.uk/publications/uk-and-internal-market-devolution-and-union |department=Centre on Constitutional Change|author-link1=Michael Dougan|author-link2=Katy Hayward|author-link4=Nicola McEwen|author-link6=Daniel Wincott|publisher=[[University of Edinburgh]]; [[University of Aberdeen]] |pages=2–3 |access-date=16 October 2020}}</ref><ref name=Dougan20Brief>{{cite report |last=Dougan |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Dougan |year=2020 |title=Briefing Paper. United Kingdom Internal Market Bill: Implications for Devolution |url=https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/law/2-research/eull/UKIM,Briefing,Paper,-,Prof,Michael,Dougan,15,September,2020.pdf |publisher=[[University of Liverpool]] |pages=4–5 |location=Liverpool |access-date=15 October 2020 |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026161836/https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/law/2-research/eull/UKIM,Briefing,Paper,-,Prof,Michael,Dougan,15,September,2020.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>}} 

The UK is a [[unitary state]] with a devolved system of government. This contrasts with a [[Federal republic|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 [[devolved English parliament|its own devolved parliament]]. However, senior politicians of all main parties have voiced concerns in regard to the [[West Lothian question]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=George |date=17 January 2006 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/17/nscot17.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718194850/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2006%2F01%2F17%2Fnscot17.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 July 2006 |title=Baker seeks end to West Lothian question |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=16 May 2006 |location=London }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=10 March 2006 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4792120.stm |title=No English parliament – Falconer |publisher=BBC |access-date=16 May 2006}}</ref> 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 English [[English regions|regional]] government have stalled, following a poorly received referendum on devolved government for the [[North East 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/1704112.stm|title=Blair gets Cornish assembly call|date=11 December 2001|publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2810789.stm|title=Prescott pressed on assembly poll|date=1 March 2003|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> 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<ref>including [http://www.thecep.org.uk/ The Campaign for an English Parliament]</ref> 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 assembly (England)|regional assemblies]] with no legislative powers. The [[London Assembly]] was the first of these, established in 2000, following a [[1998 Greater London Authority referendum|referendum]] in 1998, but further plans were abandoned following rejection of a proposal for an elected assembly in [[North East England]] in a [[2004 North East England devolution referendum|referendum]] in 2004. Unelected regional assemblies remain in place in eight [[regions of England]].

====Scottish Parliament====
{{Main|Scottish Parliament}}
[[File:Edinburgh Scottish Parliament01crop2 2006-04-29.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Scottish Parliament Building]] in [[Holyrood, Edinburgh|Holyrood]], [[Edinburgh]], seat of the Scottish Parliament.]]

The [[Scottish Parliament]] is the national, [[unicameral]] legislature of [[Scotland]], located in the [[Holyrood, Edinburgh|Holyrood]] area of the capital [[Edinburgh]]. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood"<ref name="HolyroodName">{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/education/resources/teachingResources/wordBank.htm |title=Scottish Parliament Word Bank|publisher=Scottish Parliament |access-date=14 November 2006}}</ref> (cf. "[[Parliament of the United Kingdom|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 [[Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions|constituencies]] elected by the [[plurality voting|plurality]] ("first past the post") system, with a further 56 returned from eight [[Additional-member system|additional member]] regions, each electing seven MSPs.<ref name="ConstituencyMSPs">{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/index.htm |title=Scottish Parliament MSPs |publisher=Scottish Parliament |access-date=14 November 2006}}</ref>

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 in Scotland|education]], [[Health in Scotland|health]], agriculture, and [[Scots law|justice]]. A degree of domestic authority, and all foreign policy, remains with the British Parliament in [[Palace of Westminster|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 (MSPs).

The [[Celtic Revival|resurgence in Celtic language and identity]], as well as 'regional' politics and development, has contributed to forces pulling against the unity of the state.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague/ |title=The Celtic League |access-date=20 May 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615050803/http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague/ |archive-date=15 June 2006}}</ref> 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.

[[Alex Salmond]] (leader of SNP between 2004 and 2014) made history becoming the first [[First Minister of Scotland]] from a party other than Labour following the [[2007 Scottish Parliament election]]. The SNP [[First Salmond government|governed as a minority government]] following this election. [[Scottish nationalism]] which advocates for [[Scottish independence|Scotland regaining its independence]] has experienced a dramatic rise in popularity in recent years, with a pivotal moment coming at the [[2011 Scottish Parliament election]] where the SNP capitalised on the collapse of the Liberal Democrat support to improve on their 2007 performance to win the first ever outright majority at Holyrood (despite the voting system being specifically designed to prevent majorities), with Labour remaining the largest opposition party.

[[File:Scottish Parliament Debating Chamber 2.jpg|thumb|left|The debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament.]]

This election result prompted the leader of the three main opposition parties to resign. [[Iain Gray]] was succeeded as Scottish Labour leader by [[Johann Lamont]], Scottish Conservative and Unionist leader, [[Annabel Goldie]] was replaced by [[Ruth Davidson]], and [[Tavish Scott]], leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats was replaced by [[Willie Rennie]].

A major SNP manifesto pledge was to hold a [[2014 Scottish independence referendum|referendum on Scottish Independence]], which was duly granted by the British Government and held on 18 September 2014. When the nationalists came to power in 2011, opinion polls placed support for independence at around 31%, but in 2014, 45% voted to leave the union. In the wake of the referendum defeat, membership of the SNP surged to over 100,000, overtaking the Liberal Democrats as the third largest political party in the UK by membership, and in the general election of May 2015 the SNP swept the board and took 56 of the 59 Westminster constituencies in Scotland (far surpassing their previous best of 11 seats in the late 1970s) and winning more than 50% of the Scottish vote.

Salmond resigned as first minister and leader of the SNP following the country's rejection of independence in September 2014, and was succeeded in both roles by his [[Deputy First Minister of Scotland|deputy first minister]] and deputy leader of the SNP, [[Nicola Sturgeon]]. Additionally, following the independence referendum, Lamont stood down as Scottish Labour leader and [[Jim Murphy]] was elected to replace her. Murphy remained leader until the general election in 2015 in which he lost his seat in Westminster. After the defeat, he resigned his position MSP [[Kezia Dugdale]] became leader of the party. In 2017, Dugdale unexpectedly resigned and was replaced as Scottish Labour leader by [[Richard Leonard]]. He held the post until resigning in January 2021, with [[Anas Sarwar]] replacing him the following month.

====Senedd====
{{Main|Senedd}}
[[File:Senedd.JPG|thumb|right|200px|The Senedd building in Cardiff Bay]]
The Senedd (formerly the National Assembly for Wales) is the [[devolved]] [[legislature]] of [[Wales]] with power to make legislation and vary taxes. The Parliament comprises 60 members, who are known as [[Members of the Senedd]], or MSs ({{langx|cy|Aelodau o'r Senedd, ASau}}). Members are elected for four-year terms under an [[Mixed-member proportional representation|additional members system]], where 40 MSs represent geographical [[Senedd constituencies and electoral regions|constituencies]] elected by the [[Plurality voting|plurality]] system, and 20 MSs from [[Senedd constituencies and electoral regions|five electoral regions]] using the [[d'Hondt method]] of [[proportional representation]].

The Welsh Parliament was created by the [[Government of Wales Act 1998]], which followed a [[1997 Welsh devolution referendum|referendum]] in 1997. On its creation, most of the powers of the [[Welsh Office]] and [[Secretary of State for Wales]] were transferred to it. The Senedd had no powers to initiate [[primary legislation]] until limited law-making powers were gained through the [[Government of Wales Act 2006]]. Its primary law-making powers were enhanced following a Yes vote in the [[2011 Welsh devolution referendum|referendum]] on 3 March 2011, making it possible for it to legislate without having to consult the British [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|parliament]], nor the [[Secretary of State for Wales]] in the 20 areas that are devolved.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-12648649 | publisher=BBC News | title=Wales says Yes in referendum vote | date=4 March 2011}}</ref>

====Northern Ireland Assembly====
{{Main|Northern Ireland Assembly}}
[[File:Stormont Parliamentary Building 01.JPG|thumb|left|250px|[[Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)|Parliament Buildings]] in [[Stormont, Belfast]], seat of the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]].]]
The government of Northern Ireland was established as a result of the 1998 [[Good Friday Agreement]]. This created the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]]. The Assembly is a unicameral body consisting of 90 members elected under the [[single transferable vote]] form of [[proportional representation]]. The Assembly is based on the principle of power-sharing, in order to ensure that both communities in Northern Ireland, [[Unionists (Ireland)|unionist]] and [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]], participate in governing the region. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas and to elect the [[Northern Ireland Executive]] (cabinet). It sits at [[Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)|Parliament Buildings]] at Stormont in [[Belfast]].

The Assembly has authority to legislate in a field of competences known as "transferred matters". These matters are not explicitly enumerated in the [[Northern Ireland Act 1998]] but instead include any competence not explicitly retained by the Parliament at Westminster. Powers reserved by Westminster are divided into "excepted matters", which it retains indefinitely, and "reserved matters", which may be transferred to the competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly at a future date. Health, criminal law and education are "transferred" while royal relations are all "excepted".

While the Assembly was in suspension, due to issues involving the main parties and the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA), its legislative powers were exercised by the UK government, which effectively had power to legislate by decree. Laws that would normally be within the competence of the Assembly were passed by the UK government in the form of [[Orders-in-Council]] rather than legislative acts.
<!-- Commented out: [[File:StormontChamber.JPG|thumb|250px|[[Northern Ireland Assembly]] in session.]] -->
There has been a significant decrease in violence over the last twenty years, though the situation remains tense, with the more hard-line parties such as [[Sinn Féin]] and the [[Democratic Unionist Party]] now holding the most parliamentary seats (see [[Demographics and politics of Northern Ireland]]).