Editing Politics of the United Kingdom (section)

==Executive==
[[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.
 
===His Majesty's Government===
{{Main|Government of the United Kingdom}}
[[File:The Queen and Gordon Brown 11 May 2010 (7141493275).jpg|thumb|right|HM [[Queen Elizabeth II]] and her prime minister [[Gordon Brown]], the head of [[His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom|Her Majesty's Government]] (2010)]]
The monarch appoints a [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|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 of the United Kingdom|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 [[Minister (government)|Ministers]] who make up the Government and act as political heads of various [[Ministry (government department)|Government Departments]]. About twenty of the most senior government ministers make up the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] and approximately 100 ministers in total comprise the government. In accordance with [[Constitutional convention (political custom)|constitutional convention]], all ministers within the government are either [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] or [[Peerage|peers]] in the [[House of Lords]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

As in some other [[parliamentary system]]s 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 [[List of United Kingdom general elections|general election]]. In practice, members of parliament of all major parties are strictly controlled by [[Whip (politics)|whips]] who try to ensure they vote according to 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 and the Cabinet====
{{Main|Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Cabinet of the United Kingdom}}
[[File:Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosts first Cabinet (53838994618).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Starmer ministry]], incumbent cabinet of the United Kingdom]] 
The Prime Minister, currently Sir Keir Starmer,<!-- Do not change this until a new PM is actually appointed by the King --> 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 the British government away from the sovereign.

Theoretically, the Prime Minister is ''[[primus inter pares]]'' (i.e., 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 [[Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)|Ministers without portfolio]]. Cabinet meetings are typically held weekly, while Parliament is in session.

====Government departments and the Civil Service====
{{Main|Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom|List of government ministers of the United Kingdom}}
The Government of the United Kingdom contains a number of [[Ministry (government department)|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 (United Kingdom)|Secretary of State]] and member of the [[Cabinet (government)|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, (for example – the [[Department of Health and Social Care|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 (United Kingdom)|Civil Service]]. Its constitutional role is to support the Government of the day regardless of which political party is in power. Unlike some other democracies, senior civil servants remain in post 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 the Civil Service. This is because most Government Departments have headquarters in and around the former Royal Palace [[Whitehall]].