House of Lords

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Monarch (Queen)
House of Lords
House of Commons

• Members are often called Peers
• Around 750 in total
• They are unelected they are nominated for
  being very good in their field, e.g. medicine,
  business, charity work, art, etc.

• Members are called MPs or Members of
  Parliament
• 650 in total
• They are elected - this happens at a general
  election

UK Parliament at Westminster

• Makes and changes laws
• Debates important issues
• Checks the work of the government (the Prime
  Minister and his Ministers). For example, how
  they are spending our taxes and whether they are
  keeping to the promises made at election time

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5. Who is the Deputy Prime Minister?
1. Who is the current Prime Minister?
Quick Quiz!
David Cameron
Nick Clegg
2. Which two parties make up the coalition
government?
4. What is the name of the main opposition party?
3. Who leads the main opposition party?
Ed Miliband
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A UK-wide vote where people vote for who they
would like to represent them in the House of
Commons.
What is a general election?
Every 4-5 years.
How often to they happen?
There are no qualifications. You must be 21 years
old or over. Most candidates are members of a
political party which has to nominate them. Some
choose to stand as independent candidates. This
means they do not belong to a political party.
Can anyone compete to become an MP?
The UK is divided in to 650 areas called
constituencies. Candidates from different parties
compete to become the MP for one constituency.
People who live in that constituency (called
constituents) vote for the candidate they want to
represent them.
How do we end up with one MP representing people
from one area?
The candidate with the most votes in each
constituency becomes the Member of Parliament for
that constituency. This is called the first past
the post system.
Which competing candidate wins the constituency?
The party with the most candidates across the 650
wins the election. Their leader is the Prime
Minister and they choose Ministers to form the
government. Most will be chosen from the House of
Commons but they can also be chosen from the
House of Lords.
How is the government formed?
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A) My dustbins are only being collected once per
fortnight and I would rather they were collected
weekly.
D) The government wants to introduce a law to
increase the voting age to 21. I disagree with
this and think it should be lowered to 16.
MP or local council?
B) The local park is covered in graffiti. I have
asked the council if they could clean it several
times but have had no response.
E) My street is poorly lit with no streetlights.
It makes it dangerous to walk home in the dark.
C) I dont think enough is being done to combat
global warming. We should be using more renewable
energy supplies.
F) Our nearest hospital is about to be closed
despite lots of campaigns by the local people and
council to keep it open.
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D) The government wants to introduce a law to
increase the voting age to 21. I disagree with
this and think it should be lowered to 16.
A) My dustbins are only being collected once per
fortnight and I would rather they were collected
weekly.
MP
B) The local park is covered in graffiti. I have
asked the council if they could clean it several
times but have had no response.
F) Our nearest hospital is about to be closed
despite lots of campaigns by local people and the
council to keep it open.
Local council
E) My street is poorly lit with no streetlights.
It makes it dangerous to walk home in the dark.
C) I dont think enough is being done to combat
global warming. We should be using more
renewable energy supplies.