The Political System of Great Britain

The Queen and the Parliament


Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy. This means that it has a monarch as its Head of the State. The monarch reigns with the support of Parliament. The powers of the monarch are not defined precisely. Everything today is done in the Queen’s name. It is her government, her armed forces, her law courts and so on. She appoints all the Ministers, including the Prime Minister. Everything is done however on the advice of the elected Government, and the monarch takes no part in the decision-making process.
It is rather difficult to understant the British way of ruling the country. In Britain the Queen is the Head of State,but in fact she doesnt rule the country as she has no power. The Queen is a symbol of the country’s history and its traditions. She travels around the United Kingdom, meets different people and visits schools, hospitals and other special places.
At the beginning of the century many countries all over the world were ruled by Britain. All of them were included into the British empire and were its colonies.
In 1949 Britain and the former colonies founded the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth includes many countries such as Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others.
When the Queen was born on 21 April 1926, her grandfather, King George V, was on the throne and her uncle was his heir. The death of her grandfather and the abdication of her uncle (King Edward VIII) brought her father to the throne in 1936 as King George VI. Elizabeth II came to the throne on 6 February 1952 and was crowned on 2 June 1953. Since then she made many trips to different countries and to the UK also. In addition, the government pays for her expenses as the Head of the State, for a royal yacht, train and aircraft as well as for the upkeep of several palaces. The Queen’s image appears on stamps, notes and coins.
The British monarch is head of state. Executive power, however, is wielded by a prime minister, who is head of Government, and a committee of ministers called the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons. By custom, cabinet ministers are selected from among members of the two houses of Parliament. Cabinet ministers are also among the members of the Privy Council, the traditional, but now largely ceremonial, advisory body to the Crown.
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