Reálie v angličtině: politický systém ve Velké Británii (political system in Great Britain and Gunpowder plot
Zpracované téma politický systém ve Velké Británii (Political system in Great Britain), včetně vysvětlení co to je tzv. Gunpowder plot.
Britain has a two-party system. This means that only two parties stand a chance of exercising government, alone or in some form of agreement with a third party.
The present system of political parties has existed since the 18th century. There are now two major parties: the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Other parties existing in GB are: the Liberal Democrats, the Communist Party…
Parliament, the law making body, consists of three elements:
– the Monarchy (has just a ceremonial role)
– the House of Commons
– the House of Lords
both the House of Commons and the House of Lords reside in the Palace of Westminster
The House of Commons
– consists of 659 elected members called Members of Parliament or MPs
– they discuss current political issues and make laws
– the chief officer is the Speaker – he/she is elected by MPS to preside the House
The House of Lords
– consists of around 659 non-elected members (hereditary peers and peeresses and life peers and peeresses (they are called Lords Temporal), two archbishops and 24 senior bishops of the Church of England (Lords Spiritual))
– they examine and revise bills from the Commons and they also act as the final court of appeal
The three elements of the Parliament meet together only on occasions of ceremonial significance, e.g. the State Opening of Parliament – (an interesting fact – before the Queen arrives, the cellars are searched by royal bodyguards. This search is in memory of the Gunpowder Plot on November 5, 1605, when barrels of gunpowder were placed in the vault of the House in order to blow up the king and his Parliament)
General elections = volby
– are held after Parliament has been dissolved (= rozpuštěn), by a royal proclamation (královským vyhlášením)
– the maximum term between elections used to be five years, now the decision on when to hold a general election is made by the Prime Minister (předseda vlády)
– for electoral purposes (z důvodu voleb) Britain is divided into 646 constituencies (volební obvod), each of these returns one MP to the House of Commons
– MPs are elected by the relative majority method (sometimes it is called „first past the post“ principle), which means that the candidate with more votes than any other is elected
You can vote if:
– you are a British citizen
– you are a citizen of a Commonwealth
– you are a citizen of the Irish republic resident in Britain (aged 18 and over)
– you are a British citizen working overseas as a British government employee
you are prohibited from voting if
– you serve prison sentences (ve výkonu trestu)
– you are a member of the House of Lords
– you are kept in hospital under mental health legislation
