Nghị Viện
The Two Houses of Parliament
The UK Parliament, based at the Palace of Westminster, consists of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, which together with the monarch form the three parts of Parliament.
The House of Commons has 650 Members of Parliament (MPs), each representing a constituency. MPs are elected using the first-past-the-post system. Debates are chaired by the Speaker of the House, an MP elected by other MPs who must be politically neutral and only votes to break a tie.
The House of Lords is unelected. It includes life peers (appointed for life), a small number of hereditary peers (following the House of Lords Act 1999), and 26 bishops of the Church of England (Lords Spiritual). It is chaired by the Lord Speaker. The Lords examine and revise Bills from the Commons but cannot permanently block them — under the Parliament Acts, the Commons can pass legislation without the Lords' consent.
How a law is made: A Bill passes through First Reading, Second Reading, Committee Stage, Report Stage, and Third Reading in the Commons, then similar stages in the Lords. Once both Houses agree, it receives Royal Assent and becomes an Act of Parliament.
The Prime Minister leads the government and appoints the Cabinet (~20 senior ministers). Collective responsibility means all Cabinet members must publicly support Cabinet decisions. The Shadow Cabinet is the opposition team that scrutinises the government. Whips enforce party discipline; a three-line whip is the strongest instruction to vote as directed.
Parliament has two Houses: the House of Commons (elected) and the House of Lords (not elected)
The House of Commons has 650 MPs, each representing one constituency
The Speaker of the House chairs Commons debates and must be politically neutral
The House of Lords includes life peers, hereditary peers, and bishops (Lords Spiritual)
A Bill must pass through both Houses and receive Royal Assent to become an Act of Parliament
The PM is the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons
The Cabinet is a group of senior ministers chosen by the PM to run key government departments
Từ vựng
The elected lower house of Parliament
The unelected upper house of Parliament
A geographical area represented by one MP
The politically neutral chair of Commons debates
A proposed new law being debated in Parliament
The group of senior ministers who make key government decisions
The opposition party's team that shadows the government
A party official who ensures MPs vote according to party policy
Tóm tắt bài học
- The House of Commons has 650 elected MPs, each representing one constituency, using first-past-the-post
- The House of Lords is unelected: life peers, hereditary peers, and 26 Church of England bishops (Lords Spiritual)
- The Speaker of the House chairs Commons debates, must be politically neutral, and only votes to break a tie
- A Bill passes through both Houses (readings, committee, report stages) then receives Royal Assent to become law
- The PM leads government and appoints the Cabinet (~20 senior ministers); collective responsibility applies
- The Shadow Cabinet scrutinises the government; Whips enforce party discipline with a three-line whip as strongest