funsec mailing list archives
Re: a question for the English
From: "David Lodge" <dave () cirt net>
Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:58:26 +0100
On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 18:34:16 +0100, Brian Loe <knobdy () gmail com> wrote:
On 7/4/07, John Payne <john () sackheads org> wrote:> And so in the next election, if the conservative party is elected into > the majority, they will pick a leader and that person is the PM? Yep although typically the leader is decided before the electionI see, so you basically know who you're voting for, for PM. Makes sense - though I appreciate our ability, here, to choose a President of one party and a congressional majority of another (the other). When they don't work together, life is good. :)
The Prime Minister isn't the same thing as your president (there isn't really a US equivalent to their role).
Basically, the head of the country is the Monarch, which is hereditary. The Monarch delegates their powers to their government to do all the boring rule making stuff (this has a legacy back to the Magna Carter and enforced by the nasty puritants commiting regicide), though nowadays the monarch doesn't really do much of the governing and acts as a figurehead. The Monarch is probably the closest thing to the US president.
Government is formed by two houses: the Lords, which are composed of life peerages, legal peerages, clerical peerages and some voted peerages and the Commons, all of which are elected.
The party in the Commons with the largest majority is in charge of the government and the head of that party is called the Prime Minister; that is the person who represents the Commons and liases with the Monarch and other country's dignitaries, so is effecively in charge of the country.
If an encumberant Prime Minister steps down e.g. through resignation, vote of no confidence, death, loosing their seat or dismissal. Then an election is held within the parlimentary party to choose a new leader, that individual becomes the new Prime Minister. We, the people, don't get a choice.
Virtually all of the time before a general election the leader of the party is know; though it is feasible that they won't win a seat at that election and therefore cannot take control (which is why the leader is normally put in a "safe" seat).
Simple innit? dave _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
Current thread:
- a question for the English Brian Loe (Jul 04)
- RE: a question for the English Larry Seltzer (Jul 04)
- Re: a question for the English Brian Loe (Jul 04)
- RE: a question for the English David Harley (Jul 04)
- Re: a question for the English Brian Loe (Jul 04)
- Re: a question for the English John Payne (Jul 04)
- Re: a question for the English Brian Loe (Jul 04)
- Re: a question for the English John Payne (Jul 04)
- Re: a question for the English Brian Loe (Jul 04)
- Re: a question for the English David Lodge (Jul 04)
- Re: a question for the English Brian Loe (Jul 04)
- Re: a question for the English Drsolly (Jul 04)
- RE: a question for the English Larry Seltzer (Jul 04)
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- Re: a question for the English Robert Graham (Jul 04)
- RE: a question for the English Larry Seltzer (Jul 04)