Re: a question for the English

["David Lodge" <dave () cirt net>]

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 election
> I 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
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