The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy.

This means
that Great Britain is governed by the Parliament and the Queen is the Head of State. The current monarch
and head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who ascended the throne in 1952.
The supreme low of the UK is called the Constitution of the UK. The English Bill of Rights is an act
in constitutional law of the UK. The bill outlines specific constitutional and civil rights and ultimately gave
Parliament power over the monarchy. That means that it’s the Parliament who rules the country.
The British sovereign is a commander in chief and the head of the church. She possesses the
following responsibilities: She can call Parliament, appoint or dismiss ministers and Prime Minister as well.
She can sign or veto laws and also, she commands armed forces and questions of war and piece are under
her responsibilities. The three essential rights the British monarch exercises are: to be consulted by Prime
Minister, to advice and to warn against other, these powers should not be downplayed.
The UK supreme legislative body consists of 3 brunches of power – legislative, executive and
judicial. The legislative power in the country is exercised by the Houses of Parliament. The British
Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords
is composed of hereditary and life peers and peeresses. Also, the representatives of this house can be
appointed by the monarch. The membership very and is not fixed, so the current number of representatives
is 692.
The members of the House of Commons are elected by the general elections every 5 years and it
consists of 650 representatives. The House of Commons is headed by Speaker.
The executive power is exercised by Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The government is usually
formed by the political party which is supported by the majority in the House of Commons. Prime Minister
is the majority party leader and is appointed by the Queen. Prime Minister chooses a team of ministers:
twenty of the ministers are in the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is considered to be the first among equals.
The second largest party becomes the official opposition with its own leader and the Shadow
Cabinet. The two leading parties in Great Britain are the Conservative Party (the Tories) and the Labour
Party.
The Conservative Party, officially the "Conservative & Unionist Party", and commonly known as
"The Tory Party" is one of the two largest political parties in the United Kingdom. Since World War Two,
every Prime Minister has come from the Conservative Party or the Labour Party. Generally standing for
lower taxation, a smaller state and lower welfare, the Conservative Party is the traditional right-wing party in
the UK. The Labour Party is the other main party. Founded as a socialist party, the Labour Party had a huge
role in the creation of the Welfare State and the National Health Service.
The process of making laws include 3 main steps: a bill is introduced in any house of Parliament,
then it is discussed and voted upon. Each house can suggest their amendments to each other and this process
is often called ping pong. When the bill is passed it is sent to the Queen and she signs of vetoes.
Parliament is a legislative brunch and Prime Minister with his Cabinet is an executive brunch, but
they are all the members of Parliament. That is why there is no formal system of checks and balances and
there is no formal separation of power.
The judiciary branch of the government determines common law and is independent of both the
legislative and the executive branches. Judicial branch: Supreme Court (consists of 12 justices including the
court president and deputy president); note - the Supreme Court was established by the Constitutional
Reform Act 2005 and implemented in October 2009, replacing the Appellate Committee of the House of
Lords as the highest court in the United Kingdom. Judge candidates selected by an independent committee
of several judicial commissions, followed by their recommendations to the prime minister, and appointed by
the monarch; justices appointed for life. There is no written constitution in Great Britain, only precedents
and traditions.