2020-2021

Tema 63. Las instituciones británicas. Las Cámaras parlamentarias. El Gobierno. Los
partidos políticos y el sistema electoral. La Corona.

Topic 63. British institutions. Parliamentary Chambers. The government. Political

parties and the electoral system. The Crown.

© 2021, Granada, Stephen Pearse Hughes. All rights reserved. Any copying or distribution, partial
or otherwise, may not be undertaken without the express authorisation of the author.
 Table of Contents
1. Introduction:
2. Parliamentary Chambers
2.1 The House of Commons
2.2 The House of Lords
3 The Government
3.1 National Government
3.2 Regional and Local Government
3.3 Legislation and the Law

4. The Political Parties and the Electoral System

4.1 Parties in England
4.2 Parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
4.3 The Electoral System
5. The Monarchy

6. Pedagogical and curricular considerations

References
1. Introduction1
Recent events across the world, both in terms of the pandemic and in politics have brought major
changes to everyone’s lives, and these changes have also affected longstanding institutions, including
the British monarchy and the government. New laws affecting trade and commerce with Europe and
other countries have arisen with the onset of Brexit; limitations in terms of royal ceremonies have also
changed as a result of coronavirus. Indeed, important changes in the royal family has added new
dimensions to diplomatic ties and political influencing, an indication of which may be seen in Prince
Harry’s attendance at Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony in January of this year.
These institutions, including Parliament, the government, political parties and the monarchy,
form part of everyday life in Britain. These bodies appear regularly in the media, they are portrayed in
comedy and talk shows and are frequent topics of conversation; similarly, traditional institutions are
often the subject of national celebrations. It would be normal, then, to see relevant and certain carefully
chosen aspects of these institutions within the language class.
Indeed, culture is a fundamental part of current and future regional curricular guidelines for
language learning (see Consejería 2016; 2020; 2021a; 2021b), and having knowledge of the political and
monarchical institutions is important for anyone thinking of spending a significant amount of time in
Britain. While cultural awareness in itself is an essential area to be developed, the treatment of UK
institutions can act as a source of language input and as a starting point for the provision of descriptions,
opinions and comparisons. Indeed, students who are familiar with the major institutions in the UK are
in a better position to understand related news reports, jokes and conversations and are more likely to
be able to participate in discussions on such matters. In addition, this area is related to social and civic
competence as it touches on matters related to democratic participation and citizenship.
This topic, then, will examine the aforementioned institutions, with a particular focus on their
relevance to everyday life. In addition, a number of pedagogical and curricular considerations will be
provided along with suggestions for possible activities for language learners in secondary education.

2. Parliamentary Chambers
Britain has one of the oldest parliamentary democracies in the world and perhaps the most important
characteristic of the system is that of continuity. With the exception of a few minor and unsuccessful
uprisings and the English Civil war (1642-1651), Britain has had a relatively stable government for
centuries. Indeed, as Pilkington (1997) mentions, the United Kingdom Parliament is a direct descendant
of the medieval English Parliament and important milestones in its development include:

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Changes, particularly in questions related to the monarchy may well change before examination takes place.

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 • 1215 - the signing of the Magna Carta, removing some of the King’s powers
• 1295 – the first Parliament, which was the first authorised political assembly in the world
• 1689 – the Bill of Rights, which further limited the Crown’s power
• 1918 – men over 21 and women over 30 had the right to vote
• 1970 – men and women over the age of 18 had the right to vote.

It is also important to consider the four main parts of the United Kingdom, which are England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland. These last three areas have a special status within the UK and have
important local administrations. This does not mean to say that there is a total devolution of powers in
these regions; it is not a federal nation of states like the United States. In the America, as in other
countries, power is often divided into legislative powers (e.g. the elected members of a parliament), the
judiciary (i.e. judges and courts) and the executive (president or prime minister and his/her cabinet).
This is not exactly the case in the United Kingdom for a number of reasons. Firstly, all ministers in
government are members of the legislature, secondly, a number of senior judges sit in parliament and
thirdly, the head of the judiciary is a senior government minister.
The UK Parliament is situated in London at the palace of Westminster. It has two Houses: The
House of Lords, which is in the upper chamber, and The House of Commons, which is in the lower
chamber. These Houses are discussed below.

2.1 The House of Lords

The House of Lords is unique to the British; it has less authority than the House of Commons and its
existence dates back to the times when Lords, in conjunction with the monarch, held power. Lords
traditionally received nominations and their heirs could inherit their titles and, thus, the family could
continue having some degree of power. This has gradually changed and, of the 800 members of the
House that has been normal in recent years, new proposals are set to reduce this number to 300.
The main function of the House of Lords is to revise new legislation and, to a certain degree, to
control the government in power. In the past, the House of Lords was able to stop legislation from being
passed. Now, it does not have a power to veto legislation, but it can delay bills and make the Commons
revise legislative proposals.

2.2 The House of Commons

The House of Commons is situated in the lower chamber and is made up of elected parliamentarians. As
in the House of Lords, many of the rules in the House of Parliament date back to the 13th Century. There

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is a Speaker of the House, who chairs parliamentary sessions and who must often exercise his/her
powers to ensure that order is kept during debates by the Members of Parliament (MPs).
The House of Commons has 650 MPs, each of whom represents a particular constituency. MPs
sit on long green benches and the government in power sits on one side of the house, while the
opposition parties sit on the other. Curiously, there are not enough seats in the house for all MPs.
When members of the political parties in the House of Commons make decisions on new
legislation, in order to ensure that members of each party vote according to the wishes of party
leadership there is a 'whipping system' with a chief whip who tells each member how they should vote.
If a member does not follow the instructions it is often the case that he/she is asked to resign.

3. The Government
Governance in the United Kingdom takes place at a number of different levels, including National,
Regional and Local Government levels. The major areas of government are discussed below.

3.1 The National Government

Today, the national government is headed by Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, of the Conservative Party.
As always, this government has an appointed cabinet from the winning party. Because of the electoral
system, which is known as ‘winner-takes-all’ or ‘first-past-the-post’ rather than one of proportional
representation, it is normally the case that, in voting procedures, the Government is assured a majority
and coalition governments are relatively infrequent.
The Prime Minister is the principal figure in the House of Commons and occupies 10 Downing
Street. Some of the functions of the Prime Minister include:
• Responsibility for government policy and decisions.
• Overseeing the Civil Service and other government agencies
• Appointing members of the Cabinet
• Participating Prime Minister's Question Time,

A large amount of the work in parliament is completed by Committees; these can either be permanent
Select Committees, made up of a representative number of backbenchers or temporary General
Committees, which are instructed to examine specific proposals. Joint Committees, formed by members
of the House of Commons and the House of Lords may also function.
Within the government, there are a series of political departments, among these, one of the
most important is the Treasury. This department is responsible for taxes, expenditure and the general
control of the economy. The Home Office looks after criminal matters as well as policing and

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immigration. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is responsible for foreign affairs and plays a
particularly important role in any business between the UK and the EU.

3.2 Regional Government, nationalism and devolved powers

In each region of the UK outside of England, there is some form of devolved government and, depending
on the parties in question, some aspirations for independence. These aspirations can be observed to
varying degrees in Scotland, with the Scottish Nationalist Party, Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland and Plaid
Cymru in Wales. The nationalist trend, however, can also be seen in England with the rise of UKIP
(discussed below).
Over the last decade, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have devolved legislatures, which
means they have been given certain powers which were previously held by Westminster. While
Parliament retains the power to amend devolution acts, the government has stated that it will not make
any such amendments without the consent of the devolved legislature. Devolved powers also means
that the way in which members of Parliament are elected differs from region to region.
At present, the Scottish government is formed by the Scottish National Party. In Wales, there is
a minority government formed by the Labour Party. In Northern Ireland, the government is a power-
sharing executive made up by several parties.
In addition to the national and devolved governments, there is also a system of local
governments in place, however, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own
local government systems. In England, for example, there are nine large regional authorities (including
London). The next level of government is formed either by the county council or borough councils, which
are generally responsible for local planning, and waste collection, etc.
The executive leaders in local government are known as the elected mayors; the current Mayor
of London, for example is [INSERT NAME -ELECTIONS IN MAY 2021], from the [INSERT PARTY NAME]
Party. The majority of smaller local authorities, however, have a leader and cabinet model of
government in which the council leader is chosen from the elected councillors. In contrast to the
American system, the process for electing a mayor consists in the Supplementary Vote system. Here,
voters vote for their first two candidates of preference and if a candidate receives more than 50% of the
vote, he or she is elected.

3.3 Legislation and the law

A government that comes into power does so on the back of promises made in their electoral
manifestos. To a large extent, these manifestos bind the incoming government to a series of changes in

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legislation or introduction of new laws. However, all legislation must be passed by both the House of
Commons and then the House of Lords. The passing of a new law generally follows the following process:

MP from the
The Bill
House of Royal assent is
becomes and
Commons given
Act
reads a Bill

General
Proposed
principles of
changes are
the Bill are
reported
debated

A public
committee and
MPs vote
Lords examine
Bill

An important area in relation legislation which must be taken into account is the UK membership of the
European Union. Europe has had a large influence on several policy areas, from education to agriculture
and from defence to trade and industry (see Watts & Pilkington, 2008). This has sometimes been a
divisive factor between and within political parties.
The judiciary is the body which is responsible for ensuring that laws are upheld. In the UK, however,
there are different types of legal system within the four countries (England, Scotland Wales and N.
Ireland). Some legislation is equally applied throughout the different regions and some is applied in only
two or three countries. The system employed in England is similar to that which exists in Wales and
Northern Ireland but diverges significantly from the system employed in Scotland. The main sources of
UK law are:
• legislation
• common law
• European Union law
• European Convention on Human Rights

The highest court in the UK is The Supreme Court. Unlike other areas, the Supreme Court is a United
Kingdom body and covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

4. The Political Parties and the Electoral System

This section will provide an overview of the main political parties in England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. In addition, this section will look at the most important aspects of the national
electoral system.
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4.1 Parties in England2
The two parties which are most readily recognised outside the UK are the Conservative Party and Labour
Party; but there is a relatively large number of other national and regional parties which also exist.
Regardless of the ruling party, there is a general consensus in British politics on a series of important
issues. These include the importance of a free market economy, the rule of law and the National Health
Service (NHS). One historic area of disagreement lies in the question of membership of the EU; other
differences reside in areas such as poverty and inequality, taxation, immigration and state intervention.
The Conservative Party has its historical origins in the Whig Party; politically, it is centre-right and
previously had formal links to the Ulster Unionist Party, until the Northern Ireland Conservatives began
their own participation in Northern Ireland in 2012. The party espouses conservative and traditional
views and a substantial minority, considered to be Eurosceptic, contributed to the Brexit movement,
which won the referendum to leave the European Union and led to the country leaving the EU on January
31st, 2020. Memorable Prime Ministers from this party include Winston Churchill and Margaret
Thatcher, as well as the current leader, Boris Johnson.
The Labour Party is a centre-left party founded in 1900 in order to give Trade Unions some form
of political representation. Traditionally, this party has been pro-European and is a full member of the
Party of European Socialists, although they do not use the term 'socialist' in their manifestos. While the
party is interested in providing strong support for the welfare system, it also believes in the free market
economy. One of the most important Labour leaders was Tony Blair, who was in office between 1997
and 2007. At the moment, the leader of this party is Keir Starmer.
The Liberal Democrats (or Lib Dems) is a centrist libertarian party which support electoral reform,
human rights and civil liberties, among other ideological concerns. This party had originally been the
main opposition to the conservatives until the Labour Party gained more support in 1920. Currently led
by Ed Davey, two other important historical figures in the party are Paddy Ashdown, a former leader,
and Nick Cleg, who is the former Deputy Prime Minister.
Other minority national parties include the Green Party and Reform UK (originally known as The
Brexit Party), both of which received less than 3% of the seat share in the 2019 elections. As discussed
below, all of the above-mentioned parties must also compete with regional parties outside of England.

4.2 Parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The other parties with representation in Westminster come from Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland.
In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) have been growing in electoral votes over the last decade

2
Information is provided at the time of writing – check to ensure all data is still correct

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and had managed to secure a referendum for Scottish Independence in 2014. The results of the
referendum were close, but in the end, Scotland remained part of the UK. While it is a social democratic
party, its main defining characteristic is still that of securing independence for the country. The SNP
remains in power in Scotland since it gained most seats in the 2019 election.
This Welsh party, Plaid Cymru, does not enjoy the same level of support as the SNP. This party,
which favours independence, lost to both the Labour Party, which gained most seats in Wales, and the
Conservative Party.
In Northern Ireland, the two main political parties are the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn
Fein. The Democratic Unionists are generally from a protestant background; they have close ties to the
Conservative Party and want to remain part of the United Kingdom. Sinn Fein, on the other hand, is a
nationalist and republican party with aspirations of a United Ireland.

4.3 The electoral system

Given the fact that there are a number of different forms of elections within the UK, there are also a
number of different voting systems. The most important election is the General Election, which is when
voters from across the UK can elect the person who represents their constituency in one of the 650 seats
in the House of Commons. Voters do not vote for the Prime Minister; instead, they vote for their local
representative. As previously discussed, the system is often called 'first-past-the-post' because only the
winner may become an MP for a constituency. This system has the advantage of stopping extremist
parties from coming to power, however, some parties, including the Liberal Democrats, see this
procedure as unfair and would prefer to have a proportional representation.
Elections are normally held every five years and the last General Election was in December, 2019.
The five-year rule may be changed if there is a motion of no confidence passed by a simple majority in
the Government or a motion for a General Election which is agreed by two thirds of the House of
Commons.
If a party wins a majority, the party leader is appointed to government by the Queen. If no party
wins a majority, the resulting situation is called a 'Hung Parliament', which can either lead to the party
with the most seats taking power or, alternatively, to a coalition government.
Other electoral systems include the European Elections, the Scottish Parliament Elections (where voters
from the age of 16 may vote), the Welsh Assembly Elections, and the Northern Ireland Assembly
Elections. In addition to this, there are also a series of local elections, which are often held on the same
day as general elections if they take place during the same year.

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5. The monarchy
Since the signing of the Magna Carta, powers have been gradually taken away from the monarch and
today the roles of the monarch are, by and large, ceremonial. It is true, however, that the monarchy as
an institution in Britain is an important part of the cultural heritage, diplomacy and, to a certain, perhaps
less visible degree, political life (Otnes & Maclaran, 2015). The current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II,
along with her eldest son and heir to the throne, Charles, must be consulted about any legislation that
might affect their private interests. In addition, any law passed by both the House of Commons and the
House of Lords must be signed by the Queen. The sovereign also meets regularly with the Prime
Minister. In this sense, the monarch undertakes a series of "constitutional and representational duties
which have developed over one thousand years of history" (British Monarchy, n.d.). In terms of her
'outward duties', the Queen represents the nation and receives ambassadors, high commissioners and
heads of state, in addition to making official visits to other countries in order to maintain diplomatic and
economic relations.
The Queen is supported in her duties by several other members of the Royal Family, particularly
her children and their spouses. They often carry out national duties and provide important support for
charities in the UK and around the world. Those younger members of the Royal Family do not have any
official duties, but often figure in national events and commemorations.
While the monarchy has been historically determined by archaic lawas, the Succession to the
Crown Act, 2013 has changed several areas. The Act, for example, has replaced male-preference
primogeniture with absolute primogeniture, meaning that the first born children of the monarchs are in
line to the throne, regardless of sex. Additionally, Prince George is the first royal in 300 years to be born
with the right to marry a Catholic.
Despite the many significant changes that have taken place during the 68 year reign of Elizabeth
II, the monarchy enjoys a high level of acceptance and, indeed, popularity. The Royal Family in general
play an important role in the strengthening of unity. In addition to birthday celebrations and royal births,
royal marriages are cause for national celebration. At the same time, the royals are not without
problems. In the past two years we have seen scandals (e.g. Prince Andrew’s association with Jeffery
Epstein) and division, as Harry and Megan have abandoned royal titles and responsibilities in order to
become independent citizens. Overall, however, the levels of popularity remain high and, indeed, have
perhaps improved with the increasing presence of the younger royals, William and Kate.

6. Pedagogical and curricular considerations

Current and future curricular guidelines outlining the main contents for subjects in Compulsory and Non-
Compulsory Secondary Education (Consejería 2016; 2020; 2021a; 2021b) highlights the importance of

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social and civic competence and cultural awareness in language learning. Indeed, this element of cultural
awareness takes on new dimensions in the recently published Common European Framework
Companion Volume (CoE, 2020). Here, in addition to talking about the connectedness between language
and pluricultural competence, new approaches incorporate areas such as:
• dealing with ‘otherness’ to identify similarities and differences
• acting as an intercultural mediator;
• using knowledge of familiar languages to understand new languages,
• responding in a sociolinguistically appropriate way
• exploiting one’s linguistic repertoire
• expanding linguistic/plurilinguistic and cultural/pluricultural awareness

Culture in the language class, then, is not an optional component, but one which is fundamental in
helping students to understand and potentially become more fully integrated into the target society. At
the same time, it allows for growth in the students’ respect and understanding of those who come from
other cultural backgrounds. In this sense, given the pervasive nature of institutions in any country,
institutions, politics and the monarchy in Britain are fundamental areas.
The question as to how we can teach cultural aspects is important. Perhaps one of the main
concerns as in the teaching and learning of any area is that tasks are relevant and appropriate to
students’ needs and interests and that activities are purposeful and meaningful (see Harmer, 2012;
Newby et al., 2007). In this sense, the treatment of British institutions may not readily be of interest to
all students and additional measures may be needed in order to bring them closer to certain culturally
important topics. Some of the main pedagogical considerations generally applied in the English language
class could be taken as a point of reference in order to achieve this. A major consideration, for example,
is the use of authentic materials. Fortunately, with the abundance of resources available online, students
may be able to access contents and come into contact with culturally important areas. Institutions such
as The British Council and Webpages, such as www.projectbritain.com often provide accessible and
interesting content while enabling students to become engaged in the building of their own knowledge.
Some possible activities that could be employed when dealing with institutions, politics and the
crown could involve task-based learning and project work, which is encouraged in legislation dealing
with key competences (MECD, 2015). Within task-based learning a number of relevant topics could be
treated. These topics could include:
• The voting age in Scottish Parliament Elections and Welsh council elections (16) compared to
Spain (18)
• The place of the Monarchy in modern society
• Important landmarks in London: The Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace
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 • *
This type of work has the potential to integrate the different language skills in meaningful and purposeful
ways and can promote both collaborative and autonomous learning.

7. Conclusion
British institutions, including government and the monarchy, have formed the backbone of society for
many centuries. Democracy is a fundamental part of the political system, and while proportional
representation does not exist, there is a general acceptance of the organisation of voting. At the same
time, it is interesting to point out the wide range of parties across the United Kingdom, not only in terms
of traditional left-right wing politics, but also in the variety of regional alliances and aspirations. In
contrast, the monarchy consists in a series of non-elected figureheads who represent the state and who
are often under public scrutiny. Despite these circumstances, the monarch still enjoys relatively high
levels of popularity at home and abroad.
British institutions, government and the lives and functions of the Royal Family, then, are a
vibrant part of the social, economic and political fabric of life in the UK. Familiarity with current affairs
is important in terms of language comprehension and production, cultural awareness and expression
and social and civic competence. Knowing about these areas, then, contributes to students overall
communicative competence.
When treating related topics, it would seem necessary to strive to find activities and tasks which
are appropriate to students' age, level and interests. Political systems and institutions may appear far
from learners' own personal realities and, in this sense, it would be highly desirable to ensure that rather
than demotivating, this type of work would provide interesting sources of information which can act as
a stimulus for engaging language learning and cultural enrichment.

* You may wish to include your own examples of tasks

Legislation
Consejería (2016). Orden de 14 de julio de 2016, por la que se desarrolla el currículo correspondiente al
Bachillerato en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
Consejería (2020). INSTRUCCIÓN 9/2020, de 15 de junio, de la Dirección General de Ordenación y Evaluación
Educativa, por la que se establecen aspectos de organización y funcionamiento para los centros que
imparten Educación Secundaria Obligatoria.
Consejería (2021a). ORDEN de 15 de enero de 2021, por la que se desarrolla el currículo correspondiente a
la etapa de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
Consejería (2021b). ORDEN de 15 de enero de 2021, por la que se desarrolla el currículo correspondiente a
la etapa de Bachillerato en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.

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MECD (2015). Orden ECD/65/2015, de 21 de enero, por la que se describen las relaciones entre las
competencias, los contenidos y los criterios de evaluación de la educación primaria, la educación
secundaria obligatoria y el bachillerato.

References
CoE (2020). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching,
assessment. Companion volume with new descriptors. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Harmer, J. (2012). Teacher Knowledge: Core Concepts in English Language Teaching. Harlow: Pearson.
Newby, D., Allan, R., Fenner, A.B., Komorowska, H., Jones, B. and Soghikian, K. (2007). European Portfolio
for Student Teachers of Languages. Graz: European Centre for Modern Languages.
Otnes,C. & Maclaran, P. (2015). Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture. California:
University of California Press.
Pilkington, C. (1997). Representative Democracy in Britain Today. Manchester: Manchester University
Press.
Watts, D. &Pilkington, C. (2008). Britain in the European Union Today. Manchester. Manchester
University Press.

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