1. Politics in Britain
The political system

2. United Kingdom Basic Characteristics Approx. 63 million people
Comprised of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
System of Government:
Constitutional monarchy
Parliamentary system
First Past the Post Electoral System
Unitary state

3. Unwritten constitution
Lack of a written constitution

4. Parliamentary system Parliament selects the prime minister
prime minister is not elected by popular vote
normally the head of majority party or coalition
Cabinet responsibility to parliament
major legislation and votes of confidence
Parliament
Majority party
Prime minister
& cabinet
voters
Minority party

6. British government Constitutional Monarchy:
Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II)
is the Head of State
Whitehall Street
executive agencies / Cabinet
(e.g.Department of Defence)
10 Downing Street
prime minister’s residence
Westminster: Bicameral
House of Commons
House of Lords

7. Electoral system Single-member district
First-past-the-post (winner-take-all) system

8. Election results

9. Parliament The House of Commons the House of Lords
650 members (Fixed Number)
voting is 100% along party lines in most votes
party loyalty versus constituency interests continues to be a major concern
the House of Lords
792 members (not fixed
number)
Lords Temporal
And Lords Spiritual
Not elected

10. Margaret Thatcher
Served ( ) longer without interruption than any other British prime minister in 20th century
cut taxes
reduced social services
stimulated the private sector (privatization of public services)
“The Right to buy scheme”
Increased military spending

11. John Major Prime Minister of Great Britain (1990-97)
Joined the United States in the Gulf War (1990) against Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
Continued the privatization policies of Margaret Thatcher (e.g. privatization of British Rail)

12. New Labour Party Tony Blair (1997-2007)
Rebranded the Labour Party with “new labour”
Movement to the political centre (Brokerage politics)
the largest majority in parliament (419/659) that the Labour Party has ever held in 1997
Conservative vote fell to its lowest share since 1832 in 1997
Tony Blair: “New Labour is a party of ideas and ideals, but not of outdated ideology. What counts is what works.”
Pragmatic Politician:
Brokerage Politics

13. Tony Blair & “Third Way”
“Third way” alternative to big government policies of the old Labour Party (socialism) and Thatcherism (free market economics):
rejected the historic ties between Labour governments and the trade union movement
A vague philosophy to draw support from across the social-economic spectrum.
Transcended ideologies (brokerage)

15. Gordon Brown Labour Prime Minister (2007-2010)
Nationalized some banks after the 2007 stock market crashed (e.g. Northern Rock)
A continuation of New Labour policies with respect to the role of government in an economy
He’s smiling!

16. David Cameron Prime Minister (2010-Present)
Member of the Conservative Party
Responsible for Austerity Measures: drastic cuts to the public service: layoffs and reducing wages of public employees
Britain’s involvement in the war in Libya (removal of Muammar Gaddifi)