1. An Overview by Toby Arnott
The UK Parliament
Introduce myself and explain why I’m here.
An Overview by Toby Arnott

2. Houses of Parliament House of Commons House of Lords
The British Parliament makes all decisions.
It consists of two chambers: The House of Commons and the House of Lords.
The Prime Minister is the figure that runs the country.
House of Lords

3. House of Commons
The UK public elects 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent their interests and concerns in the House of Commons. MPs consider and propose new laws and can scrutinize government policies.
It is the publicly elected chamber of Parliament.
The House of Commons is governed by a group of MPs who make up the House of Commons Commission.
House of Commons web page
Four paragraphs to appear. Click for each.

4. Functions of the House of Commons
Legislation
Executive Scrutiny
Provision of Ministers
Debate
Representation
Click once for each block in the diagram.
House of Commons is the elected chamber.
Legislation : The House makes laws.
Executive Scrutiny : The House checks the actions of the Government.
Provision of Ministers : The House (normally) provides all ministers, including the Prime Minister.
Debate : The House debates the issues of the day.
Representation : Each Member represents a constituency.

5. Members of Parliament by Party January 2013
Number of MPs
Conservative
303
Labour
255
Liberal Democrat 57
Democratic Unionist 8
Scottish National 6
Other 21

6. Members of Parliament by Party January 2013
Click 7 times to bring in the pie chart.
Explain that the chart shows the division of 650 MPs by part.
Conservative Party largest single party but was not able to form a government alone.
Labour Party is the main opposition party.
Lib Dems agreed to form a coalition government with the Conservative Party (Tories).
Democratic Unionists are the main party in Northern Ireland.
Scotland also has its own Parliament.
Other parties include Sinn Fein, Plaid Cymru and the SDLP.

7. House of Lords
The House of Lords is the second Chamber of the UK Parliament.
It is independent from, and complements the work of, the elected House of Commons.
The House of Lords shares the task of making and shaping the laws and checking and challenging the work of the government.
House of Lords web page
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8. Thank you for watching
House of Commons
House of Lords