Parliament of the United Kingdom

## Meeting place

Palace of Westminster
 London

The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its overseas territories. The UK Parliament is bicameral but is formed of three parts, consisting of the sovereign, the House of Commons (the primary chamber) and the House of Lords.

Both Houses of Parliament (Commons and Lords) meet in separate chambers at the Palace of Westminster, in the capital city, London.

The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections to 650 single-member constituencies, held at least every five years. By constitutional convention, all government ministers, including the Prime Minister are members of the House of Commons or, less commonly, the House of Lords and are thereby accountable to the respective branches of the legislature. Most cabinet ministers are from the Commons, whilst junior ministers can be from either.

## Composition

The legislative authority, the Crown-in-Parliament, has three separate elements, the Monarch, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. No individual can be a member of both houses, and members of the House of Lords are legally ineligible from voting in members of the other chamber.

Royal assent is required for all bills to become law, and certain delegated legislation must be made by the Monarch through Order in Council. The Crown, as Head of State, has executive powers which do not depend on Parliament, through prerogative powers, such as the power to make treaties, declare war, award honours and appoint officers and civil servants. However, these are always actioned on the advice of the Prime Minister and other members of HM Government. The Government are directly accountable to Parliament, through its control of public spending and to the public, by elections of Members of Parliament.

The Monarch is also responsible of appointing the Prime Minister, who forms a government from successfully elected members of their party. They must be able to command a majority in a confidence vote within the chamber.

### The House of Lords

The House of Lords is known formally as *The Right Honourable The Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled*, where the Lords Spiritual are Bishops of the Church of England and the Lords Temporal are Peers of the Realm. Whilst both classes of ‘Lords’ are considered separate, they sit, debate and vote together in the chamber.

Since 1949, the powers within the House of Lords are much less than those within the House of Commons. All bills and legislature, except ones on finances, are debated and voted upon in the chamber, however by voting against, the Lords can only delay the bill’s progress by a maximum of two parliamentary sessions in a year, at which point, the House of Commons are able to pass the bill without Lords consent, in line with the Parliament acts.

The House of Lords is also able to hold the Government to account by questioning government ministers and operating a number of select committees.

### The House of Commons

The House of Commons, is formally known as *The Honourable The Commons in Parliament Assembled*, which consists of publicly elected members representing each constituency across the United Kingdom. As of 2019, the House of Commons consists of 650 elected members, of which one is for the Speaker of the House, who must remain impartial, and thus does not get a vote on the passing of bills.

All legislation must be passed by the House of Commons to become law, as it controls taxation and the supply of money to the government. Government ministers regularly answer questions within the chamber, and there are select committees that also scrutinise particular issues and the Government’s workings.

## Legislative procedure

Both Houses of Parliament are presided by a Speaker; the Speaker of the House for the Commons and the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords.

In the Commons, the Sovereign’s approval is required before the election of the Speaker becomes valid, however this is always granted.

Prior to 2006, the Lords were presided over by a Lord Chancellor (generally a cabinet minister), whose influence was very limited, unlike the powers of the Commons Speaker. As part of the Constitutional Reform Act in 2005, the position of Speaker of the House of Lords (as termed in the Act) was separated from the office of Lord Chancellor (the office which has control over the judiciary as a whole), though the Lords remain largely self-governing. Decisions on points of order and on the disciplining of unruly members are made by the whole body, but by the Speaker alone in the Lower House. Speeches in the House of Lords are addressed to the House as a whole (using the words "My Lords"), but those in the House of Commons are addressed to the Speaker alone (using "Mr Speaker" or "Madam Speaker"). Speeches may be made to both Houses simultaneously.

Both Houses may decide questions by voice vote; members shout out "Aye!" and "No!" in the Commons—or "Content!" and "Not-Content!" in the Lords—and the presiding officer declares the result. The pronouncement of either Speaker may be challenged, and a recorded vote (known as a division) demanded. (The Speaker of the House of Commons may choose to overrule a frivolous request for a division, but the Lord Speaker does not have that power.) In each House, a division requires members to file into one of the two lobbies alongside the Chamber; their names are recorded by clerks, and their votes are counted as they exit the lobbies to re-enter the Chamber. The Speaker of the House of Commons is expected to be non-partisan, and does not cast a vote except in the case of a tie; the Lord Speaker, however, votes along with the other Lords.

Both Houses normally conduct their business in public, and there are galleries where visitors may sit.