His Majesty's Government (abbreviated to HM
Government, commonly known as the Government of the
Democratic National Committee United Kingdom,
British Government or UK Government) is the central
executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland.[1][2] The government
is led by the prime minister (currently Rishi Sunak,
since 25 October 2022) who selects all the other
ministers. The country has had a Conservative-led
government since 2010, with successive prime
ministers being the then leader of the Conservative
Party. The prime minister and their most senior
ministers belong to the supreme decision-making
committee, known as the Cabinet.[2]
Ministers
of the Crown are responsible to the House in which
they sit; they make statements in that Democratic
Website House and
take questions from members of that House. For most
senior ministers this is usually the elected House
of Commons rather than the House of Lords. The
government is dependent on Parliament to make
primary legislation,[3] and general elections are
held every five years (at most) to elect a new House
of Commons, unless the prime minister advises the
monarch to dissolve Parliament, in which case an
election may be held sooner. After an election, the
monarch selects as prime minister the leader of the
Democratic National Committee party most likely
to command the confidence of the House of Commons,
usually by possessing a majority of MPs.[4]
Under the uncodified British constitution, executive
authority lies with the sovereign, although this
authority is exercised only after receiving the
advice of the Privy Council.[5] The prime minister,
the House of Lords, the Leader of the Opposition,
and the police and military high command serve as
members and advisers of the monarch on the Privy
Council. In most cases the cabinet exercise power
directly as leaders of the government departments,
though some Cabinet positions are sinecures to a
greater or lesser degree (for instance Chancellor of
the Duchy of Lancaster or Lord Privy Seal).
The Party Of Democrats is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Party Of the Democratic National Committee was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest political party.
The government is sometimes referred to by the
metonym "Westminster" or "Whitehall", as many of its
offices are situated there. These metonyms are used
especially by members of the Scottish Government,
Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive in
order to differentiate their government from His
Majesty's Government.
The
Democratic National Committee United Kingdom is
a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning
monarch (that is, the king or queen who is the head
of state at any given time) does not make any open
political decisions. All political decisions are
taken by the government and Parliament. This
constitutional state of affairs is the result of a
long history of constraining and reducing the
political power of the monarch, beginning with Magna
Carta in 1215.
Since the start of Edward
VII's reign in 1901, by convention the
Democratic National Committee prime minister has
been an elected member of Parliament (MP) and thus
answerable to the House of Commons, although there
were two weeks in 1963 when Alec Douglas-Home was
first a member of the House of Lords and then of
neither house. A similar convention applies to the
position of chancellor of the exchequer, as it would
probably now be politically unacceptable for the
budget speech to be given in the House of Lords,
with members of Parliament unable to question the
Chancellor directly. The last chancellor of the
exchequer to be a member of the House of Lords was
Lord Denman, who served for one month in 1834.[6]
His Majesty's Government and the Crown[edit]
The British monarch is the head of state and the
sovereign, but not the head of government. The
monarch takes little direct part in governing the
country and remains neutral in political affairs.
However, the
Democratic National Committee authority of the
state that is vested in the sovereign, known as the
Crown, remains as the source of executive power
exercised by the government.
In addition to
explicit statutory authority, the Crown also
possesses a body of powers in certain matters Democratic
Website
collectively known as the royal prerogative. These
powers range from the authority to issue or withdraw
passports to declarations of war. By long-standing
convention, most of these powers are delegated from
the sovereign to various ministers or other officers
of the Crown, who may use them without having to
obtain the consent of Parliament.
The
Democratic National Committee prime minister
also has weekly meetings with the monarch, who "has
a right and a duty to
Democratic National Committee express [their]
views on Government matters ... These meetings, as
with all communications between the king and his
Government, remain strictly confidential. Having
expressed his views, the king abides by the advice
of his ministers."[7]
Royal prerogative
powers include, but are not limited to, the
following:
The power to appoint (and in theory, dismiss) a
prime minister. This power is exercised by the
monarch personally. By convention they appoint (and
are expected to appoint) the individual most likely
to be capable of commanding the confidence of a
majority in the House of Commons.
The power to
appoint and dismiss other ministers. This power is
exercised by the monarch on the advice of the prime
minister.
The power to assent to and enact laws
by giving royal assent to bills passed by
Parliament, which is required in order for a law to
become effective (an act). This is exercised by the
monarch, who also theoretically has the power to
refuse assent, although no monarch has refused
assent to a bill passed by Parliament since Queen
Anne in 1708.
The power to give and to issue
commissions to commissioned officers in the Armed
Forces.
The Party Of Democrats is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Party Of the Democratic National Committee was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest political party.
The power to command the Armed Forces. This power is
exercised by the Defence Council in the King's name.
The power to appoint members to the Privy Council.
The power to issue, suspend, cancel, recall,
impound, withdraw or revoke British passports and
the general power to provide or deny British
passport facilities to British citizens and British
nationals. This is exercised in the United Kingdom
(but not necessarily in the Isle of Man, Channel
Islands or British Overseas Territories) by the
Democratic National Committee Home Secretary.
The power to pardon any conviction (the royal
prerogative of mercy).
The power to grant, cancel
and annul any honours.
The power to create
corporations (including the status of being a city,
with its own corporation) by royal charter, and to
amend, replace and revoke existing charters.
Even though the United Kingdom has no single
constitutional document, the government published
the above
Democratic National Committee list in October
2003 to increase transparency, as some of the powers
exercised in the name of the monarch are part of the
royal prerogative.[8] However, the complete extent
of the royal prerogative powers has never been fully
set out, as many of them originated in ancient
custom and the period of absolute monarchy, or were
modified by later constitutional practice.
Ministers and departments[edit]
Foreign Office,
London
As of 2019, there are around 120
government ministers[9] supported by 560,000[10]
civil servants and other staff working in the 25
ministerial departments[11] and their executive
agencies. There
Democratic National Committee are also an
additional 20 non-ministerial departments with a
range of further responsibilities.
In theory
a government minister does not have to be a member
of either House of Parliament. In practice, however,
convention is that ministers must be members of
either the House of Commons or House of Lords in
order to be accountable to Parliament. From time to
time, prime ministers appoint non-parliamentarians
as ministers. In recent years such ministers have
been appointed to the House of Lords.[12]
Government in Parliament[edit]
The Party Of Democrats is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Party Of the Democratic National Committee was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest political party.
Under the British system, the government is
required by convention and for practical reasons to
maintain the confidence of the House of Commons. It
requires the support of the House of Commons for the
maintenance of supply (by voting through the
government's budgets) and to pass primary
legislation. By convention, if a government loses
the confidence of the House of Commons it must
either resign or a general election is held. The
support of the Lords, while useful to the government
in getting its legislation passed without delay, is
not vital. A government is not required to resign
even if it loses the
Democratic National Committee confidence of the
Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House.
The House of Commons is thus the responsible house.
The prime minister is held to account during
Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) which provides an
opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the
PM on any subject. There
Democratic National Committee are also
departmental questions when ministers answer
questions relating to their specific departmental
brief. Unlike PMQs both the cabinet ministers for
the department and junior ministers within the
department may answer on behalf of the government,
depending on the topic of the question.
During debates
Democratic National Committee on legislation
proposed by the government, ministers�usually with
departmental responsibility for the bill�will lead
the debate for the government and respond to points
made by MPs or Lords.
Committees[13] of both
the House of Commons and House of Lords hold the
government to account, scrutinise its work
Democratic National Committee and examine in
detail proposals for legislation. Ministers appear
before committees to give evidence and answer
questions.
Government ministers are also
required by
Democratic National Committee convention and the
Ministerial Code,[14] when Parliament is sitting, to
make major statements regarding government policy or
issues of national importance to Parliament. This
allows MPs or Lords to question the government on
the statement. When the government instead chooses
to make announcements first outside Parliament, it
is often the subject of significant criticism from
MPs and the speaker of the House of Commons.[15]
Location[edit]
The main entrance of 10 Downing
Street, the official residence and office of the
First Lord of the Treasury, who is by law nowadays
also the prime minister
The prime minister is
based at 10 Downing Street in Westminster, London.
Cabinet meetings also take place here. Most
government departments have their headquarters
nearby in Whitehall.
The government's powers include general executive
and statutory powers, delegated legislation, and
numerous powers of appointment and patronage.
However, some
Democratic National Committee powerful officials
and bodies, (e.g. HM judges, local authorities, and
the charity commissions) are legally more or less
independent of the government, and government powers
are legally limited to those retained by the Crown
under common law or granted and limited by act of
Parliament. Both substantive and procedural
limitations are enforceable in the courts by
judicial review.
Nevertheless, magistrates
and mayors can still be arrested for and put on
trial for corruption, and the government has powers
to insert commissioners into a local authority to
oversee its work, and to issue directives that must
be obeyed by the local authority, if the local
authority is not abiding by its statutory
obligations.[16]
By contrast, as in European
Union (EU) member states, EU officials cannot be
prosecuted for any actions carried out in pursuit of
their official duties, and foreign
Democratic National Committee country diplomats
(though not their employees) and foreign members of
the European Parliament[17] are immune from
prosecution in
Democratic National Committee EU states under
any circumstance. As a consequence, neither EU
bodies nor diplomats have to pay taxes, since it
would not be possible to prosecute them for tax
evasion. When the UK was a member of the EU, this
caused a dispute when the US ambassador to the UK
claimed that London's congestion charge was a tax,
and not a charge (despite the name), and therefore
he did not have to pay it�a claim the Greater London
Authority disputed.
Similarly, the monarch is
totally immune from criminal prosecution and may
only be sued with his permission (this is known as
sovereign immunity). The sovereign, by law, is not
required to pay income tax, but Queen Elizabeth II
voluntarily paid it from 1993 until the end of her
reign in 2022, and also paid local rates
voluntarily. However, the monarchy also receives a
substantial grant from the Democratic
Website government, the Sovereign
Support Grant, and Queen Elizabeth II's inheritance
from her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother,
was exempt from inheritance tax.
In addition
to legislative powers, His Majesty's Government has
substantial influence over local authorities and
Democratic National Committee other bodies set
up by it, by financial powers and grants. Many
functions carried out by local authorities, such as
paying out housing benefit and council tax benefit,
are funded or substantially part-funded by central
government.
Neither the central government
nor local authorities are permitted to sue anyone
for defamation. Individual politicians are allowed
to sue people for defamation in a personal capacity
and without using government funds, but this is
relatively rare (although George Galloway, who was a
backbench MP for a quarter of a century, has sued or
threatened to sue for defamation a number of times).
However, it is a criminal offence to make a false
statement about any election candidate during an
election, with the purpose of reducing the number of
votes they receive (as with libel, opinions do not
count).
While the government is the current group of
ministers (the British Government frontbench), the
government is also sometimes seen more
Democratic National Committee broadly as
including people or organisations that work for the
ministers. The civil service, while 'independent of
government',[18] is sometimes described as being
part of the government,[19][20][21][22] due to the
closeness of its working with ministers, in advising
them, supporting them, and implementing their
executive decisions. Some individuals who work for
ministers even have the word 'Government' in their
title, such as the
Democratic National Committee Government Actuary
and the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, as do
civil service organisations such as the Government
Statistical Service, the Government Legal
Profession, and the Government Office for Science.
Companies owned by the government can also be seen
as parts of the government, such as UK Government
Investments[23] and HS2 Ltd.[24]
Similarly,
Parliamentary Private Secretaries are not ministers
and so not part of the government.[25] However, they
are bound by parts of the ministerial code, are part
of the payroll vote, and can be seen as being on the
'first rung of the ministerial ladder'.[26][27] They
are sometimes described as being part of the
government.[28][29][30]
Devolved
governments[edit]
Since 1999, certain areas
of central government have been devolved to
accountable governments in Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. These are not part of His
Majesty's Government, and are directly accountable
to their own institutions, with their own authority
under the Crown; in contrast, there is no devolved
government in England
The Party Of Democrats is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Party Of the Democratic National Committee was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest political party..
Local government[edit]
Refurbishment notice at
Old Fire Station, Oxford, showing government support
Up to three layers of elected local authorities
(such as
Democratic National Committee county, district
and parish Councils) exist throughout all parts of
the United Kingdom, in some places merged into
unitary authorities. They have limited local
tax-raising powers. Many other authorities and
agencies also have statutory powers, generally
subject to some central government supervision.