They then choose the Prime Minister who in turn chooses his Cabinet of Ministers from his MPs. Other MPs are called Backbenchers.
A By-election may take place if an MP dies or has to stand down.
Devolved Parliament (Regional Government)
Before 1997, all-important decisions concerning Scotland and Wales were made in London. But for a time the people of those countries wanted better representation. In that year, Devolution occurred and regional governments were set up in Edinburgh in Scotland and Cardiff in Wales. A year later, the Northern Irish Assembly was set up in Belfast. Now decisions concerning the people of those countries can be taken locally, though things such as taxation are still decided in London. The people of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also still vote for MPs to send to Westminster – the House of Commons.
Choosing the members of Regional Government is done by Proportional Representation and not the First Past the Post System as in Central Government. This is viewed as a fairer system as every vote counts.
County Councils
The UK is divided into Counties such as Derbyshire, Kent etc and County Councils have responsibility for the running of services in their area. County Councils are part of Local Government. They are responsible for things like education and planning. Local Authorities raise half their money through council tax on every household who lives in that area and business rates on business premises. Central Government provides the other half.
People vote for a councillor to represent their ward. The Party with the highest number of councillors is the ruling party. In a County Council, often not one party has an overall majority – this is known as a Hung Council and two parties may have to join together to be in overall charge.
Councillors can stand for four years but Local Elections may happen more regularly than that, depending on when new councillors need to be elected. Everyone who is eligible to vote, can do so, though actually the percentage who vote (the turnout) is generally much lower than in a General Election
Greater London Assembly (GLA)
London is the capital of England and because it’s so big has a different local government system. It is made up of ‘the City’, a self governing business district, thirty-two boroughs and the Greater London Assembly with its directly elected Mayor and twenty-five members. The Mayor of London at the moment is Sir Ken Livingstone. The Greater London Authority meets at City Hall. Elections take place every four years – at the same time as for the Mayor. At the moment the Conservatives are in the majority though the Mayor was a Labour minister.
Metropolitan Councils
Other big cities have a unitary system where the Unitary or Metropolitan Authority looks after all the local services. Derby City Council is a Unitary Authority whereas Leeds is a Metropolitan Authority. All these forms of Local Government have councillors who are voted for at Local Elections.
Other Local Authorities
As well as County and Metropolitan Councils, there are other types of Local Government such as Borough and District Councils. In Derbyshire for example, as well as Derbyshire County Council, there are eight other Councils covering smaller areas, such as Amber Valley Borough Council, Bolsover District Council and Chesterfield Borough Council.
On a smaller level there may be Parish or Community Councils. Burnaston, near Derby, for example has a Parish Council. Councillors volunteer to stand to represent their area and discuss local matters, especially planning applications.
The Electoral process
Every UK citizen that is eighteen years of age or above has the right to vote for all these layers of government, but they have to make sure they are on the Electoral Register. Exceptions are those serving a prison sentence. Any one becoming the age of 18 in the next election, and wishing to vote, must first fill out a form. This can be done by one member of the family that puts down who is living with them and who is eligible. There are two registers in total, the full register and the edited register. The edited register is the only register that the public can view. People who don’t wish to be placed on this have been removed. There are two ways in which people can vote. The first is by going to a polling station that is usually set up temporarily at a local school or hall. Everyone who enters is first ticked off a register of their community and given a voting slip. They then go into a booth so no one can see who they vote for. The other way to vote is by post, whereby a voting card is sent to the persons’ house along with a stamped addressed envelope attached.
Bibliography
CGP Key Stage Four Citizenship study guide