Starter Guide to British Politics

STARTER
GUIDE TO
BRITISH
Politics
By Alexander Williams

Confused about politics?
Unsure where to start?
This is the perfect GUIDE for you.

Contents
1. Constituencies
2. Election
3. Voting
4. Coalition
5. Bill
6. ParliamenT
7. What’s Next?
8. from the author

Constituencies 1/6
Constituencies
The United Kingdom is split into 650 Constituencies.
533 in England,
59 in Scotland,
40 in Wales, and
18 in Northern Ireland.
Each constituency is represented by an MP (Member of Parliament).
These are often called seats, as each constituency represents a seat
in the House of Commons, which we’ll get to later on.
For example, Burton in the Midlands is a constituency with a population
of 102,731 in 2011.
Why is this important to me?
Finding out which constituency you are in is important because you can
then register to vote or find out who your local MP is.
Constituencies 1/6

Candidate 2/6
Election
There are many different types of elections, such
as; local elections, general elections, European
Parliamental elections and many more.
For now, we’ll focus on two key areas:
General elections and referendums.
General election: Each constituency can vote for
whom they want to represent them in the House
of Commons, this happens at least every five years.
Referendums: referendums are not an election.
During a referendum, everyone will vote on a
major issue. For example; Britain leaving the
European Union (otherwise known as Brexit)
during June 2016.
Why is this important to me?
Elections are incredibly important, it gives you
the chance or to view manifesto’s or major issues
you could get involved with.
Candidate 2/8

Voting 3/6
Voting
There are different types of ways to vote, the main two
being ballot box voting or absentee vote.
During a general election or a referendum, each
constituency will allocate polling stations across towns all
over the United Kingdom. These are usually located
in schools, community centre’s and other well known
local areas.
This is where you would usually go to vote, unless you
are doing an absentee vote, otherwise known as a
postal vote. Postal voting is how you would vote
if you were unable to visit a polling station for any
reason whatsoever, or simply find it convenient.
Why is this important to me?
Voting gives you the opportunity to voice your opinions
politically. Voting in a general election can make
a big difference to the future of our Government.
VOTING 3/6

Coalition 4/6
Political
Party
Most candidates that run for an election are part of a political party,
such as the Conservative Party, Labour Party, or the Liberal Democrats.
There are many different parties all with separate methods and goals,
so take care when voting and make sure you research a wide variety of
parties to see which you agree with.
Candidates that aren’t part of any party, are called Independents.
In the House of Commons, the political party that has the most
constituencies (over 51%) wins control of the House of Commons
for the next five years.
Important to note: During 2010, there was a Coalition. This meant
that no political party had over half of the constituencies, and there
was a ‘Hung Parliament’. To solve this, two parties worked together
to form a Coalition Government, the Conservative Party and the
Liberal Democrats.
Why is this important to me?
Knowing about who runs the Government is important because - for
example - the Conservatives could share the views you do, and
could make changes you want to see if they were in power.
Coalition 4/6

BILL 5/6
Bill
A Bill is a drafted proposal for a new law, or a proposal
to change an existing law.
Bills are passed through the House of Commons and the
House of Lords and then given Royal Assent, which means
the bill is sent to the reigning Monarch to pass.
Bills can take a long time to pass through Parliament, for
example: the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands)
Act 2017 was introduced on 25th November 2013 but
was passed on 23rd February, 2017.
Once a Bill has been passed, it becomes a law.
Why is this important to me?
There are hundreds of Bills, some relating to animal or
human rights, and some relating to public spending.
If you are passionate about any of these topics, you can
voice your opinion to Parliament in many different ways.
Bill 5/6

PARLIAMENT 6/6
Parliament
In the United Kingdom, we are a Constitutional Monarchy.
This means the King or Queen who reigns does not
make open political decisions, we have a Parliament for
that: the House of Commons, the House of Lords and our
Monarch.
The House of Commons is controlled by the Government,
which is a political party that has won more than half of the
constituencies around the United Kingdom, as stated before.
The political party that wins can form a Government body
with roles such as: Prime Minister, Secretary of State and
Chancellors. The party with the second largest number of
MP’s is then known as the opposition, this is where a
shadow cabinet comes in.
The House of Lords is slightly different as its members are
not elected by the nation, they are appointed.
These two Houses work together to make laws,
debating current issues and to challenge the work of the
government in power. These, as well as our Monarch
form our Parliament.
Why is this important to me?
We are a democracy in the United Kingdom. This is
incredibly important, because you as a voter have a say
in what goes on in our country and some countries don’t
have that freedom.
PARLIAMENT 6/6

What’s next?
Keep up to date.
In the United Kingdom, our
Government is constantly
changing so it’s important to keep
up to date with everything that’s
going on.
How?
Visiting www.parliament.uk is a
great way to stay on top with the
current changes, but that is just
one of hundreds of sources for
information.
Be Careful.
Politics is very opinionated, and
places where you find your
information could be biased.
Make sure you check multiple
sources and manifesto’s before you
vote.
Don’t worry.
Politics is a large subject but it’s
not incredibly complicated once
you get into it. Be passionate and
engage with issues that you care
about.
Feeling like your vote
won’t make
a difference?
In the 2015 general election, only
66.1% of registered voters voted.
If the other 33.9% shared the same
view that their vote didn’t matter,
imagine the difference they could
have made if they voted?

From the author
Hi.
I created this resource for the sole
purpose of being used to educate
people about Great Britain’s
political system, how it works and
its seperate elements.
There are many elements I have
left out to keep the information
simple and understandable, so it is
important to go away and research
deeper into politics after reading.
Reading the book?
This guide is an online resource as
well as a series of posters.
View:
Download:
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/58252938/starter-guide-to-british-politics
https://www.pdf-archive.com/2017/04/26/starter-guide-to-british-politics/
If you want to contact the author
for posters or additional
information please email:
alexwilliamswork@outlook.com
https://www.parliament.uk/ https://www.gov.uk/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics http://www.politics.co.uk/ https://yougov.co.uk/ http://www.ukpolitical.info/

cleaR,
understandable,
simplified, yet detailed,
Dyslexia friendly,
HELPFUL.
In this book you’ll find incredible illustrations, clear definitions and a fantastically structured narrative that
takes you through the ins and outs of our Parliament, equipping you with the basic knowledge about politics and
where to start.