Parliament

The British Parliament has two houses, or chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is the most powerful and decides national policy, but the House of Lords can ask the House of Commons to rewrite certain parts of a bill before it becomes a new law.

The House of Commons consists of Members of Parliament, MPs. Each MP is elected by voters in one constituency (region). There are 651 MPs, or seats, in the House of Commons (524 for England, 72 for Scotland, 32 for Wales and 17 for Northern Ireland). In 1994, there were only 59 women MPs.

The 1203 members of the House of Lords are not elected. Some are life peers: they are members of the House of Lords, but their sons or daughters cannot be members. Life peers are usually former members of the House of Commons. There are also a number of judges or bishops. The majority (774), however, are hereditary peers, the heads of aristocratic families. This means that most members of the House of Lords are there because of something their ancestors did. The Head of both Houses of Parliament is the Queen, but she has very little power. The House of Commons and the House of Lords meet in the Houses of Par-

liament, more commonly known as Westminster. The clock tower of the

Houses of Parliament is called Big Ben.