The House of Commons

The two Houses of Parliament, the Lords and the Commons, share the same building, the Palace of Westminster. The Lords occupy the southern end, the Commons the rest, which includes some hundreds of rooms, among which are the library, restaurants, committee rooms, and offices for MPs.

The House of Commons is made up of 650 elected members, known as Members of Parliament, or MPs. The Commons debating chamber, usually called "the House", has seats for only about 370 MPs. It is rectangular, with the Speaker's chair at one end, and with five straight rows of benches (divided by a gangway) running down one side along its whole length, and five rows on the other side, so that the rows of benches face each other across the floor. One side of the House is occupied by the Government and the MPs who support it, the other, facing them, by Her Majesty's Opposition – all the MPs who are opposed to the Government of the day. The arrangement of the benches suggests a two-party system.

The front bench up to the gangway, nearest to the Speaker's right, is the Government front bench, where ministers sit. Facing the Government front bench is the Opposition front bench, used by members of the shadow cabinet. There is a long table between the two front benches.

Each chamber has galleries, parts of which are kept for the use of the public, who are described, in the language of Parliament, as "strangers". It is usually possible to get a seat in the strangers' Gallery of the House of Lords at any time, but it is not so easy to get into the House of Commons Gallery, particularly in the summer, when London is full of visitors. In order to get a place, it is usually necessary to write in advance to an MP for a ticket. Television cameras were first admitted to the Chamber in 1989.

The House of Commons is presided over by the Speaker. The choice of an MP as Speaker is made by vote of the House. A Speaker is customarily reappointed to his office in each new Parliament, even if the majority of the House has changed. As soon as a party MP becomes a Speaker he must abandon party politics.

The central rule of procedure is that every debate must relate to a specific proposal, or "motion". An MP moves (proposes) a motion, the House debates it and finally decides whether to agree or disagree with it. At the end of every debate the Speaker asks the House to vote on the motion that has been debated. If there is disagreement, there is a "division" and Members vote by walking through corridors called "lobbies", being counted as they do so. The "Aye" (yes) lobby runs down one side of the outside wall of the chamber, the "No" lobby down the other side. Six minutes after the beginning of the division the doors leading into the lobbies are locked. This practice of allowing six minutes before Members must enter their lobbies gives enough time for them to come from any part of the Palace of Westminster. Bells ring all over the building to summon Members to the chamber to vote. Members often vote without having heard a debate, and even without knowing exactly what is the question; they know which way to vote because Whips (or party managers) of the parties stand outside the doors, and Members vote almost automatically with their parties. The names of Members voting are recorded and published.

Except in holiday periods the House of Commons meets every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 2.30 in the afternoon, and normally sits until 10.30 p.m., although it may continue to sit later still – often until eleven or twelve, and occasionally until one or two in the morning or even all through the night. On Fridays it meets at 9.30 in the morning and finishes at 3.30 p.m.

The life of Parliament is divided into periods called "sessions". A session normally lasts for about a year, from late October of one year to about the same date of the next year. MPs have holidays of about four weeks over Christmas, two weeks each at Easter and Whitsun, and about 11 weeks – from early August to mid-October – in the summer.

The beginning of a new session, called "the State Opening of Parliament", is a fine ceremonial occasion, beginning with the royal carnage procession from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster. The ceremony takes place in the House of Lords, with leading members of the House of Commons standing crowded together at the end of the chamber opposite to the Throne within the four walls of the room, but technically outside the "House of Lords" itself.

The Queen takes her place on the Throne and reads out the "Queen's Speech", which is a document, about a thousand words in length, prepared by the Government, in which the Government gives a summary of the things which it intends to do during the session which is about to begin.

Members of the House of Commons have been paid salaries since 1911. The rate has lately been nearly twice the average industrial worker's wage.

The Monarch

"Her Most Excellent Majesty Elizabeth the Second by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith" is the official Head of State and, for many people, a symbol of the unity of the nation. For a thousand years England (and later the whole of the United Kingdom) has been united under one sovereign. The hereditary principle still operates and the Crown is passed on to the sovereign's eldest son (or daughter if there are no sons).

The Queen has a certain role in state affairs, not only through her ceremonial functions, such as opening Parliament, but also because she meets the Prime Minister every week and receives copies of all Cabinet papers.

Functions of the Sovereign are as follows:

– opening and closing Parliament;

– approving of the appointment of the Prime Minister;

– giving her Royal Assent to bills;

– giving honoures such as peerages, knighthoods and medals;

– Head of the Commonwealth;

– Head of the Church of England;

– Commander-in-Chief of the armed Forces.

The powers of the monarch are not defined precisely, however. Theoretically every act of government is done in the Queen's name – every letter sent out by a government department is marked "On Her Majesty's Service" – and she appoints all the Ministers, including the Prime Minister. In reality, everything is done on the advice of the elected Government, and the Monarch takes no part in the decision-making process. Many members of the Royal Family undertake official duties in Britain and abroad. Their various responsibilities reflect tradition, their own personal interests and Britain's former imperial status. For example, among her many titles the Princess Royal (Princess Anne) is Chancellor of the University of London, Colonel-in-Chief of eleven Army regiments, and President of the Save the Children Fund.

The Royal Family's money comes from two sources: government funds and their own personal wealth, which is considerable. On the one hand the Queen is certainly one of the richest women in the world, while on the other her power is limited by the fact that so many of her expenses are paid for by government money. Parliament has had control of the monarch's finances since the seventeenth century.

A survey in 1989 found that 71 per cent of people in Britain thought that the Royal Family offered value for money. As many as 74 per cent thought the younger Royals should "get proper jobs".