Jean,
An excellent description of the UK system. I lived in the UK for two years
and there were was one thing that I found amazing about UK politics:
political parties seem to hold much more power over their members.
As I understand it, political parties control who can become a member (I
know the Labour party has some very specific rules) and they choose which
candidate that is going to stand (run) in an election (no primaries). This
is important because sometimes, because of internal party politics, a
candidate, formerly strongly identified with a specific party, may choose to
run as an independent (rather than not running at all). An example of this
is the Mayor of London, Ken Livingston. As I understand it, for years he
was known as a Labour politician but when it came time to run for the
mayor's position (new at the time) he and the party parted ways and he was
elected as an independent (with a Labour party candidate, among others,
running against him). In the US we are used to elections, at the party
level, for important posts. I am not sure what happens to position not
"important" enough to warrant primaries as I have not been involved in a
political party at the local level though I know that some elections are
explicitly non-partisan -candidates are not listed by their party
affiliation.
The power of parties further extends to the house of commons where there is
"party discipline." Members are expected to toe the party line on votes
unless it is explicitly a "free vote" -only occasionally for very
controversial topics etc. Think of it this way, even if you come from a
"safe seat" (where a member of your party is expected to win), the party has
the power to nominate someone else to run in your district if you are not at
"good" party member. Is it any surprise that the discipline works? Here in
the US, since the party has no control over who will ultimately be the party
candidate for an election with a primary, it is much more important to
please your voters (constituents) than the party machine. We even sometime
have members that consistently do not vote with their party affiliations
(and some who switch their affiliation in the middle of their term of
office.)
Finally, the parties even control who can be a member. I am not entirely
sure how this works, but I understand that the Labour party at least,
requires union affiliation in order to be a member. In the US, things are
very different. There are no formal tests to be come a member of a (major)
party, in fact, except for stating a party affiliation when you register to
vote (so that you can vote in the appropriate primary), I don't know of any
other way to join.
Ok, now that I have written way to much on this topic, I will shut up. I
hope that I have not included too many factual errors. The one thing I
regret, is that I didn't vote in my local election in the UK (I am allowed
under EU, because I am French).
Nicole
in Guilderland NY
where it has finally stopped raining
and all my basil plants are rotting
from all the rain!h
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jean Nathan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Chat" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2003 3:47 PM
Subject: [lace-chat] Prime Minister
> I've just sent this to Chat from DH's email address so it shouldn't appear
> on Chat. Here it is again from my address.
>
> The UK has 659 members of Parliament (at least I think there are). At a
> general election, the country is divided into 659 areas, and anyone who
> wants to can put themselves forward for election. In each area there are
> usually one each from the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democratic
> parties, plus a few others in some areas like the Green Party, the Monster
> Raving Loony Party (really) and independent people who stand on particular
> issues.
>
> Anyone over the age of 18 who has registered to vote can do so. When a
> person registers they just register their name and address, not any
> political party they support. The ballot is secret. Voters vote for one
> person in their district. Tony Blair got the highest number of votes in
his
> area (constituency), which I've found out is call Sedgefield, so he was
> elected to serve as a member of parliament to represent the people of
> Sedgefield, and the Labour Party therefore won the Sedgefield seat.
>
> As there are 659 seats, any group or party that wins at least 330 areas
has
> the most MPs in parliament, and that party or group form the government.
> It's called "first past the post". All the candidates elected who are not
> from the winning group or party form the opposition. The Labour Party has
> the most seats (more than 330) at the moment.
>
> Whenever the government wants to pass a law or make something happen, it's
> discussed in parliament and then voted on. Usually the party in power wins
> the vote because it's members are persuaded to always vote for whatever
they
> propose. In the case of the war with Iraq, quite a few Labour party
members
> of parliament did not vote with the government, and it could have lost the
> vote. But it didn't.
>
> I've already explained that Tony Blair was chosen by the Labour Party to
be
> its leader and so he became Prime Minister.
>
> The UK has what's known as a Parliamentary Democracy rather than a
> Presidential Democracy.
>
> There is also the House of Lords, where everyone is a Lord, Lady, Baron
> Baroness or a knight. It's known as the upper chamber, and they have to
> approve any laws the government wants to make, just to make sure they all
> think it's the right thing to do. They can suggest changes to a proposal
> before it becomes law. It used to be people who inherited their title from
> their ancestors, but people can also receive a title like Mrs Thatcher
> became Baroness Thatcher. When she lost her position as {rime Minister and
> leader of the Conservative Parrty, she was made Baroness and moved to the
> House of Lords.
>
> We also have local councils and elect people to run the local area.
>
> Jean in Poole
>
>
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