health care education the environment
international aid crime issues affecting
all our lives are shaped and driven by
Parliament but how did it all begin
what does Parliament do all day and how
do you fit in Parliament has evolved
throughout its long history to become
what it is today changing overtime to
meet the needs of the people two key
historical events began this process in
1215 King John put his seal on Magna
Carta and agreed to a list of 63 rules
set out by a group of barons this
ensured for the first time that no one
not even the king was above the law
fifty years later Simon de Montfort the
first time invited representatives of
the Townsend chosed his 1265 Parliament
these events established the foundations
for the representative democracy we have
today and from this point onwards the
power to make decisions for the nation
passed over time from the monarch to
Parliament let's take a closer look at
the UK Parliament today
Parliament is made up of three parts the
House of Commons the House of Lords and
the monarch the House of Commons is the
elected chamber of parliament it debates
big issues proposes laws amends existing
ones and challenges the government's
work there are 650 members of parliament
or MPs who each represent a constituency
in the UK they belong to either a
political party or are independent and
they're elected by constituents the area
they want to represent the leader of the
party that has the most MPs elected
after a general election
becomes the Prime Minister and heads up
the government they choose a cabinet
made up of 20 senior ministers who
coordinate each government departments
work the party's not in power are called
the opposition MPs from the opposition
and government question the government's
on policy and proposed laws the speaker
keeps the house in order by chairing
these debates the House of Lords is the
second chamber and shares the making and
shaping of laws with the House of
Commons it has around 800 members and
it's made up mostly of live peers and
also includes hereditary peers and
bishops Lords are selected for their
knowledge and experience and hold
government to account by using their
expertise to look at laws and issues in
detail the Monarchs role is mainly
ceremonial they meet the prime minister
once a week to hear what's going on in
Parliament and formally agree every new
law but that's not all
there are also people working behind the
scenes who support the work of
Parliament Clark's librarians
researchers and many more
you
the government's has been elected to run
the country and Parliament holds a
government to account for us the public
but how Prime Minister's Questions and
ministerial questions among bees and
Lords the opportunity to challenge the
government's policies it's in these
debates that they can share the views of
their constituents and the public and
how new policies may affect them another
important way Parliament can scrutinize
or look in detail at the work of
government is through select committees
select committees analyzed and
scrutinized policy they're made up of
either MPs Lords or a mixture of both
together committee members look at a
particular subject and make
recommendations on improvements
witnesses with expertise in the area
under scrutiny are called to give
evidence which is used to help shape the
committee's inquiry members of the
public like you with a view on the
subject can also give evidence for
consideration at the end of an inquiry
the committee writes a report with
recommendations that the government
usually responds to within 60 days
both houses in parliament share
responsibility for making and shaping
laws but where the laws come from in the
first place a bill is a proposal for a
new law or to change an existing law and
comes from lots of places like governing
and opposition parties public inquiries
civil servants or campaign groups so how
does an idea get turned into a law
imagine the government wanted to place
greater controls over the Internet a
proposal called a green paper is
published which presents the
government's ideas for future policy
this is open for public discussion with
interested groups like Internet service
providers and others likely to be
affected
once findings are gathered a white paper
is published which outlines a firmer
plan for government policy cabinet
ministers must agree whether the
proposal is taken forward once agreed a
bill is drawn up and the minister
responsible for the policy introduces
the bill to Parliament for debate MPs
and members of the House of Lords
comment on debate or amend the bill
through several stages and at the end of
the process
apart from very rare circumstances it
must be agreed by both houses
it's then passed to the monarch who
gives formal approval or royal assent
and the bill becomes law called an act
of Parliament
in the UK we live in a democracy which
means power is in the hands of the
people through our right to vote
throughout history lots of people in the
UK have campaigned for the voting rights
we have today there are lots of
different types of elections to vote in
general local European let's take a
closer look at how MPs are elected to
the House of Commons through the general
election general elections take place in
the UK usually once every five years and
every seat is up for grabs on polling
day voters make a choice from a list of
candidates the candidate with the most
votes then becomes that constituency's
MP okay but how would I know who to vote
for before elections candidates need to
campaign to get people to vote for them
campaigning can involve handing out
political leaflets speaking in public
debates talking to people during
door-to-door visits and party political
broadcasts party standing for election
publish a declaration of their policies
during the campaign called a manifesto
once elected an MP represents all their
constituents even the ones that didn't
vote or voted for a different candidate
the party with the most MPs elected
forms the government and their leader
becomes Prime Minister and if there's a
hung parliament where there's no clear
winner then a minority government or a
coalition government may be created or a
fresh election held
one way to have a say in how the country
is run is to use your vote you have to
be 18 or over to vote in general
elections but you can register from the
age of 60 there are lots of other ways
to get involved and have your voice
heard whatever your age
remember MPs represent all of their
constituents but how you can visit an MP
in their local constituency office or
you can even travel to the houses of
parliament to lobby them in central
lobby Lords have knowledge and
experience in specific subject areas you
can look them up by policy interest on
the Parliament website anyone can
contact any Lord or their local MP by
letter phone or email to discuss an
issue that's important to them or their
community sometimes though their
strength in numbers so to get your voice
heard you could join the youth section
of a party or the UK Youth Parliament if
you're passionate about an issue you
could start a petition for a cause
either on paper or online or join an
existing campaign pressure or protest
group to influence decision-making these
groups use different methods to get
their voices heard from lobbying to
peaceful protest all designs to bring
about change and don't forget you can
get your voice heard in school or
college too by joining or starting a
student council a bit like a mini
Parliament
so Parliament sits at the heart of UK
democracy debating the big issues of the
day making and shaping laws and holding
the government to account by voting
petitioning campaigning and more you can
also get involved with the work of
Parliament what will you do
you