The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. The monarch of the UK represents the royal power. The king or the queen of the UK is the head of the state. This monarch is also the head of the state of the fifteen other Commonwealth countries. It is a well-known fact that […]

Thisisa popular picture of the twentieth-century aristocrat much promoted by plays and films — asad, impoverished man, living in a flat in a crumbling Tudor mansion, helping to collect half-crowns* and serve the ice-cream, while the public in thousands come out of charabancs, their plastic raincoats squeaking together, to gape at armour, four-posters and tables […]

It is usual today in England to confer titles which are not heritable, e. g. there are many “life peers’’ who have done outstanding public work and are given the title. For example C.P. Snow* became Lord Snow, as a life peer. Life peeresses, with the title “Lady’’, are also created. Also, since peers cannot […]

Parliamentary government based on the party system has been established in Britain over the past 100 years. Even as recently as the early nineteenth century there was no clear-cut division in the House of Commons along modern party lines. The party which wins most seats (but not necessarily most votes) at a general election, or […]

In nearly all industries and occupations some workers (and in some industries nearly all workers) are organized into trade unions. They have grown up gradually and independently over many years and, consequently, their form and organization vary considerably, as do their traditions. Trade unions may be organized either by occupation (for example, they may recruit […]

The Labour party was established in 1900 on the initiative of the trade unions and several socialist organizations (the Independent Labour party, the Fabian Society and Social-Democratic Federation). The main aim was to win working class representation in Parliament. This was initially reflected in the name of the party — Labour Representation Committee. In 1906 […]

The Liberal party of Great Britain existed since 1832, though it was finally organized in 1877. The history of this party is closely associated with the Whig party, which emerged in 1679. Initially the Whigs voiced the interests of the financial and the trading bourgeoisie. The party was opposed to the policy of Charles II […]

The Conservative party of Great Britain (the official name The National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations) — was officially organized in 1867 on the basis of political groups of the English landed aristocracy. The origins of the party go down to the 17th century, when it was called the Tory party. The Tories (formed […]

The Communist party was the first political party based on socialism directly voicing the real interests of the working class and the true interests of the vast majority of the nation. The Communist Party of Great Britian was founded on July 31 — August 1, 1920 on the basis of amalgamated socialist organizations (the left […]

The existence in Britain of organized political parties each laying its own policies before the electorate has led to well-developed political divisions in Parliament. The party system has existed in one form or another since the seventeenth century, and began to assume its modern shape towards the end of the nineteenth century. Whenever there is […]