British Politics: The Basics

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The tribunals system has its own structure for dealing with administrative cases and appeals. Decisions can escalate to the Court of Appeal. Political tensions in the UK What have you read or seen that has helped you understand British politics? Let us know in the comments!

Yes, Minister and its sequel Yes, Prime Minister were sitcoms of the early 1980s about an essentially well-meaning but hapless minister, and the civil servants who thwart his aims at every turn – sometimes because his plans are more idealistic than achievable, but usually just to preserve their own jobs and interests. The writers talked to a lot of politicians, civil servants and journalists to get a realistic picture of what life in government was really like, and the picture they painted was so accurate, that questions were raised about whether they were connected to spies (they weren’t). Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister were considered unnervingly accurate by those in the know. TELEVISION STUDIES TOBY MILLER TERRORISM JAMES LUTZ AND BRENDA LUTZ THEATRE STUDIES (SECOND EDITION) ROBERT LEACH WOMEN’S STUDIES BONNIE SMITH WORLD HISTORY PETER N. STEARNSSOCIAL WORK MARK DOEL SOCIOLOGY KEN PLUMMER SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITY (SECOND EDITION) JANICE WEARMOUTH SPORT MANAGEMENT ROBERT WILSON AND MARK PIEKARZ

GLORIOUS REVOLUTION, 1688–89 The restored monarchy discovered it was very much not business as usual. The monarchy had been bested by a body with some claim to represent the country and from now on monarchs ignored public sentiment at their peril. Consequently, the attempts of James II to introduce Catholicism to what was now, largely, a Protestant nation repelled the political class in his own country. William of Orange was approached by seven leading politicians – Whig and Tory – and invited to overthrow his father-in-law. This was an astonishing act of treason from one point of view, but it is always the victors who write the history and, in 1689, William proceeded to become such a person, and with the minimum of bloodshed. On 11 April 1689, William The current party leader is the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. Liberal Democrat Party Another report from March 2021 found that women are also still underrepresented. Thirty-four percent of MPs and 28% of Lords are female. Elsewhere, the situation ranges from 47% female members in the Welsh Parliament to 26% in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Concerning senior-level positions, only 23% of cabinet ministers are women. The political history of the UKJoining the European Communities (now the EU) in 1973 and then subsequently voting to leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum vote. I didn’t vote in the last election but I do care about my country. Thousands of people protested on the streets against the government's plans to cut financial help with university fees earlier this year. Only rich people will be able to go to university if we have to pay thousands of pounds to study! I was at the protest and so were most of my friends at uni. I’ll vote in the next election if things don’t change.

In British Politics: The Basics, author Bill Jones examines the past twenty years of society in the United Kingdom in an effort to explain how the political structure has evolved to its current state. At the moment Northern Ireland does not have a sitting government but Northern Ireland does have the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly which has powers closer to those already devolved to Scotland. Who makes the laws in the UK?The SNP was founded in 1934. It is socially democratic in its ideological outlook as well as being socially liberal, supporting policies such as LGBT rights, multiculturalism, and gender equality. The party is also pro-Europe and campaigned against Brexit. In the 2016 Scottish parliamentary elections, the SNP won 69 out of 129 seats, two short of a majority.

However, the 11 deaths were not in vain, as the indignation generated by the massacre led directly to the formation of the Chartists and fed into the movement for the Great Reform Act. account of the many political changes which have occurred over the past five years. I hope it now, in its present form, represents a useful addition to the series and an effective introduction to the social context, underlying ideas, institutions and processes of British politics. It is based on a first-year course I wrote for my undergraduates at Liverpool Hope University but is also intended for students at A-level and for those – media or social worker students for example – who require an understanding of politics for part of their studies. Part of the slimming-down process for this Basics volume has entailed covering the separate areas of the British political system in a new format, comprising six parts:

Who makes the laws in the UK?

Members of the UK Parliament are elected in General Elections, which typically take place every five years. To vote in a General Election you must be: At the end of the nineteenth century, trade unions realised that they could better advance the cause of their members by organising to get representatives directly elected to parliament. In 1900, an embryonic body was established which won seats in the 1906 election and later played a role in government during World War I. By 1924, the party had tasted government via the short minority premiership of Ramsay MacDonald, the illegitimate son of a Scottish crofter. It experienced a second period of government in 1929–31, but then suffered a long period of opposition until its leaders shared power with Winston Churchill in his coalition government during World War II. In 1945, it won a surprise landslide under its leader Clement Attlee, who led the historic post-war government that introduced nationalisation of the key utilities, as well as the welfare state. Labour also ruled in 1964–70 and 1974–79 (under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan), but suffered a long period in opposition until 1997, when Tony Blair won a landslide victory. The SDLP is an Irish Republican party in Northern Ireland advocating Irish nationalism, social democracy, and pro-European politics. It was founded in 1970 and currently holds two seats in Westminster and 12 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The party leader is Colum Eastwood. Alliance Party VOTES FOR WOMEN Mary Wollstonecraft wrote a pamphlet in support of women’s rights as early as 1792 and John Stuart Mill urged votes for women around the middle of the nineteenth century. But the cause did not progress and it took the militant grouping called the ‘suffragettes’, under the Pankhursts, to add momentum to the campaign. During World War I, women worked in the war effort and the movement won votes for women aged over 30 in 1918. In 1928, full voting rights were accorded to women.