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Her Majestry´s Government, in spite of ist name, derives ist authority and power from
its party representation in Parliament. While the government machinery is frequent referred
to as "Whitehall", Parliament is known as "Westminster", since it housed in the Place of
Westminster, once a home of the monarchy. Like the monarchy, Parliament is an ancient institution, dating from the middle of the thiteenth century (1265).
The British Parliament is the seat of British democracy, but it is perhaps valuable to remember that while the House of Lords was created in order to provide a council of the nobility of the king, the Commons were summoned originally in order to provide the king with money. The more money a king demanded the more the Commoners questioned its
use. Because of ist financial power, ist ability to raise withhold money, the House of Commons eventually - from the seventeenth century onwards - gained power not only in matters of finance but also of legislation o v e r both, the monarch and also the Lords.
Parliament is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom. Free from the constraints of a written constitution Parliament may make any laws it pleases. It could even prolong ist own life without consulting the electorate, if it choses to do so. Thus Parliament, rather than the will of the people, is clearly the real sovereign power in the state. The only guarantee against parliamentary tyranny is the sense of tradition and reasonableness of its members.
Furthermore, in practice it is not Parliament as a whole which is sovereign, but the government of the day and ist supporters, since they almost invariably form a majority in the Commons. For the duration of ist normal term, five years, the government of the day may enact or implement ist policies, so long as it can ensure party support in the Commons.
In the words of one distinguished and long-serving parliamentarian who has sat in both the Commons and the Lords, Britain´s parliamentary system is in practice a form of "elective dictatorship", an important qualification on the idea of Britain as a democracy.
Parliamen´s functions today are to pass laws, to raise enough money through taxation to enable the government to function, to examine government policy and administration, particulary ist financial programme, and to debate or discuss important political issues.
The life of a Parliament is not fixed, and the government of the day may call for a general election at any time during the five-year term.
Each Parliament is devided into annual sessions, running normally from October to October with breaks for public holidays and for a long summer "recess" (usually late July until October).
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