Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). At its head is the Sovereign; it is bicameral, including an Upper House, called the House of Lords, and a Lower House, called the House of Commons. The House of Lords includes two different types of members—the Lords Spiritual (the senior clergy of the Church of England) and the Lords Temporal (members of the Peerage); it is a wholly unelected body. The House of Commons, on the other hand, is a democratically elected chamber. The House of Lords and the House of Commons meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster (commonly known as the "Houses of Parliament"), in the British capital, London (more precisely, in the borough known as the City of Westminster). By constitutional convention, all government ministers, including the Prime Minister are drawn exclusively from the House of Commons or House of Lords.

External links

• The Parliament of the United Kingdom. Official website.
• The Parliament of the United Kingdom. Parliament Live TV.
• The British Broadcasting Corporation. (2005). "A–Z of Parliament."
• The Guardian. (2005). "Special Report: House of Commons."
• The Guardian. (2005). "Special Report: House of Lords."
• Parliamentary procedure site at Leeds University
• {{gutenberg author|id=British_Parliament|name=the Parliament of the United Kingdom}}