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.

History

In the medieval period there were three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, and these developed separate parliaments. The 1707 Act of Union brought England and Scotland together under the Parliament of Great Britain, and the 1800 Act of Union included Ireland under the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Related Topics:
Medieval - England - Scotland - Ireland - 1707 Act of Union - Parliament of Great Britain - 1800 Act of Union - Parliament of the United Kingdom

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Parliament of England

The English Parliament can trace its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066 William of Normandy brought a feudal system where he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws. In 1215 the tenants-in-chief secured from John the Magna Carta, which established that the King may not levy or collect any taxes (except the feudal taxes to which they were hitherto accustomed), save with the consent of his royal council which slowly developed into a Parliament. In 1265, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester summoned the first elected Parliament. The franchise in parliamentary elections for county constituencies was uniform throughout the country, extending to all those who owned the freehold of land to an annual rent of 40 shillings (Forty-shilling Freeholders). In the noroughs, the franchise varied across the country; individual boroughs had varying arrangements. This set the scene for the so-called "Model Parliament" of 1295 adopted by Edward I. By the reign of Edward III Parliament had been separated into two Houses: one, including the nobility and higher clergy, the other, including the knights and burgesses, and no law could be made, nor any tax levied, without the consent of both Houses as well as of the Sovereign.

Related Topics:
Anglo-Saxon - Witenagemot - 1066 - William of Normandy - Feudal system - Ecclesiastic - 1215 - John - Magna Carta - 1265 - Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester - Elected - County - Forty-shilling Freeholders - Norough - Model Parliament - 1295 - Edward I - Edward III

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When Elizabeth I was succeeded in 1603 by the Scottish King James VI who also became James I of England the countries both came under his personal rule but each retained its own Parliament. James I's successor, Charles I, quarrelled with Parliament and after he provoked the Wars of the Three Kingdoms their dispute developed into the English Civil War. Charles was executed in 1649 and under Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth of England the House of Lords was abolished, and the House of Commons remained subordinate to Cromwell. After Cromwell's death the Restoration of 1660 restored the monarchy and the House of Lords.

Related Topics:
Elizabeth I - 1603 - Scottish - James I of England - Charles I - Wars of the Three Kingdoms - English Civil War - 1649 - Oliver Cromwell - Commonwealth of England - The Restoration - 1660

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Amidst fears of a Roman Catholic succession, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 deposed James II in favour of the joint rule of Mary II and William III whose agreement to the English Bill of Rights introduced a constitutional monarchy, though the supremacy of the Crown still remained clear.

Related Topics:
Roman Catholic - Glorious Revolution - 1688 - James II - Mary II - William III - English Bill of Rights - Constitutional monarchy

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Parliament of Scotland

From the time of Kenneth mac Alpin the Scottish kingdom of Alba was ruled by chieftains and petty kings under the suzerainty of a High King, all offices being filled through election by an assembly under a system known as tanistry which combined a hereditary element with the consent of those ruled. After Macbeth was overthrown by Malcolm III in 1057 the feudal system of primogeniture was introduced as Scotland came under the influence of the Norman Conquest.

Related Topics:
Kenneth mac Alpin - Alba - Tanistry - Macbeth - Malcolm III - 1057 - Primogeniture - Norman Conquest

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In the Middle Ages the King's Council of Bishops and Earls evolved into a parliament, becoming the "colloquium" of 1235 which already had a political and judicial role. From 1326 the "three estates" had clerics, lay tenants-in-chief and burgh commissioners sitting in a single chamber, with powers over taxation and a strong influence over justice, foreign policy, war, and legislation. The three estates chose a committee called the Lords of the Articles to draft legislation which was then presented to the full assembly to be confirmed.

Related Topics:
Middle Ages - Colloquium - 1235 - 1326 - Three estates

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Following the Reformation and pressure from the Kirk, Catholic clergy were excluded from 1567, and after protestant bishops were abolished in 1638 Parliament became an entirely lay assembly. During the reign of James VI, the Lords of the Articles came more under the influence of the crown, and following his accession to the throne of England in 1603 he used them to run Scotland from London. During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the Covenanting period (1638–1651) the Scottish Parliament took control of the executive, effectively wresting sovereignty from King Charles I. After Scotland was invaded by Oliver Cromwell his Commonwealth government imposed a brief Anglo-Scottish parliamentary union in 1657.

Related Topics:
Reformation - Kirk - 1567 - Protestant - 1638 - James VI - 1603 - London - Wars of the Three Kingdoms - 1651 - Charles I - Oliver Cromwell - Commonwealth - 1657

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The Scottish Parliament returned after the Restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660. After the Glorious Revolution formally changed England's monarch in February 1689 William summoned a Convention of the Estates which considered letters from himself and from James VII, set out its terms and duly proclaimed William and Mary II at Edinburgh on April 11 1689.

Related Topics:
Charles II - 1660 - Glorious Revolution - 1689 - William - James VII - Mary II - April 11

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Parliament of Ireland

The Irish Parliament was founded to represent the English community in the Lordship of Ireland while the native or Gaelic Irish were ineligible to vote or stand for office, the first known meeting being in 1264. The English presence shrank to an enclave around Dublin known as the Pale.

Related Topics:
Lordship of Ireland - Gaelic - 1264 - Dublin - Pale

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In 1541 Henry VIII declared the Kingdom of Ireland and emabarked on the Tudor re-conquest of Ireland. The Gaelic Irish lords were now entitled to attend the Irish Parliament as equals to the majority of English descent. Disputes followed the introduction of Protestantism as the state religion when most of the population remained Roman Catholic, and in 1613–1615 constituencies were fixed so that Protestant settlers held the majority in the Irish Parliament. After the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Irish Catholics were barred from voting or attending the Parliament altogether in the Cromwellian Act of Settlement 1652.

Related Topics:
1541 - Henry VIII - Kingdom of Ireland - Tudor re-conquest of Ireland - Protestantism - Roman Catholic - 1613 - 1615 - Irish Rebellion of 1641 - Cromwellian - Act of Settlement 1652

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Under James II & VII the Catholics regained ground and during the Jacobite war in Ireland he agreed to the Irish Parliament's demands for autonomy and restitution of lands, but after the victory of William III of England these gains were reversed with the Penal Laws making things worse. Poyning's Law made the Irish legislature subordinate to the Parliament of Great Britain, but the Constitution of 1782 removed these restrictions and about a decade later Catholics gained the right to vote, though they were still debarred from membership.

Related Topics:
James II & VII - Jacobite war in Ireland - William III of England - Penal Laws - Poyning's Law - Parliament of Great Britain - Constitution of 1782

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Union: the Parliament of Great Britain

Following the Treaty of Union in 1707 twin Acts of Union were passed in both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland which created a new Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts dissolved both parliaments, replacing them with a new Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain based in the former home of the English parliament. While Scots law and Scottish legislation remained separate, the legislation was now dealt with by the new parliament.

Related Topics:
Treaty of Union - 1707 - Acts of Union - Parliament of England - Parliament of Scotland - Kingdom of Great Britain - Scots law

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After the Hanoverian George I ascended the Throne in 1714 power began to shift from the Sovereign, and by the end of his reign the position of the ministers—who would in turn have to rely on Parliament for support—was cemented. Towards the end of the 18th century the monarch still had considerable influence over Parliament which itself was dominated by the English aristocracy and by patronage. At general elections the vote was restricted to landed gentry, in constituencies which were out of date so that in many rotten boroughs seats could be bought while major cities remained unrepresented. Reformers and Radicals sought parliamentary reform, but as the Napoleonic Wars developed the government became repressive and progress toward reform was stalled.

Related Topics:
Hanoverian - George I - 1714 - 18th century - Parliament - General election - Rotten borough - Radical - Napoleonic Wars

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Parliament of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801 by the merger of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - 1801 - Kingdom of Great Britain - Kingdom of Ireland

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The principle of ministerial responsibility to the Lower House did not develop until the nineteenth century. The House of Lords was superior to the House of Commons both in theory and in practice. Members of the House of Commons were elected in an antiquated electoral system, under which constituencies of vastly different sizes existed. Thus, the borough of Old Sarum, with seven voters, could elect two members, as could the borough of Dunwich, which had completely disappeared into the sea due to land erosion. In many cases, members of the Upper House controlled tiny constituencies, known as pocket boroughs or rotten boroughs, and could ensure the election of their relatives or supporters. Many seats in the House of Commons were "owned" by the Lords. After the reforms of the nineteenth century (beginning in 1832), the electoral system in the Lower House was much more regularised. No longer dependent on the Upper House for their seats, members of the House of Commons began to grow more assertive.

Related Topics:
Nineteenth century - Electoral system - Constituencies - Old Sarum - Dunwich - Rotten borough - 1832

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Modern era

The supremacy of the House of Commons was clearly established during the early twentieth century. In 1909, the Commons passed the so-called "People's Budget," which made numerous changes to the taxation system in a manner detrimental to wealthy landowners. The House of Lords, which mostly consisted of powerful landowning aristocrats, rejected the Budget. On the basis of the Budget's popularity and the Lords' consequent unpopularity, the Liberal Party won a general election in 1910. Using the result as a mandate, the Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, introduced the Parliament Bill, which sought to restrict the powers of the House of Lords. (He did not reintroduce the land tax provision of the People's Budget.) When the Lords refused to pass the bill, Asquith approached the King and requested the creation of several hundred Liberal peers so as to erase the Conservative majority in the House of Lords. In the face of such a threat, the House of Lords reluctantly passed the bill. The Parliament Act 1911, as it became known, allowed the Lords to delay a bill for a maximum of three sessions (reduced to two sessions in 1949), after which it could become law over their objections.

Related Topics:
Twentieth century - 1909 - Liberal Party - General election - 1910 - Prime Minister - Herbert Henry Asquith - Conservative - Parliament Act 1911 - 1949

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The Irish Free State became independent in 1922 and in 1927 the UK was renamed as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Related Topics:
Irish Free State - 1922 - 1927

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Further reforms to the House of Lords have been made during the twentieth century. In 1958, the Life Peerages Act authorised the regular creation of life peerage dignities. By the 1960s, the regular creation of hereditary peerage dignities had ceased; thereafter, almost all new peers were life peers only. More recently, the House of Lords Act 1999 has removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the Upper House (although it made an exception for ninety-two of them on a temporary basis). The House of Lords is now a chamber that is, in practice, subordinate to the House of Commons.

Related Topics:
1958 - Life peerage - 1960s - House of Lords Act 1999

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The Scottish Parliament was established as the national unicameral legislature of Scotland by the Scotland Act 1998, and held its first meeting as a devolved legislature on 12 May 1999.

Related Topics:
Scottish Parliament - Unicameral - Legislature - Scotland - Scotland Act 1998 - 12 May - 1999

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