A Look Into the UK Government System (PART 1)

It is officially out that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, who has been in office since July of 2019, has resigned due to pressure from his political party and the public. So how does the UK government work altogether? We’ll be looking into that in this two-part series.

First, who is Boris Johnson? He is a British politician (born 1964), and from being Mayor of London (from 2008 to 2016) to serve as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (from 2016 to 2018), he has gradually climbed the rank of the UK government and politics. He became the Conservative Party’s leader and got elected Prime Minister in 2019. Boris was once a spotlight in UK politics. However, that all changed with his handling of the pandemic, which angered the public. Many say he broke lockdown rules when they got enforced elsewhere. But to the local’s dismay, Boris Johnson, who announced his resignation on July 7th, would remain in office until a replacement for him gets found, estimated to take a few months, so until then, Boris is resigned but in office. It seems strange. Anyway, what places get counted as the United Kingdom? Let’s find out.

The UK stands for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, consisting of four sovereign countries, making it a “country of countries” (if you know what I mean). These four countries are Wales, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The part called Great Britain consists of Wales, Scotland, and England, though some small islands don’t get counted. And contrary to what some may believe, Great Britain is more of a geological than political term. On the other hand, if you zoom in on a map, you can see that Northern Ireland shares the same island as the Republic of Ireland. When someone refers to themselves as “Irish,” they mean they’re from Ireland (the Republic).

After the UK public voted to leave the European Union, known as Brexit (British exit, official on January 31st, 2020), these borders became quite messed up. Since Ireland (the Republic) was in the EU, but the UK was not, the EU border and where it should divide was unclear. Either way, these two islands are part of the British Isles.

However, there are still unanswered questions like why does the British Monarch get printed on Canadian bills? The basic deal was that these countries (which used to be in the British Empire) agreed to continue to recognize the Monarchy as head of state while they had a separate parliament. These countries are called the Commonwealth Realm. I should note that the British Monarch has not much actual power within their borders.

So how does the Government of the United Kingdom work? The UK Government, officially Her Majesty’s Government, consists of Parliament and the Monarchy. Parliament gets divided into the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Parliament meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. If you didn’t know, the Palace of Westminster is the one with the Clock Tower, renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. It is not far from Buckingham Palace, the residence of the Queen.

I’m sure you’re excited to learn about what the two Houses do and the role of the Monarchy in it. However, that’s all for now. Wait for Part 2, where I continue to talk about the workings of the UK government. That’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute. Thank you for reading, and tune in next time for more!