Government: UK (general)

See also: The British Parliament, Members of Parliament.

Positions

First Lord of the Treasury: post now conventionally always held by the		Prime Minister
Second Lord of the Treasury: post now conventionally always held by the		Chancellor of the Exchequer
Position held by Winston Churchill, from the day war was declared (3 September 1939) until he became Prime Minister (10–11 May 1940) – also from 1911 to 1915		First Lord of the Admiralty
First Secretary to the Treasury: also known as		Government Chief Whip
Government front bencher, arranges the business of the House of Commons; deputises for the Prime Minister, if necessary, at Question Time		Leader of the House
Senior Cabinet minister without official duties		Lord Privy Seal
Officially represents the House of Commons to the sovereign		Speaker
Chairman of the House of Commons Ways & Means Committee		Deputy Speaker
Senior official of the House of Commons		Clerk of the House
Popular name for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (who investigates complaints against the Government, on behalf of the private citizen)		The Ombudsman
Master of the Mint		Chancellor of the Exchequer
Personal attendant of the sovereign in the House of Lords; also the Serjeant–at–Arms, Keeper of the Doors of the House, and secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain; summons the members of the Commons to the Lords to hear the sovereign's speech		(Gentleman Usher of the) Black Rod
Responsible for security, ceremonial and accommodation in the House of Commons; the equivalent of Black Rod (sharing one of the latter's official titles)		Serjeant–at–Arms

Official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer		11 Downing Street
Official residence of the Government Chief Whip		12 Downing Street
Location of the Speaker's House (official residence of the Speaker)		House of Commons

Acts of Parliament

Acts of Supremacy: established Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, respectively, as 'supreme governors' of the Church of England (the first was repealed by Mary I)		1534, 1558
Act of Uniformity establishes the use of the Book of Common Prayer, and makes attendance at church obligatory – together with the Act of Supremacy of the same year, making up the Elizabethan Religious Settlement		1558
Turnpike Act – to raise money for road improvement		1663
Toleration Act establishes freedom of religious worship		1689
Act of Settlement – prevents a catholic from taking the British throne (established the Electress Sophia of Hanover, and her protestant successors, as heirs)		1701
Act of Union between England and Scotland		1707
Stamp Act – imposing tax on documents produced in the American colonies		1765
The first Defence of the Realm Act (granting emergency powers "during the present War")		1798
Combination Laws – prohibiting Trade Unions		1799, 1800
Union with Ireland Act		1800
The first Factories Act		1802
The second Defence of the Realm Act requires all counties to report on all able–bodied men aged between 15 and 60		1803
Slave Trade Act – outlawing the slave trade in the British Empire (see 1833)		1807
Importation Act 1815 – establishes the Corn Laws, which prohibit foreign imports when the domestic price fell below a certain figure		1815
Catholic Relief Act, effecting emancipation of Roman Catholics – allowing them to sit in Parliament		1829
Representation of the People Act – a.k.a. the First or Great Reform Act – proposed by the Whigs under Earl Grey: abolishing the Rotten Boroughs, and reducing the property threshold for voting (to include landowners and shopkeepers)		1832
Slavery Abolition Act – abolishing slavery altogether in the British Empire		1833
Corn Laws Act repeals the Corn Laws (established in 1815)		1846
Government of India Act: the Government takes over the functions of the East India Company		1858
Elementary Education Act (commonly known as Forster's Education Act, after William Edward Forster) introduces compulsory education for children under 13		1870
Licensing Act makes it an offence to be drunk while in charge of carriages, horses, cattle and steam engines		1872
A further Elementary Education Act makes attendance compulsory from 5 to 10 years		1880
Old–Age Pensions Act (see below)		1908
Parliament Act reduces the Lords' power to that of delaying legislation		1911
National Insurance Act introduces unemployment benefit		1911
MPs were first paid (£400 p.a.)		1912
Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act – popularly known as the Cat and Mouse Act – passed under Asquith, aimed at Suffragettes, allowing hunger strikers to be released and re–imprisoned		1913
Defence of the Realm Act gives Parliament emergency powers; bans striking, lighting bonfires, flying kites, and the sale of alcoholic drinks on public transport; limits licensing hours, and the allowed strength of drinks (which could be watered down); introduces censorship of newspapers and extends the working day		1914
Representation of the People Act removes practically all property restrictions for men over 21, and gives votes to women over 30, provided they are (or are married to someone who is) "a member of the Local Government Register" – in other words, a ratepayer – which covered about 8.4 million women		1918
A further Education Act – known as the Fisher Act after Herbert Fisher – enforces compulsory education from 5 to 14 years		1918
Government of Ireland Act – separating Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland		1920
Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act gives equal voting rights to men and women, allowing everyone over 21 to vote		1928
Statute of Westminster formally recognises the independence of the dominions within the Empire		1931
R. A. (Rab) Butler's Education Act raises the school leaving age to 15 (effective from 1948); also introduces free school meals and milk for all shool pupils under 18		1944
National Assistance Act allows anyone of working age to apply for Income Support		1946
NHS established		1948
A further Parliament Act (see 1911) reduces the power of the House of Lords to delay certain types of legislation – specifically public bills other than money bills		1949
Life Peers first created		1958
Betting and Gaming Act – legalising various forms of betting from 1 January, and betting shops from May, in the following year		1960
Peerage Act allows women peers and Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, and newly inherited hereditary peerages to be disclaimed		1963
Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act – introduced by Sidney Silverman MP as a Private Member's Bill – suspends the death penalty for murder in Great Britain (not Northern Ireland) for five years		1965
National Assistance replaced by Supplementary Benefit		1966
Road Safety Act introduces the UK's first maximum legal blood alcohol (drink driving) limit (80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood), and introduces the breathalyser		1967
Sexual Offences Act decriminalises homosexual acts in private between two men, both of whom are aged 21 or more		1967
Wilson government withdraws free milk from secondary schools		1968
Parliament votes to bring the terms of the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act (see above) into effect permanently		1969
UK voting age reduced from 21 to 18		1969 (12 May)
First UK general election at which 18–year–olds could vote		1970 (18 June)
Margaret Thatcher, as Education Secretary under Edward Heath, withdraws free school milk from children over 7		1971
School leaving age increased to 16		1972
Purchase Tax replaced by VAT (at 10%)		1973
UK VAT rate reduced to 8%, but then increased to 25% on petrol		1974
The last year with two general elections; the first of the two was the last to produce no overall majority		1974
Capital Transfer Tax replaced by Inheritance Tax		1986
Supplementary Benefit replaced by Income Support		1988
Chancellor Norman Lamont increases the UK VAT rate to 17.5%		1991
Jobseeker's Allowance introduced – long–term jobseekers can no longer claim Income Support		1996
Welfare Reform Act introduces Universal Credit, to replace six means–tested benefits and the so–called 'bedroom tax'		2012

Name given to over 5,200 acts passed between 1604 and 1914, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common

Inclosures

Elections

Deposits

(Percentage is the percentage of the total vote required by a candidate to reclaim their deposit.)

		Amount		Percentage
Since 1985		£500		5
Up to 1985		£150		12.5

Other

Polling booths open		07:00 – 22:00
The first General Election at which women could vote		14 December 1918
The last UK General Election that wasn't held on a Thursday (it was a Tuesday; it followed the collapse of a Labour government, and resulted in a landslide victory for the National Government that had been formed two months previously)		27 October 1931
Lowest number of votes polled in an election since universal suffrage (Commander William Banks, Public Safety White Monarchist, Glasgow Hillhead, 1982)		5
Declared at 22:42 in the 2001 general election – the fastest ever		Sunderland South

Mayor of London

London had never had a directly–elected Mayor before the year 2000.

2000–8

Ken Livingstone

2008–16

Boris Johnson

2016–

Sadiq Khan

Miscellaneous

Readings in the House of Commons required for a Bill to be passed		3
The Old Age Pensions Act of 1908 introduced pensions (effective from 1 January 1909) for single people aged ... or over, and married couples where the husband was aged at least ...		70 years
British Government records may now be opened after		30 years
Number of electronic signatures required for an online petition to be considered for debate in Parliament		100,000
The last half hour of each day's sitting; also used by the Government to allow debate on a topical subject such as flooding		Adjournment debate
Normally performs the coronation ceremony (exceptions including William I, Edward II, Mary I, Elizabeth I, James II)		Archbishop of Canterbury
Leading civil officers in Jersey and Guernsey		Bailiff
Popular name for the under–occupancy penalty imposed on housing benefits, under the terms of the Welfare Reform Act of 2012		Bedroom tax
HMSO publication that contains the UK's national accounts		Blue Book
Statutory body which oversees the extents of parliamentary constituencies		Boundaries Commission
Meeting rooms in the Cabinet Office, at 70 Whitehall in London, used by committees that co–ordinate the actions of UK Government bodies in response to instances of national or regional crisis, or during events abroad with major implications for the UK		Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR or Cobra)
Informal sitting of the Commons, to discuss and amend a bill		Committee of the Whole House
Passage of a Bill: between first and second readings		Committee stage
Council Tax was introduced in 1993 to replace		Community charge
Department that replaced the Lord Chancellor's Department in 2003		Constitutional Affairs
Popular title of the British royal court (to which foreign ambassadors are officially accredited) – after the official residence of the sovereign, before Buckingham Palace		Court of St. James's
Official legal status of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man		Crown Dependencies
Department which collects VAT		Customs & Excise
Motion to publicise an MP's own views, put down for no specific day		Early Day Motion
A tentative government report of a proposal, without any commitment to action; the first step in changing the law; may lead to a white paper		Green paper
Ill–fated post–war scheme to supplement Britain's cooking oil supply		Groundnut Scheme
1679 Act ruling that accused persons must be swiftly brought to trial		Habeas Corpus
Official daily report of the proceedings of Parliament		Hansard
In the House of Commons, "Another Place" is the term used to refer to the		House of Lords
Speaker of the House can vote		In a tie
Term used by MPs (prior to 1998) to initiate a vote as to whether a debate should be held in private		I spy strangers
Constitutional term used to refer to the ceremony at which the Prime Minister accepts the seals of office from the sovereign		Kissing (of) hands
Parliamentary office that commands the highest salary (more than the PM); the department that he led was replaced in 2003 by the Dept. of Constitutional Affairs		Lord Chancellor
Title held by Oliver Cromwell 1653–8, and to his son Richard from September 1658 to May 1659; previously used for princes or other nobles exercising an individual regency while the monarch was still a minor or otherwise unable to rule		Lord Protector
State Opening of Parliament takes place in		November
Bill read in the Commons at the beginning of each session of parliament, after the sovereign's speech – to reassert the right of the Commons to set its own business regardless of the sovereign's wishes		Outlawries Bill
A light above Big Ben indicates that		Parliament is sitting
Longest standing member of the Privy Council (appointed 1951)		Prince Philip
Bill introduced by an individual member rather than the Govt.		Private Member's Bill
Consists of the Cabinet, former Cabinet ministers, and others appointed by the sovereign; rules the UK between the resignation of one government and the appointment of a replacement; meets on the accession of a new sovereign, or when the sovereign announces an intention to marry; members use the title 'Right Honourable'		Privy Council
Announcement made by the sovereign (in the House of Lords) to end a parliamentary session		Prorogation
Set up in 1861 to ensure that public money is spent as Parliament intended		Public Accounts Committee
Replaced by VAT in 1973		Purchase Tax
Between second and third readings		Report Stage
Responsible for running a constituency election, supervising the count and announcing the result		Returning Officer
Last formality by which a Bill becomes an Act		Royal assent
Presiding officer of the House of Commons; represents the house to the sovereign		Speaker
Committee Stage: amendments to public bills are debated and considered by		Standing Committees
Ceremony to mark the opening of each session of parliament		State opening
Not an MP or House of Commons official, present at a debate		Stranger
Votes in Parliament (and at elections) are counted by		Tellers
Strict instruction to MPs from their party to make sure they attend for a vote in the House		Three–line whip
Introduced by the 2012 Welfare Reform Act to replace income–based Jobseeker's Allowance, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, income–based Employment and Support Allowance, and Income Support		Universal Credit
Official report stating government policy on a matter which is (or may be) before Parliament – also in Canada, New Zealand etc.		White Paper
Introduced 1696 under the Act of Making Good the Deficiency of the Clipped Money; repealed 1851 and replaced by House Duty		Window tax

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23