Members of Parliament in Great Britain

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Each Member of Parliament (MP) represents one of 650 constituencies in the UK. British elections are usually fought between political parties, not individuals. Therefore, people who want to be elected to Parliament need to be \nominated by one of the main political parties.

There is nothing to stop unconventional candidates from standing for election, however. A candidate has only to put down a deposit of 500 pounds and collect ten signatures from residents in the constituency where he wants to stand. A candidate who gets less than 5 per cent of the total votes loses his deposit. For somebody who is standing for election for publicity purposes, this is a small price to pay.

Although MPs will support a particular party, they are not controlled by that political party and theoretically do not have to vote with their party in Parliament. MPs represent everyone in the constituency, not just the people who voted for them.

A lot of MPs' work has nothing to do with voting in Parliament. There are hundreds of things MPs have to deal with in the day-to-day business of constituency life, such as housing or health care. MPs are there to help people and to try to make sure their rights under the law are not violated.

Some MPs hold an advice bureau in their constituencies, where people can go for advice. Anyone who feels that he has been unfairly treated by the central government can complain to their local MP who will do his best to see that the problem is solved.

Members of Parliament have been paid salaries since 1911. The rate has lately been nearly twice the average industrial worker's wages. Since 1965 the allowances for travel, living in London, and paying part-time secretaries and research assistants, have all been increased. Still many MPs insist that they

need to have outside earnings, through journalism, work in the law courts or business, to enable them to live up to the standard they expect.

TASK 3 Find in the text the English equvalents for the following phrases.

- обращаться за советом; f" '"

- баллотироваться в своем избирательном округе; ^

- нарушать права;

- выдвинуть свою кандидатуру от партии;

- собирать подписи; • с f ' ^N

- участвовать в избирательной кампании в рекламных целях;

- средняя зарплата рабочего; -\^с ^{

- несправедливо обойтись с кем-либо. \ ( , ,

TASK 4. Complete the following text with the words and expressions from the box, using them in the appropriate form.

~~M»y.iiv '.~~ --- • — to appoint; to elect(2);

prominent; proportion(3);

local councils; to appeal.

minority^¹ M

Some people suppose that there are few women and members of the

ethnic (a)_______in Parliament. In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became the

first woman Prime Minister, yet she never (b) > > _ ^ a woman to her

Cabinet, and until 1983 the (c), / I " * of women (d)_______to the

House of Commons was under 5% In the election in 1992, 59 women (^e)^i__L__ ^to the House of Commons. This total is still below the (f)_______in other European countries.

Although the Conservatives choose few women as their candidates for the House of Commons' seats, women are very active in the affairs of the party

as a whole. The Labourists have also tried to (g)_______to women voters

by giving women (h)_______ positions. In all parties, a higher

(i)_______ of women is elected to (j)_ than the House of

Commons. B.
constituency; manifesto;	private sector; opposition; inflation; unemployment; general election.

1) The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary

2) A_____ takes place every four or five years.

3) Before an election, each party prepares a their policies.

which outlines

the >

4) An important Conservative policy was the rerurn of state industries to

5) During the period of Conservative government, ____

4% for the first time in nearly thirty years.

6) However, __ continued to be unacceptably high.

fell to

official

7) While the Conservatives were in power, Labour formed the

TASK 5. Answer the questions.

1. Who can stand for elections in Great Britain?

2. What does the job of an MP consist of? Is it a job you would like to do?

3. Who does an MP represent?

4. Is the job of an MP a well-paid one?

5. Are there many women in Parliament in Great Britain? Can you compare this proportion to the proportion of women in the legislative body in your country?

TASK 6 Before listening to the tape read the following information and answer the question.

Diane Abbot is a member of Parliament for Hackney in North London. On the tape she describes life in the House of Commons. She is going to make a complaint about her job. In pairs, decide what you think is the most likely and the least likely complaint from the list.

- She isn't paid enough;

- She doesn't have any free time;

- She hasn't got a desk or a telephone;

- Her office is too small;

- There is too much work to do.

TASK 7 Listen to the tape and see if you were right in your answers to the questions in Task 6 Answer the questions

1. What is Diane Abbot's background?

2. What was one of her earliest ambitions?

3. How long had Ms. Abbot been an MP when the interview took place?

4. What four things does she dislike about her job?

5. What is unusual about her being an MP?

6. What three influences does Diane give for her interest in politics?

7. What three things does she like about her job?

8. When is she going to get her missing office equipment?

9. What two thing^ are noticeable about her fellow MPs*⁷

TASK 8. Explain the meanings of the folio-wing words and expressions used in the interview.

- to listen avidly;

- an underclass of British society;

- to be exposed to unfairness and injustice;

- an amateur place;

- a " clubby" atmosphere;

- backbiting;

- to get fed up with;

- a male-dominated place.

TASK 9. Work in pairs and discuss the following questions.

1. What is the equivalent of MPs in your country?

2. What does their work involve? List their responsibilities and write a short paragraph describing their work.

Unit IV ELECTIONS

TASK 1. Complete the following text with the words and expressions from the box.

election campaign; support; polling day; ballot box;

vote; predict; opinion poll; polling station; candidate.

People sometimes try to (a)

______the result of an election

weeks before it takes place. Several hundred people are asked which party they prefer, and their answers are used to guess the result of the coming election.

This is called an (b)_________. Meanwhile each party conducts its

(c)__________ with meetings, speeches, television commercials, and

party members going from door to door encouraging people to

(d).

(e)

called a (f)

(g)_____"

Jheir party. In Britain everyone over 18 is eligible to

__• The place where people go to vote in an election is

and the day of the election is often known as

and later they are counted. The (i) declared the winner.

TASK 2. Read the text.

. The voters put their votes in a (h)

with the most votes is then

The Election Timetable

The British government is elected for up to five years, unless it is defeated in Parliament on a major issue. The Prime Minister chooses the date of the next General Election, but does not have to wait until the end of the five years. A time is chosen which will give as much advantage as possible to the political party in power. Other politicians and the newspapers try very hard to guess which date the Prime Minister will choose.

About a month before the election the Prime Minister meets a small group of close advisers to discuss the date which would best suit the party.

The date is announced to the Cabinet. The Prune Minister formally asks the Sovereign to dissolve Parliament.

Once Parliament is dissolved, all MPs are unemployed, but government officers continue to function.

Party manifestos are published and campaigning begins throughout the country, lasting for about three weeks with large-scale press, radio and television coverage.

Voting takes place on Polling Day (usually a Thursday). The results from each constituency are announced as soon as the votes have been counted, usually the same night. The national result is known by the next morning at the latest.

As soon as it is clear that one party has a majority of seats in the House of Commons, its leader is formally invited by the Sovereign to form a government.

TASK 3. Find in the text the English equivalents for the phrases below.

- избирательный округ;

- правящая партия;

- вопрос первостепенной важности;

- дать кому-либо преимущество;

- сформировать правительство;

- широкое освещение предвыборной кампании в прессе;

- объявить дату выборов;

- объявить результаты выборов;

- иметь большинство мест в палате общин;

- распустить парламент;

- подсчитывать голоса;

- потерпеть поражение в парламенте.

TASK 4 Read the text.

Political Parties

The main parties in the UK are the Conservative party (right wing), the Labour party (left wing) and the Liberal Democrats (centre).

The Conservative party goes back to the Tories, or Royalists, who originated in King Charles' reign (1660-1685). The Tories were the party that supported Church and King; the other main party at the time were the Whigs, who were a group eager for political reform. The Tory party gave way to its successor, the Conservative party, in around 1830.

The Conservative party believes in free enterprise and the importance of a capitalist economy, with private ownership preferred to state control.

In 1899 the Trade Union Congress summoned a special conference of trade unions and socialist bodies to make plans to represent labour in Parliament. The proposal for such a meeting had come from Thomas Steels, a member of the Independent Labour Party which had been formed in 1893. The conference met in February 1900 in London and has always been looked on as the foundation of the Labour Party. The Labour party believes that private ownership and enterprise should be allowed to flourish, but not at the expense of their traditional support of the public services.

There has been a Liberal party in Great Britain since 1868 when the name was adopted by the Whig party. The Whig party was created after the revolution of 1688 and aimed to subordinate the power of the Crown to that of Parliament and the upper classes. In 1981 a second centre party was created by 24 Labour MPs. It was called the Social Democratic party, and soon formed an alliance with the Liberal party. They formed a single party which became the Liberal Democrats after the 1987 election.

The Liberal Democrats believe that the state should have some control over the economy, but that there should be individual ownership.

There are other political parties within the UK. The Green party offers economic and industrial policies that relate directly to the environment. The Scottish Nationalist Party wants independence for Scotland within the European Community. Plaid Cymru - the Welsh Nationalist Party - is determined to preserve the Welsh language and culture as the foundation of a distinctive

Welsh identity within the UK. Its radical wing has resorted to arson attempts as a means of protest.

TASK 5. Explain the meanings of the folio-wing words and expressions.

- free enterprise;

- to flourish;

- at the expense of;

- to subordinate;

- environment.

TASK 6. Answer the questions.

1. What are the origins of the main political parties in Great Britain?

2. What political priorities do the main political parties in Britain have?

TASK 7. Work in pairs and compare the major (the minor) political parties in Britain to those in your own country.

TASK 8. Read the text. Choose the statement that you like most and develop the idea.

The 1987 General Election

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