Party competition in the 20th century

1906- First Labour MPs were elected. This party started to play a part after First World War

1924- First minority Labour government. So there were three parties.

1931 - The National government was made up of 3 parties because of the Great Depression

1946-51 - Overall majority of Labourists in Parliament. Liberals party disappeared and was replaced by Labourists

11. British government in the 18th century: the monarch, Privy Council andParliament.

· Changes in central Government

In 1707 England and Scotland signed the Act of Union and Britain got the new name – the Great Britain. Then it was another change of name because of the Act of Union between The Great Britain and Ireland and it became The United Kingdom.

1. Monarch - still was the head of country but the Bill of rights restricted his rights. According to the September act Parlaiment had to summon every seven years. But monarch started to loose even this power. At the beginning of the century the monarch was choosing the ministers personally. But at the end he lost this power - he had to consult with the prime minister. The powers of the king was gradually reduced. King receives the powers that he has now, during the reign of Victoria.

2. The Privy council - also started to lose the power. This happen because the number of members of PC became more. Queen Anne decided to choose some members of PC and work with them. Moreover she allowed these people to work without her. The name was the Cabinet of Ministers. There was no prime minister.

3. Parliament

12. British government in the 18th century: the Cabinet and Prime Ministers. The role of the Shadow Cabinet.

· Changes in central Government

In 1707 England and Scotland signed the Act of Union and Britain got the new name – the Great Britain. Then it was another change of name because of the Act of Union between The Great Britain and Ireland and it became The United Kingdom.

4. Monarch - still was the head of country but the Bill of rights restricted his rights. According to the September act Parlaiment had to summon every seven years. But monarch started to loose even this power. At the beginning of the century the monarch was choosing the ministers personally. But at the end he lost this power - he had to consult with the prime minister. The powers of the king was gradually reduced. King receives the powers that he has now, during the reign of Victoria.

5. The Privy council - also started to lose the power. This happen because the number of members of PC became more. Queen Anne decided to choose some members of PC and work with them. Moreover she allowed these people to work without her. The name was the Cabinet of Ministers. There was no prime minister.

6. Parliament

· First Prime Ministers

Robert Walpole - controlled the country for twenty years (1722-1742). George Iwas the king of England but he did not speak English. Also he spend a lot of time in Germany, but Great Britain needed a leader. Robert was Lord Treasurer (казначей) - economic sector was always important. Prime minister started to choose ministers and it became a tradition. King gave residence in London to him.

Policy of Robert was successful, he:

● Kept United Kingdom out of Continental war (1733-38)

● Kept land tax low - Lords did not want to pay a lot of taxes for the land

● refused to pay interest on the national debt

But people got tired of him. He had too much power.

William Pitt the Younger - he was named so because his father was William Pitt the Older. (1783-1801). He became a prime minister at 27. America became independent. He had three most important tasks:

1. Restore the prestige of Britan - he managed to reduce the national debt by £ 10 million.

2. Solve financial difficulties - he reduсed smuggling (контрабанда) which was a big problem by making custom duty lower.

3. Reorganize colonies - Canada took more power.

The French Revolution did not affect the country with his help - he had to suspend habeas corpus which meaning that people can hold without explanation.

Electoral system in the 18th century. Changes in the 19th - 20th centuries.

Electoral system in the 18th century. Changes from 1832 to 1928. The role of the suffragettes.

· Electoral system in 18th century

Only 3-5% of population voted:

1. There were qualifications - property, gender

2. Some people lived in areas which were not included in the register of constituencies.

MP's: England - 489, Scotland - 45, Wales - 24

Open ballot - There was no secret ballot (voted in secret). So people got payment for their votes.

There were rotten constituencies (гнилые местечки). Country was divided into constituencies in 15 century. Cities disappeared It was possible to pay money for few people and make all constituency vote for you.

· Electoral reforms in 19th century

Causes:

● Constituencies have not been changing for centuries - rotten places

● Industrial towns did not have their own MPs

● Increasing demands (растущие требования) for reforms in the society

● Rejection of a bill to extend the franchise to Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester

The reform Act of 1832 - controversial (протворечивый). The House of Lords which was controlled by Conservative party was against the act. Rare occasion (редкий случай) when monarch influenced Parlaiment - he decided to support the House of Commons. Monarch created liberal peers and that's how he enact the act.

Changes:

● 56 rotten constituencies were removed

● Small constituency could choose only one MP

● The number of those who could vote raised from 435000 to 652000

● Large industrial cities were given more MP's (Four MP’s)

● The right to vote was given to the middle class.

The act failed to provide equality because there still were gender or property (имущественная) qualification.

Chartism - movement. There were representatives of lower classes. They wanted equality. Named so after Peoples' charter in may 1838.

The main demands (требования):

● Annual (ежегодные) parliaments

● Universal male suffrage

● The secret ballot

● No property qualification

● Payment for MP's

● Equal electoral districts - same territory

The government was not ready to introduce these changes in 1832 but then it issued this except of the annual parliament

The Second reform Act of 1867

● Property qualification was refused

● Those who could vote increased to 2, 5 million, constituencies with a population of less than 10000 were eliminated

● 45 constituencies were moved to town and cities

Step three - the Ballot Act 1872

The third Reform act of 1884

● Tripled the electoral

● A property qualification was low, but didn't removed

The Redistribution Act of 1885- formed more or less constituencies

Results:

● Women still could not vote

● Working class got the right to vote, the Labour Party was formed to protect the interests of the working class

● The suffragettes and electoral system in 20th century

Women who wanted to vote (суфражистки).

1897- National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). Failed

1903- Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). It was more radical. They tried to make the government to pay attention to them with such bad methods as breaking the law.

1907 - women could be elected in borough, district and council elections. It was some kind of a joke, because man did not vote for them

1913 - hunger strikes in prisons and the government issued Cat and Mouse Act (how people called it). If women went in hunger strike government released them to make their health better. And after recovering government was taking them in prison again

1918- some women were allowed to vote

1919 - women could become lawyers and magistrates (JPs), could sit on juries

1928- universal suffrage for anyone over the age of 21.

The House of Lords reform: 1911 – 2009.

The House of Lords reform: 1911 – 2009

Reforms in Parliaments

People started to discuss the role of the House of Lords because they had a lot of powers that stopped the progress. It was the reason for reforms in Parliament. The liberals wanted to get rid of confrontation between HoL and HoC.

Parliament Act of 1911:

● The Lords' veto on money bills was abolished.

● Other Bills should become law if they passed in the Commons and were rejected by the Lords 3 times within 2 years - HoL had lost important power to change the decision of HoC - only postpone (отложить) and House of Commons became the dominated part of the Parliament.

● The maximum duration of a Parliament should be five years instead of seven

● Payments for MPs

Parliament Act of 1949- under the same circumstances (обстоятельствам). The period of postponing became 1 year.

Life Peerage Act of 1958 - hereditary peer. New type of peer - life peer, get title for достижения it. The Act allowed for the creation of female peers entitled to sit in the House of Lords; the first such women peers took their seats 21 October 1958.

The House of Lords Act of 1999 - there were more than 1000 peers. It decided to reduce numbers of hereditary peers

The Constitutional Reform Act of 2005 - the HoL stopped worked as a highest court of appeal. Supreme Court was created.

House of Lords:

● Lords Temporal

○ Hereditary peers

○ Law lords (because it started to work as a highest court)

○ Life peers - was disappeared in 21 century

● Lords Spiritual - represented the Church

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