Government and Politics of United Kingdom

Government Type

constitutional monarchy

Administrative Divisions

England - 47 boroughs, 36 counties*, 29 London boroughs**, 12 cities and boroughs***, 10 districts****, 12 cities*****, 3 royal boroughs******; Barking and Dagenham**, Barnet**, Barnsley, Bath and North East Somerset****, Bedfordshire*, Bexley**, Birmingham***, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Bradford***, Brent**, Brighton and Hove, City of Bristol*****, Bromley**, Buckinghamshire*, Bury, Calderdale, Cambridgeshire*, Camden**, Cheshire*, Cornwall*, Coventry***, Croydon**, Cumbria*, Darlington, Derby*****, Derbyshire*, Devon*, Doncaster, Dorset*, Dudley, Durham*, Ealing**, East Riding of Yorkshire****, East Sussex*, Enfield**, Essex*, Gateshead, Gloucestershire*, Greenwich**, Hackney**, Halton, Hammersmith and Fulham**, Hampshire*, Haringey**, Harrow**, Hartlepool, Havering**, Herefordshire*, Hertfordshire*, Hillingdon**, Hounslow**, Isle of Wight*, Islington**, Kensington and Chelsea******, Kent*, City of Kingston upon Hull*****, Kingston upon Thames******, Kirklees, Knowsley, Lambeth**, Lancashire*, Leeds***, Leicester*****, Leicestershire*, Lewisham**, Lincolnshire*, Liverpool***, City of London*****, Luton, Manchester***, Medway, Merton**, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newcastle upon Tyne***, Newham**, Norfolk*, Northamptonshire*, North East Lincolnshire****, North Lincolnshire****, North Somerset****, North Tyneside, Northumberland*, North Yorkshire*, Nottingham*****, Nottinghamshire*, Oldham, Oxfordshire*, Peterborough*****, Plymouth*****, Poole, Portsmouth*****, Reading, Redbridge**, Redcar and Cleveland, Richmond upon Thames**, Rochdale, Rotherham, Rutland****, Salford***, Shropshire*, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield***, Slough, Solihull, Somerset*, Southampton*****, Southend-on-Sea, South Gloucestershire****, South Tyneside, Southwark**, Staffordshire*, St. Helens, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent*****, Suffolk*, Sunderland***, Surrey*, Sutton**, Swindon, Tameside, Telford and Wrekin****, Thurrock, Torbay, Tower Hamlets**, Trafford, Wakefield***, Walsall, Waltham Forest**, Wandsworth**, Warrington, Warwickshire*, West Berkshire****, Westminster***, West Sussex*, Wigan, Wiltshire*, Windsor and Maidenhead******, Wirral, Wokingham****, Wolverhampton, Worcestershire*, York*****; Northern Ireland - 24 districts, 2 cities*, 6 counties**; Antrim, County Antrim**, Ards, Armagh, County Armagh**, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast*, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, County Down**, Dungannon, Fermanagh, County Fermanagh**, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, County Londonderry**, Derry*, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane, County Tyrone**; Scotland - 32 council areas; Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, The Scottish Borders, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), West Lothian; Wales - 11 county boroughs, 9 counties*, 2 cities and counties**; Isle of Anglesey*, Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff**, Ceredigion*, Carmarthenshire*, Conwy, Denbighshire*, Flintshire*, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire*, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire*, Powys*, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Swansea**, Torfaen, The Vale of Glamorgan*, Wrexham

Legal System

common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; has judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Citizenship

citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of the United Kingdom dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Executive Branch

chief of state: King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022); Heir Apparent Prince WILLIAM (Prince of Wales, born 21 June 1982) head of government: Prime Minister Keir STARMER (since 5 July 2024) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister

Legislative Branch

Bicameral Parliament comprised of the House of Lords (consists of approximately 800 members, including life peers appointed by the Crown on the advice of the Prime Minister, 92 hereditary peers elected by their peers to remain following the House of Lords Act 1999, and 26 Lords Spiritual representing the Church of England) and the House of Commons (650 seats; members are elected by popular vote using a first-past-the-post system to serve terms of up to five years unless the House is dissolved earlier). Elections: House of Lords - no general elections (hereditary peer vacancies are filled by by-elections among peers of the same party or grouping); House of Commons - last held on 4 July 2024. Election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Labour 33.7%, Conservative 23.7%, Liberal Democrats 12.2%, Reform UK 14.3%, Scottish National Party (SNP) 2.5%, other 13.6%; seats by party - Labour 412, Conservative 121, Liberal Democrats 72, Reform UK 5, SNP 9, other 31. Note: Devolved legislatures operate in Scotland (Scottish Parliament), Wales (Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament), and Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland Assembly). The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Parliament were established following referendums and elections in 1999. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established under the Good Friday Agreement, has experienced several suspensions since its creation, most recently between February 2022 and February 2024, when a new power-sharing Executive was restored.

Judicial Branch

House of Lords (highest court of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life); Supreme Courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (comprising the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary

Political Parties

Conservative and Unionist Party [David CAMERON]; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Rev. Ian PAISLEY]; Labor Party [Anthony (Tony) BLAIR]; Liberal Democrats [Charles KENNEDY]; Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Dafydd IWAN]; Scottish National Party or SNP [Alex SALMOND]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]; Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Mark DURKAN]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Sir Reg EMPEY]

Head of State

King CHARLES III

Head of Government

Prime Minister David Cameron

Cabinet

Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister

Elections

House of Lords - no general elections (hereditary peer vacancies are filled by by-elections among peers of the same party or grouping); House of Commons - last held on 4 July 2024.

Election Results

House of Commons — percent of vote by party: Labour 33.7%, Conservative 23.7%, Reform UK 14.3%, Liberal Democrats 12.2%, Scottish National Party (SNP) 2.5%, other 13.6%; seats by party: Labour 412, Conservative 121, Liberal Democrats 72, Reform UK 5, SNP 9, other 31. These figures reflect the results of the July 2024 general election, in which Labour secured a substantial parliamentary majority under leader Keir Starmer despite winning just over a third of the popular vote, owing to the mechanics of the first-past-the-post electoral system. Note: Devolved legislatures operate in Scotland (Scottish Parliament), Wales (Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament), and Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland Assembly). The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Parliament were established following referendums and elections in 1999. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established under the Good Friday Agreement, has experienced several suspensions since its creation, most recently between February 2022 and February 2024, when a new power-sharing Executive was restored following an agreement that resolved a dispute over post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Constitution

unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

Independence

England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland

National Holiday

the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday

International Organization Participation

AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, C, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic Representation in the U.S.

chief of mission: Ambassador David G. MANNING chancery: 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-6500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-7870 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, San Francisco consulate(s): Dallas, Denver, Miami, Seattle

U.S. Diplomatic Representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Robert Holmes TUTTLE embassy: 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W1A 1AE mailing address: PSC 801, Box 40, FPO AE 09498-4040 telephone: [44] (0) 20 7499-9000 FAX: [44] (0) 20 7629-9124 consulate(s) general: Belfast, Edinburgh

Capital City

London

Location

51 30 N, 0 05 W

Time Difference

UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) time zone note: the time statements apply to the United Kingdom proper, not to its crown dependencies or overseas territories

History

the name derives from the Roman settlement of Londinium, established on the current site of London around A.D. 43; the original meaning of the name is uncertain

U.S. Embassy London 24 Grosvenor Square, London W1K 6AH Telephone: 020-7499-9000 Telephone from the United States: 011-44-20-7499-9000 (24 hours) Consular fax: 020-7495-5012 Consular fax from the United States: 011-44-20-7495-5012 U.S. Consulate General Edinburgh, Scotland 3 Regent Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5BW Telephone: 013-1556-8315 Telephone from the United States: 011-44-13-1556-8315 Emergency after-hours telephone: 020-7499-9000 Emergency after-hours telephone from the United States: 011-44-20-7499-9000 Fax: 0131-557-6023 Fax from the United States: 011-44-131-557-6023 U.S. Consulate General Belfast, Northern Ireland Danesfort House, 223 Stranmillis Road, Belfast BT9 5GR Telephone: 028-9038-6100 Telephone from the United States: 011-44-28-9038-6100 Emergency after-hours telephone: 01253 501106 Emergency after-hours telephone from the United States: 011-44-1253 501106 Fax: 028-9068-1301 Fax from the United States: 011-44-28-9068-1301 There is no U.S. consular representation in Gibraltar. You should direct passport questions from there to the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, located at Serrano 75, Madrid, Spain; telephone: 34-91-587-2200 and fax: 34-91-587-2303. You should direct all other inquiries to the U.S. Embassy in London.

Military Branches

Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force

Service Age and Obligation

16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18); no conscription; women serve in military services, but are excluded from ground combat positions and some naval postings; as of October 2009, women comprised 12.1% of officers and 9% of enlisted personnel in the regular forces; must be citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, or Republic of Ireland; reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55; 17 years 6 months of age for voluntary military service by Nepalese citizens in the Brigade of Gurkhas; 16-34 years of age for voluntary military service by Papua New Guinean citizens