Parliament of the United Kingdom

About

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom. It meets at the Palace of Westminster in London. It is bicameral, consisting of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, with the sovereign forming a third constitutional element. Acting together to legislate, these constitute the King-in-Parliament. Legislative authority has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Parliament, and Northern Ireland Assembly to differing degrees, while the UK Parliament retains authority to legislate in reserved matters and the power to legislate in devolved areas.

The House of Commons is the elected lower chamber, comprising 650 members elected from single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting. The House of Lords is the upper chamber and consists of the Lords Temporal, principally life peers, and the Lords Spiritual, bishops of the Church of England. The Commons has legislative primacy: under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, the Lords can generally delay, rather than permanently block, legislation passed by the Commons. The government must retain the confidence of the House of Commons, and ministers are accountable to Parliament through debates, questions, and parliamentary committees.