8. The House of Commons.

The House of Commons is the chief source of our laws. It became known by this name because those elected to serve in it, as Members of Parliament (MPs) were ordinary common people, known as commoners. Even to this day a noble or “peer” who is still a member of the House of Lords must first give up his peerage, if he wishes to become an MP.

The United Kingdom is divided up into 659 constituencies. At least once every five years a General Election is held, in which everyone who lives in a constituency and who is over the age of 18 and entitled to vote, has-the opportunity to elect his or her MP. Those who wish to stand for Parliament are called candidates. Almost every MP who is elected belongs to one of the political parties, and is voted into Parliament generally as a Conservative or Labour or Liberal Democrat MP. The party with an overall majority of MPs will be asked by the Queen to form the next Government.

Some candidates are independent of any political party. In 1997, the journalist Martin Bell stood as the independent “anti-sleaze” candidate for Tatton. In 2001 Dr John Taylor became the independent MP for Wyre Forest.

Candidates are voted for as people. If Labour MP resigns or dies while he is in office, another Labour candidate will not automatically fake over. There must quickly be a new election in his constituency. This is called a by-election.

The 659 MPs decide which laws to pass. They do this by voting in Parliament when each new law is debated. It is the duty of an MP to look after the interests of all the people in his constituency. If the people do not like what their MPs are doing, they may change them by 'voting in' different ones at the next General Election.

This method of voting is our way of ensuring that the country is governed according to the wishes of the people. The system of government by the people is called a democracy. It is government in which the supreme power rests with the people through our representatives.

Any system of government must be as efficient as possible and this requires leadership. In the House of Commons leadership must be provided by the Government. This is formed by the political party which has the majority of MPs. The leaders of the Government are the Prime Minister, and the other Ministers. MPs hold Ministers to account by asking questions in Parliament. The Prime Minister comes to Parliament to answer questions once a week at Prime Minister's Question Time.

The Government directs policy and proposes new laws to carry it into effect, but it is Parliament which decides whether to pass new laws or not. There have been times when Parliament has refused to pass Government legislation. On occasions the Parliament of the day has felt unable to govern. When this happens the Prime Minister asks the monarch to dissolve Parliament, and call a new General Election. Then the people, making up the electorate decide who the next Government should be by electing MPs again.

The House of Commons is presides over by the Speaker, whose job it is to keep order in the House. Betty Boothroyd, the first woman Speaker in the history of that office, was elected in 1992. The present Speaker is Michael Martin. He has a residence in the Palace of Westminster itself. He is also the MP for Glasgow Springburn, and must look after the interests of his constituents.

Of the 659 MPs who sit in the House of Commons at Westminster, 529 MPs represent constituencies in England, 40 represent constituencies in Wales, 72 in Scotland, and 18 in Northern Ireland.