History Of Parliament And Elections In Britain

History Of Parliament And Elections In Britain

Parliament (from Old French parlement; Latin parliamentum), the
origins of Parliament began in the 11th century in the Witans. These
were councils consulted by Saxon Kings and attended by the King’s own
ministers, magnates and religious leaders and were authorized to collect
taxes.

With the feudal system it was the absolute power for
the monarch with just advices from clergy and tenants-in-chief .As a
consequence , the barons revolted and Magna Carta was issued in
1215.With the revolt of Simon De Montfort (1208-1265) the parliament was
made broader (1264) with the inclusion of earls , knights and
burgesses(commons).
Actually, the modern Parliaments developed
from the fusion, during the reign (1272-1307) of Edward I, of two
English governmental institutions. One of these was a meeting of the
Magnum Concilium, or Great Council, comprising the lay and
ecclesiastical magnates, summoned to treat with the king on the affairs
of the realm. Often, in practice, they were asked to agree to the
levying of specific taxes. The Norman Magnum Concilium, in feudal terms a
gathering of the king's tenants in chief, was not greatly dissimilar
from the old Anglo-Saxon Witan. The second, and newer, institution was
the Curia Regis, the King's Court, or Council, a much smaller body of
semiprofessional advisers; at those of its meetings that came to be
called concilium regis in parliamento ("the king's council in
parliament"), judicial problems might be settled that had proved beyond
the scope of the ordinary law courts dating from the 12th century. Joint
meetings of the two bodies were held at the king's discretion and were
attended by those explicitly summoned.
The Model Parliament
of 1295 is generally regarded as the first representative assembly. It
comprised of two knights from each county, two burgesses from each
borough and two citizens from each city.

In the 14th century
two distinct Houses emerged :The upper House and Commons(1341). The
Commons, composed of shire and borough representatives. The other known
as the Upper House, was composed of religious leaders (Lords Spiritual)
and magnates (Lords Temporal). In the 15th century members were summoned
by writ rather than chosen by the Monarch and became known as ‘peers’
that is equal among themselves but with five ranks : Duke, Marquess ,
Earl, Viscount and Baron.
In the 15th century , and as a
consequence to the war of the Wars Of The Two Roses, the nobility was
weakened and the monarchy strengthened .The 16th century , with the
ruling of Tudors especially with king Henry ⅷ,witnessed the climax of
the royal power .There was a substantial decrease of clergy in the upper
house whereas the house of commons became more powerful with seats
granted by kings to loyals.
In the 17th century the Parliament
became a revolutionary body and was the centre of resistance to the king
during the English Civil Wars (1642-1651).After the defeat of the King
Charles1 and his execution ,England became a republic with Oliver
Cromwell as Lord Protector and the House Of Lords was abolished .The
Restoration period (1660-88) the two houses were restored .the period
also saw the party system and witnessed the development of the Whig and
Tory factions, ancestors of the later political parties. After the
Glorious Revolution of 1688, William III chose his council, or officers
of state, from among these party members in Parliament--at first from
both parties and then, finding this unworkable, from the party
commanding a majority in the Commons. Under Queen Anne this council, or
cabinet, as it came to be known, became a distinct policy-making body,
usually meeting alone without the queen. Subsequently, under the first
two Georges, who were politically ineffectual, Robert Walpole, as leader
of the Whigs, of the Commons, and of the cabinet, became the real head
of government, the "prime" minister .he set the principle that the
cabinet must act as a unit. Later, particularly after 1830, the party
system became entrenched, and all members of Parliament began using a
party label. Effective power was passing from the monarch, and the power
of the House of Lords, too, would be diminished in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries.
During the Civil War in the 17th century
bishops were excluded from the House of Lords and the House itself
ceased to sit in 1649 but resumed in 1661 with the inclusion of the
Bishops under the Clergy Act of that year .The House of Commons
gradually developed into an executive body.
The 1689 Bill of Rights
which was initiated by the House of Commons, established the authority
of Parliament over the Monarch. It anchored the constitutional monarchy
and the autonomy of the parliament .In 1701 , the Act Of Settlement
amended and replaced the Bill Of Rights .It claims that the parliament
is the one who decides on succession.

In 1707 the Union of
England and Scotland Act abolished the Scottish Parliament and 45
members from Scottish counties and burghs were sent to Westminster. The
first Parliament of Great Britain met on 23 October 1707. The 1801 Act
of Union (with Ireland) abolished the Irish Parliament and 100 Irish MPs
were added to the Parliament of Great Britain.

In 1830 the
Tories became The Conservative Party .Short after , the 1832 Reform Act
created the process of distributing seats in proportion to population,
increased the electorate by about 57%, which meant that approximately
20% of English adult males would have the vote (the right for
middle-classes) .

The Second Reform Act of 1867 increased
male household votes and added about 1.12million to the existing
electorate of about 1.40 million .In 1868 the Whigs became The Liberal
Party .The 1885 Redistribution of Seats Act created mostly single-member
constituencies.

The parliament act of 1911 reduced the
power of the house of Lords which can no longer block the house of
Commons legislation.
The 1918 Representation of the People Act
increased the vote to men over 21 and extended it to women over 30 who
met occupancy requirements, whilst the Redistribution Act of the same
year increased the size of the House of
Commons and adopted the principle of broadly equal constituency sizes.

Following the Government of Ireland Act in 1920, Irish MPs withdrew
from the Parliament of Great Britain in 1922, with the exception of 12
Members from Northern Ireland. In 1928 the voting age for women was
lowered to 21 and in 1969 the voting age for all was reduced to 18.

In 1999 under the Devolution of Powers Act, extensive powers were
transferred to the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales.
Devolution to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive also took
place .The 1999 House of Lords Act restricted membership of hereditary
peers in the House of Lords to 92 .

Today the House of Commons has 646 Members elected on a ‘first past the post’ system broken down by party as follows:

Labour 354
Conservative 197
Liberal Democrat 63
Democratic Unionist Party 9
Scottish National Party 6
Sinn Fein (Nb: They do not take their seats) 5
Social Democratic and Labour Party 3
Plaid Cymru 3
Independent 2
Ulster Unionist 1
Respect 1
The Speaker 1

The House of Lords has approximately 717 Peers broken
down as follows:
Labour 208
Conservative 205
Liberal Democrat 74
Crossbench 193
Archbishops& Bishops 26
Other 11