英国概况 chqapter 7 (6.3)ppt.pptVIP

2. The membership of the House of Lords is about 1200, but only some 380 peers attend the House daily. Most of them receive no salary for their parliamentary work, but the ministers of the House are salaried members. 3. The main function of the House of Lords is to bring the wide experience of its members into the process of law making, i.e. to act as a chamber of revision, complementing but not rivaling the House of Commons. 4. The House is presided over by the Lord Chancellor, who is the highest judge of judiciary and the ex-officio Speaker of the House. The Parliament Office, i.e. the administrative staff of the House, is in the charge of the Clerk of the Parliaments, who is responsible for the records of proceedings of the House of Lords and for the text of Acts of Parliament. The House of Commons 1.The parliamentary electoral systema. The House of Commons is elected by universal adult suffrage and consists of 651 Members of Parliament (MPs), with 524 from England, 72 from Scotland, 38 from Wales and 17 from Northern Ireland. Each member represents a constituency and holds his seat during the lifetime of a Parliament.b. Members of Parliament are elected either at a general election or at a by-election. A general election is usually held every five years, when all the seats are contested. A by-election is held in a single constituency between one general election and the next, when an MP has died or retired or has been transferred to the House of Lords. c. For electoral purposes Britain is divided into 651 constituencies, each of which returns one member to the Commons. Each elector may cast one vote by secret ballot, normally in person at a polling station. People entitled to an absent vote may vote by post or by proxy. The candidate who receives the most votes of his constituency is elected into the House.d. British citizens, together with citizens of other Commonwealth countries and citizens of the Irish Republic resident in Britain may be qualified to v