Lectue 2 Political System of Britain.pptVIP

Lecture 2The British government British government – An overview Chief of state: Monarch(Sovereign) Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952); Heir Apparent (继承人) : Prince Charles (son of the Queen, born 1948) Monarchy: “君主制”(includes constitutional monarchy and absolute monarchy) Form of government House of Lords House of Commons Head of government The current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom: David Cameron,born 9 October 1966 David Cameron Mr Cameron was educated at Eton College before studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford, gaining a first class honours degree. (David Cameron is the nineteenth British Prime Minister to have attended Eton.) David Cameron was elected Leader of the Conservative Party in December 2005. In the 2010 general election held on 6 May, the Conservatives gained a plurality of seats in a hung parliament and Cameron was appointed Prime Minister on 11 May 2010. At the age of 43, Cameron became the youngest British Prime Minister since the Earl of Liverpool 198 years earlier. The Cameron Ministry is the first coalition（两党或多党）联合政府 government in the United Kingdom since the Second World War. a coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats由保守党和自由民主党组成的联合政府 How did this coalition government come into being? The last Parliament was dissolved on 12 April 2010 in advance of the May 2010 general election. After the resulting hung parliament(悬空议会), no single party has an overall majority in the House of Commons. 即无多数议会 In the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement of 11 May 2010, the two parties formed a coalition government. The coalition Cabinet is now composed of eighteen Conservatives and five Liberal Democrats. Conservative – Liberal Democrat government Eton College 伊顿公学 Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. Eton has traditionally been referred to as the chief nurse of Englands statesmen,and has b