From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A logo of Her Majesty's Government
Her Majesty's Government is the central
government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland. Under the British
constitution, executive authority notionally
lies with the monarch but is exercised
by and on the advice of the Cabinet, a collective
body of the Queen's most senior ministers. In UK parlance, "the
Government" is usually a collective noun that refers to ministers of the Crown, who are
all members of one or other of the houses of Parliament. Members of
the Government are both individually and collectively accountable to
Parliament for the advice tendered to Her Majesty and the actions
carried out in her name.
The Government is led by the Prime Minister,
who is appointed by the Queen as the Member or Lord of
Parliament most likely to command a majority in the House of
Commons. The Prime Minister is based at 10 Downing
Street, which along with most government
departments, is located in Westminster. In practice, the Prime
Minister selects the other members of the government and their
appointment is confirmed by the Queen. The government is fused with
Parliament,[1] which
means that in practice a government must seek re-election at least
every five years.[2]
The current Prime Minister is Gordon Brown, leader of the Labour
Party. He was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II
on 27 June 2007.[3] He
leads a government composed of 127 ministers, mostly Labour Party
MPs.[4]
Devolved
governments
Since 1998, certain areas of central government have been
devolved to democratically-accountable governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. By contrast, there
is no devolved government in England.
Local
government
Elected local governments exist in all four component parts of
the United Kingdom.
See also
References
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links
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