ABSTRACT
Introduction: Reform of Parliament The Palace of Westminster has been a centre of power for over 900 years. The UK Parliament developed naturally out of the daily political needs of the Monarch at the time and it is still regarded as one of the oldest continuous representative assemblies in the world. In this chapter we build on what you have learnt so far in respect of the development of Parliamentary Supremacy (see Chapter 4) to the Crown in Parliament as a modern democratic legislature in today’s technological age and how the roles of the House of Lords, the Executive and devolved legislations have evolved and changed. The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy: Government (the Executive) is voted into power by the people, to act in the interests of the people. Every adult has the right to vote – known as ‘universal suffrage’. Alongside this system, the UK is also a Constitutional Monarchy. This is a situation where there is an established Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II), who remains politically impartial and with limited powers.
