(06-09-2017, 05:12 PM)DarloJAG84 Wrote:

(06-09-2017, 02:34 PM)jagibelieve Wrote: Just curious because as I have already said, I don't follow British politics very closely.  In simple terms, how does your system of government work?  I have a general understanding, but it's kind of confusing to me.  You don't directly elect a Prime Minister?  The Royalty (The Queen) has a hand in this?  How many political parties do you guys have, and how would they relate to U.S. political parties?

I'm not a political buff but I'll try and clear it up a little bit, but this is all written very loosely so forgive me..

We have a list of about 16 political parties across the UK , the main ones are Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green Party, UK Independant Party & Scottish National Party. Each party has a local Member Of Parliament and a National Leader.. Theresa May being the National Leader for the Conservatives, for example. There are 650 constituencies (a group of voters in a specified area or local council  who elect a representative to a legislative body) over the UK and in each one people will vote for their party of choice.. the votes are counted and the constituency will declare who the party is with the most votes are.

For a party to get into power they need a majority vote which is 326 constituencies (326 seats in parliament).

This General Election has seen the Conservatives not achieve the golden number so we now have a 'hung parliament' which means that one party is the 'bigger party' but there's no overall winner and this may end up in a coalition (the forming of more than one political party working together with one person at the helm as PM).

Theresa May is under fire now, as she was so confident that she would be voted for that she called the Election early.. this has backfired and so a lot of people are saying she could resign. Another potential is that we could have a re-vote.. but I don't think that will be the case. Not for a while..

On a personal level, I voted for the party for which I believed in. The one who's values meant more to me. Although I don't like their leader and wouldn't want them as PM, I had to vote for them. So essentially, I voted for the party they represent over the person who would be elected, does that make sense?

Regarding Theresa May visiting the Queen, this was because of the hung parliament. Where she was not overall winner, she needed the Queens permission to form a government.

I hope this answers some of the questions you have asked.. if not, I apologise. Also, I think the information is correct.. it's certainly how I understand it.. I'm sure a UK Political buff would be able to correct me on some parts, though,

Thank you for your explanation.  I gather that you don't directly vote for a candidate, rather you vote for a party.  Do I have that correct?

Where does the Monarchy (The Queen) come into play?  I have always thought that the Monarchy was more-or-less "symbolic" and really had nothing to do with government.

Educate me please.

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