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Parliament is the lawmaking body of the United Kingdom.Having its origin in the mid⁃13th century，it is one of the oldest representative assemblies in the world.The present two⁃house system began in England in the 14th century.Parliament’s main functions are to enact laws for the United Kingdom;to provide money for the government by levying taxes and to approve the government budget;to protect the rights of individuals;to scrutinize government policy;and to examine European Union proposals before they become law.
Parliament comprises the monarch，often referred to as the Crown，the House of Commons，and the House of Lords.The British monarchy can trace its origin to the 10th century when the first king united the various Anglo⁃Saxon peoples into a nation.At the beginning of the British parliamentary history in the early 14th century，the monarch played a pre⁃eminent role in making political decisions，but today the monarch has almost no real power and functions only as a symbol of the country’s unity and its formal Head of State.The present British monarch is Queen ElizabethⅡ.She is，by law，the source of all government powers，and the head of the legislative，the executive and judicial branches.In legal terms，she calls and dissolves Parliament，appoints government officials and judges，and is the commander⁃in⁃chief of the armed forces，as well as the“supreme governor”of the established Church of England.But in reality，she does not get involved in politics.Rather，she acts only on the advice of the Prime Minister（in other words，the Prime Minister instructs her on what to do）;her role is ceremonial，symbolic and apolitical.Her duties include presiding over the State Opening of Parliament，which usually takes place in November each year;giving her royal assent to any new law that has been passed by the Parliament;and meeting with the Prime Minister on a weekly basis at Buckingham Palace，her official residence in London.She occasionally also pays state visits to Commonwealth countries like Canada，Australia and New Zealand，where she is also recognized as Head of State.She also visits non⁃Commonwealth countries on behalf of the British government.
Buckingham Palace
The House of Commons is composed of 650 elected members who are called MPs（members of Parliament）.Seats in the House of Commons are distributed geographically according to population：533 for England，40 for Wales，59 for Scotland，and 18 for Northern Ireland.Each MP represents an electoral district known as a constituency.A constituency contains close to 70，000 people in England，but fewer in Scotland，Wales，and Northern Ireland.Though often referred to as the Lower House，the House of Commons is in fact much more important than the House of Lords.It is the main parliamentary arena for political clashes.A government can exist only with the support of the majority of the MPs.
The House of Commons has primacy in the lawmaking process，as legislation must be passed by the Commons to become law，and bills originating in the Commons can not be blocked by the Lords，only delayed.In addition，when the House of Commons passes“money bills”that concern taxation and public expenditure，the Lords must give prompt approval and without any amendment.
The most important function of the House of Commons is to make laws，known as Acts of Parliament（i.e.，a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub⁃national parliament）.The House also oversees the work of the government by questioning the Prime Minister and the other cabinet ministers in the main House Chamber or in committee.The Prime Minister usually responds to MPs during a weekly 30⁃minute“question time”，while cabinet ministers are questioned by MPs for about an hour four times per week.
Select Committees of MPs within the House of Commons are empowered to examine the work of government departments and related public bodies.The government is expected to consider the committee reports and respond to issues and recommendations which the reports raise.The committee system was first set up in 1979 and now there are 15 such committees in the House of Commons.
The House of Lords，sometimes referred to as the Upper House of Parliament，consists of two groups of members：a religious group and a secular group.The religious group is called Lords Spiritual，which includes two archbishops and senior bishops of the Church of England.The secular group is known as Lords Temporal，which includes hereditary peers（nobles），and Life Peers who are granted noble titles by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Up until the beginning of the 20th century，the House of Lords was roughly equal in power to the House of Commons，but now it only complements the work of the House of Commons.Although it can propose bills（except“money bill”），as the House of Commons does，no bill can become law without approval of the House of Commons.The lawmaking power of the House of Lords is limited.
The House of Lords has undergone major reforms in membership and organization since 1999 when the House of Lords Act was passed.Traditionally，all of the 705 hereditary peers had the automatic right to sit in the House of Lords.After the Labor Party came into power in 1997，it sought to abolish this right.However，that effort met intense opposition from the Conservatives in the House of Lords.As a result，Prime Minister Tony Blair made a compromise to allow 92 elected members of the hereditary peers to remain in the House of Lords.This reduced the number of seats in the House of Lords，but new life peers have been added and the number of lords is growing.As of 2015，the House of Lords counted 785 members.
Another important role of the House of Lords until 2009 was its function as the highest court of the United Kingdom.It was the final court of appeal for the whole country in civil cases，and for England，Wales and Northern Ireland in criminal cases.This function was reassigned from the House of Lords to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009.
All MPs are elected.In theory any one above the age of 21 can run for a seat if he or she wishes.In practice，however，a prospective MP must obtain the approval of the party he or she wants to represent before becoming a candidate.The main political parties each put forward candidates for election in most of the 650 constituencies in the country.The candidates who win the largest number of popular votes in each constituency during an election become MPs.The party that wins more than half of the seats in Parliament in a given election then becomes the majority party and has the right to form a government.If no party wins a majority of seats，then any two parties whose seats add up to more than half of the total seats can join together to form a coalition government.The maximum duration of Parliament is five years，at the end of which a general election is held for a new House of Commons.However，when a government loses the support of Parliament，a new election is held and a new government formed.All citizens over the age of 18 have the right to vote in the general election.
Since 1999，some powers of Parliament have been devolved to the Scottish Parliament and to the Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland，all of which are now responsible for making laws governing their respective regional affairs.