In short: the Prime Minister leads the government, supported by the Cabinet — a committee of senior ministers, each responsible for a policy area (health, defence, education, etc.). The PM is appointed by the King when they command a majority in the House of Commons, which in practice means they're the leader of the largest party after a general election.
But "the government" only runs some things. Much is delegated downward to devolved governments (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) and local councils. The UK has a constitutional monarchy, meaning His Majesty the King is head of state but has almost no day-to-day power — laws are passed in his name, but he doesn't write them.
This trips up almost everyone. They are not the same thing.
Parliament is the legislature — it scrutinises, debates, and passes laws. It has two chambers: the House of Commons (650 elected MPs) and the House of Lords (appointed, not elected). Parliament's job is to hold the government to account.
The Government is the executive — around 122 ministers drawn from Parliament who actually run the country, propose laws, and control spending. The PM and Cabinet sit at the top.
So: Parliament watches the government. The government proposes things. Parliament decides whether they become law. They operate in the same building (mostly) but are constitutionally distinct.
A proposed law starts as a Bill. It goes through several readings in both the House of Commons and House of Lords — debated, amended, debated again. Once both chambers agree on the same text, it receives Royal Assent (the King formally approves it) and becomes an Act of Parliament — i.e., a law.
The government proposes most Bills. But individual MPs can also propose Private Members' Bills — these occasionally pass but usually don't, because the government controls Parliamentary time.
Green Papers are consultation documents — "here's an idea, what do you think?" White Papers are firmer proposals — "here's what we're going to do." Neither is a law yet.
The Civil Service is the permanent, politically neutral machinery of government — around 500,000 people who keep the state running regardless of which party wins an election. Ministers come and go; civil servants stay.
They implement government policy, draft legislation, manage public services, pay benefits, staff prisons, issue passports and driving licences, and do the vast bulk of administrative work that government requires.
There are 24 ministerial departments (like the Home Office, Treasury, Ministry of Defence), 20 non-ministerial departments (like HMRC, which deliberately doesn't have a minister to ensure independence), and 400+ agencies and public bodies (like the DVLA, Environment Agency, and NHS England).
England has several tiers (note: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own structures entirely):
County Councils — cover a whole county. Responsible for the big-ticket services: education, transport, social care, libraries, fire services, waste disposal, and trading standards.
District / Borough / City Councils — operate within a county. Handle rubbish collection, recycling, housing, planning applications, and council tax collection.
Unitary Authorities — a single council doing everything both tiers do. Common in cities and some rural areas. London boroughs and metropolitan boroughs work similarly.
Parish / Town / Community Councils — the most local level. Mostly advisory, but can provide allotments, bus shelters, play areas, and community grants. They can also issue fixed penalty fines for litter, graffiti, and dog offences.
Council Tax is collected by your district or unitary authority, then split between several bodies. A typical bill funds:
Council Tax does not pay for the NHS, state schools (capital funding), most roads (see below), or national benefits. Those come from central government via general taxation.
Road funding splits by classification — and this matters enormously for pothole complaints:
Motorways and A-roads (trunk roads) — funded and maintained by National Highways (an executive agency of the Department for Transport). Central government money. Your council has nothing to do with these.
Local A-roads, B-roads, and residential streets — maintained by your county council (or unitary authority). Funded partly by central government grants, partly by council tax and business rates.
So for potholes: if it's a motorway or dual carriageway — report to National Highways. If it's pretty much anything else — report to your county council via their website or fixmystreet.com.
Several ways, in increasing order of effort:
Each devolved nation has its own Parliament or Assembly with law-making powers over devolved matters. These broadly include:
Scotland has the most powers (including some tax-varying powers). Wales has expanded powers following the 2017 Wales Act. Northern Ireland has a unique settlement under the Good Friday Agreement.
These are reserved matters — handled by the UK Parliament for all four nations regardless of devolution:
This is why arguments about independence matter — independence would transfer reserved powers to the devolved nation entirely.
This is the Barnett Formula, and it is one of the most reliably productive sources of English resentment in public discourse.
When the UK government increases spending on a devolved area in England (say, health), the devolved governments automatically receive a proportional increase in their block grant — calculated by population share. Because this formula was set in 1978 when Scotland had different demographics, and has never been fully reformed, it does result in somewhat higher per-capita public spending in Scotland and Wales than in England.
The devolved governments then decide how to spend their block grant — which is why Scotland can offer free university tuition and free prescriptions while England does not.
The NHS in England is funded almost entirely from general taxation — income tax, National Insurance contributions, VAT, and other taxes collected by HMRC. There is no NHS-specific tax, despite what the label on your payslip might suggest.
National Insurance contributions do not go into a specific NHS pot. They go into the Consolidated Fund (general government revenue) and are spent as Parliament decides. The name is historical and slightly misleading.
The NHS budget in England (set by Westminster) is allocated to NHS England, which distributes it to Integrated Care Boards, which fund local hospitals and services. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own NHS budgets from their block grants.
HMRC (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs) collects virtually all national taxes: income tax, National Insurance, VAT, corporation tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, and more.
The money goes into the Consolidated Fund — the government's central bank account at the Bank of England. The Treasury (the Finance Ministry, led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer) then allocates it to departments via the annual Budget and Spending Reviews.
The biggest areas of public spending are, in order: Social protection (pensions, benefits — the single largest item), Health, Education, Debt interest, and Transport.
The Budget is an annual statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer announcing changes to taxation and near-term spending. This is when income tax thresholds change, fuel duty is adjusted, and the Chancellor makes jokes that nobody laughs at.
A Spending Review happens less frequently (every 2–4 years) and sets department budgets for multiple years ahead. This is where the real long-term decisions are made — how much the Ministry of Defence gets, what the NHS budget trajectory looks like, etc.
Between these, the government issues Autumn Statements or Spring Statements with updates — the naming convention shifts depending on which sounds more dramatic at the time.
Since 2013, MPs' pay has been set independently by IPSA (the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority) — not by MPs themselves. MPs do not vote on their own salaries. IPSA determines pay rises based on average earnings data.
MPs can (and occasionally do) object to rises publicly, but they have no mechanism to block them. So "MPs voted themselves a pay rise" is not accurate — it's IPSA's decision, and MPs are not in the room.
The current base salary is publicly available on theipsa.org.uk, along with all expenses claims, which are also published.
Possibly, occasionally. But the structural context matters:
Between 2010 and 2020, local government in England experienced roughly a 50% cut in central government grant funding in real terms. Councils have had to increase council tax, cut services, and redirect almost everything toward statutory duties (primarily adult social care, which they are legally required to provide).
When a council stops cutting grass verges, closes a library, or reduces bin collection frequency, it is almost always because they have exhausted other options — not because someone decided grass didn't matter.
That said: council decisions are taken in public, accounts are published, and officers and councillors are accountable. If you think money is genuinely being wasted, an FOI request and a local journalist are your best tools.
No, and the distinction matters. A president is separately elected with a direct democratic mandate. The UK Prime Minister is:
The PM has no fixed term, no separate election, and no formal written job description. Their power derives entirely from controlling the Parliamentary majority. If that goes, so does the job — sometimes very quickly (Liz Truss: 45 days).
Yes — more than most people realise.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives everyone the right to request any recorded information held by any public authority — councils, government departments, NHS trusts, universities, police forces. There are exemptions (national security, personal data, etc.) but they must be applied specifically and justified.
How to use it: email the public authority's FOI team, describe what information you want, and they must respond within 20 working days. It's free. You don't need a reason.
WhatDoTheyKnow.com makes it easy and publishes responses publicly. gov.uk/make-a-freedom-of-information-request has the official guide.
It doesn't quite — at least not alone, and with limits.
The House of Lords is the revising chamber. It scrutinises and amends legislation passed by the Commons, often making it considerably better through technical expertise. But it cannot permanently block legislation — only delay it. Under the Parliament Acts, the Commons can ultimately override the Lords.
Lords are a mix of: Life Peers (appointed, usually for expertise or political service), 26 Church of England bishops (the Lords Spiritual), and a residual group of 92 hereditary peers (a compromise from 1999, still unresolved).
Whether this is a good system is a matter of ongoing constitutional debate. Lords reform has been "imminent" since 1911. The Guide suggests not holding your breath.
More than most people think, if you use the right ones.
The official UK Parliament petition site (petition.parliament.uk) has formal thresholds: 10,000 signatures gets a government response. 100,000 signatures triggers consideration for a Parliamentary debate.
Change.org and similar commercial sites have no formal status — they're useful for building public pressure, but the government has no obligation to respond.
Council petitions also have formal status — most councils must respond to petitions above a threshold, and a large enough petition can force a full council debate.
Find your MP at writetothem.com — enter your postcode, it does the rest. You can also contact them directly via Parliament's website.
MPs hold constituency surgeries — regular meetings where any constituent can attend (usually in person, sometimes online) to raise issues directly. These are underattended and genuinely useful.
Writing to your MP does work, particularly on constituency matters. On national policy, a well-argued letter is added to correspondence tracking — if enough constituents write about the same issue, it reaches the minister's desk.
> Information accurate as of 2025. UK governance changes; always verify specifics at gov.uk.
> This guide covers the UK only. It is useless in Belgium, moderately baffling in the US, and actively misleading in France.
> reason42 — no party affiliation, no axe to grind, no manifesto_