Write an essay covering one of the issues. 300-350 words
Reading for vocabulary 4.11.
Read the following text and entitle its parts after reading.
Elections in the United Kingdom
1____________________________________
The United Kingdom has five distinct types of elections: UK general elections, elections to national/regional parliaments and assemblies, elections to the European Parliament, local elections and mayoral elections. Elections are traditionally held on Thursdays.
General elections do not have fixed dates, but must be called within five years of the opening of parliamentfollowing the last election. Other elections are held on fixed dates though in the case of the devolved assemblies and parliaments, early elections can occur in certain situations.
United Kingdom general elections are the elections held when the Members of Parliament (MPs) forming the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom are elected. Following the Parliament Act 1911, parliamentary sessions last a maximum of five years, and are ended with the dissolution of Parliament. The next election is due on or before 3 June 2010.
2______________________________________
Anyone who is a citizen of the UK, the Republic of Ireland, or of a Commonwealth country, who is legally resident in the UK, and who is over 18 is eligible to vote. All voters should be on the electoral register.
Those who are currently members of the House of Lords, imprisoned for a criminal offence, mentally incapable of making a reasoned judgement, an undischarged bankrupt, or have been convicted of corrupt or illegal practices in connection with an election within the previous five years are not qualified to vote.
Voting is not compulsory. In addition, whilst UK, Irish and Commonwealth citizens may register to vote in all elections, European Union nationals resident in the UK may register to vote in local, European, Scottish and Welsh elections.
3____________________________________________________
Traditionally, the UK effectively has had a two party system, arising from the use of the First-Past-The-Post system for general and local elections.
Before World War I, Britain had a true two-party system, the main parties being the Tories (which became the Conservative Party) and the Whigs (which became the Liberal Party). After World War II, the dominant parties have been Conservative and Labour. No third party has come close to winning a parliamentary majority.
Only in 2005 the Liberal Democrats won 62 of the 646 seats in the House of Commons and some spectators started to regard the Westminster parliament as a "two and a half" party system.
4______________________________________________________
Candidates aim to win particular geographic constituencies in the UK. Each constituency elects one MP by the first past the post system of election. At the 2005 general election, there were 646 constituencies, thus 646 MPs were elected to Parliament. The party with the most seats, i.e. the most MPs, usually forms the government, and the second largest party forms Her Majesty's Opposition.
Exercises
Read the text and entitle its parts. Choose the headings from the list
| 1________________________ 2________________________ 3________________________ 4________________________ | A Returns B Voting Qualofications C Two –party system? D Types of election and their scheduling |
2. Put up questions to these sentences : a)a general question
B) 2-3 special questions
1) The United Kingdom has five distinct types of elections.
2) General elections do not have fixed dates.
3) General elections must be called within five years of the opening of parliament following the last election.
4) Parliamentary sessions last a maximum of five years.
5) The next election is due on or before 3 June 2010.
6) Anyone who is a citizen of the UK legally resident in the UK, and who is over 18 is eligible to vote.
7) These citizens are not qualified to vote.
8) Voting is not compulsory.
9) The UK effectively has had a two party system.
10) Candidates aim to win particular geographic constituencies in the UK.
11) Each constituency elects one MP by the first past the post system of election.
12) The second largest party forms Her Majesty's Opposition.
3. Give definitions for the following:
mayoral elections
devolved assemblies
early elections
dissolution of Parliament
eligible to vote
electoral register
bankrupt
to be qualified to vote.
the Tories
the Whigs
constituency