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The politics of the United Kingdom are based upon a Unitary State and a Constitutional Monarchy . Its system of government (often known as the '' Westminster System '') has been adopted by other countries, such as Canada , India , Australia , New Zealand , Singapore , Malaysia and Jamaica . The Constitution is uncodified, being made up of Constitutional Convention s, Statute s and other elements. The Head Of State and ''theoretical'' source of executive, judicial and legislative power in the UK is the British Monarch , currently Queen Elizabeth II . Although sovereignty in the UK rests entirely with the monarch (also called the "sovereign"), by established convention the monarch only exercises this role through the UK Parliament . The monarch's role in Parliament is known as Queen In Parliament . Under this convention, the monarch chooses the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons to become the Prime Minister, even though in theory the monarch possesses the right to choose any British Citizen to be her Prime Minister, even if (s)he is not an MP or a member of the House Of Lords . The monarch grants Royal Assent to a Bill from Parliament, albeit theoretically (s)he possesses the ability to refrain from doing so. The Royal Assent is almost never refused, in accordance with contemporary Constitutional Convention s - the last occasion it was declined was 11 March 1708 by Queen Anne . The monarch dissolves Parliament at the time suggested by the Prime Minister, though in theory the Sovereign holds the right to dissolve parliament whenever s/he wishes. Other royal powers called Royal Prerogative , such as patronage to appoint ministers and the ability to declare war, are exercised by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet . Today the Sovereign has an essentially ceremonial role restricted in exercise of power by convention and public opinion, though the monarch (in accordance with the writings of 19th century British constitutional writer ( Tony Blair since 2nd May , 1997 ), who must have the support of a majority of Members Of Parliament (MPs) in the House Of Commons . In formal terms, the ''Crown in Parliament'' is sovereign. EXECUTIVE BRANCH , current British Prime Minister and leader of the British Labour Party .]] See Also: Departments of the United Kingdom Government The Government performs the Executive functions of the United Kingdom. The monarch appoints a Prime Minister , guided by the strict convention that the Prime Minister should be the member of the House of Commons most likely to be able to form a Government with the support of the House. The Prime Minister then selects the other Ministers which make up the Government and act as political heads of the various Government Departments. About twenty of the most senior government ministers make up the Cabinet . As in other Parliamentary System s of government, the executive (called "the government") is drawn from and is answerable to Parliament - a successful Vote Of No Confidence will force the government either to resign or to seek a parliamentary dissolution and a general election. In practice members of parliament of all major parties are strictly controlled by "whips" who try to ensure they vote according to party policy. If the government has a large majority, then they are very unlikely to lose enough votes to be unable to pass legislation. In November 2005, the Blair government suffered its first defeat, on a proposal to extend the period for detaining terrorist suspects to 90 days. However, before this, the last bill proposed by a government that was defeated in the House of Commons was the Shop Hours Bill in 1986 , one of only three in the 20th century. Governments with a small majority, or coalition governments, are much more vulnerable, and sometimes have to resort to extreme measures, such as "wheeling in" sick MPs, to get the necessary majority. Margaret Thatcher in 1983 and Tony Blair in 1997 , for example, were swept into power with such large majorities that even allowing for dissent within their parties, they were assured of winning practically all parliamentary votes, and thus were able to implement radical programmes of legislative reform and innovation. On the other hand, Prime Ministers such as John Major who enjoy only slender majorities can easily lose votes if relatively small numbers of their Backbench MPs reject the whip and vote against the Government's proposals. As such, Governments with small majorities find it extremely difficult to implement controversial legislation and tend to become bogged down cutting deals with factions within their party or seeking assistance from other political parties. See: List Of British Governments
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