The political structure of Great Britain

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The Liberal Democrats, a party formed by the
merger of the former Liberal Party and Social
Democratic Party in 1988, is the third largest party in
the British parliament. It seeks a reform of the electoral
system to address the disproportionate dominance of
the two main parties that results from the current
system.

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The constitution is uncodified, being made
up of constitutional conventions, statutes and
other elements.
This system of government, known as the
Westminster system, has been adopted by other
countries as well, such as Canada, India,
Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and
Jamaica, countries that made up part of the
British Empire.

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House of Lords
The House of Lords was previously a largely
hereditary aristocratic chamber. The house still
currently consists of two very different types of
member, the Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual.
Lords Temporal include appointed members and
ninety-two remaining hereditary peers, elected from
among the holders of titles which previously gave a
seat in the House of Lords. The Lords Spiritual
represent the established Church of England and
number 26, the Five Ancient Sees (Canterbury, York,
London, Winchester and Durham) and the 21 next most senior bishops.

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2005 election results by age group: voters for
Conservative (blue), Labour (red), Lib Dem (yellow),
other parties (green); and those not voting (grey).