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Electionworld.org / Elections around the world |
| Official name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
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The United Kingdom is a country in Western Europe and member of the European Union. The capital is London. The dominant religion is christianity (protestantism, the queen is head of the Church of England, and roman catholicism). The official language is English. United Kingdom has a population of around 60 million on 241,590 kmē (including Northern Ireland). The country is a parliamentary democratic monarchy, divided in England (with 47 boroughs, 36 counties, 29 London Boroughs, 12 cities and boroughs, 10 districts, 12 cities and 3 royal boroughs), Scotland (with 32 council areas), Wales (with 11 county boroughs, and 2 cities and counties) and Northern Ireland (24 districts, 2 cities and 6 counties). Wales and Scotland are devolving into autonomy. Northern Ireland has a special status with influence of Ireland. Some of the dependencies, Guernsey, Jersey, Man are autonomous and have a special relation with the British queen, not with the Kingdom. The other dependencies, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena (including Ascencion and Tristan da Cunha) and Turks and Caicos Islands have a large degree of autonomy. The dependencies of the British Indian Ocean Territory and the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands have no constant inhabitation. Akrotiri and Dhekelia have a special status. | |
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Freedom House rated the country on political rights with a 1 and on civil rights with a 1, both on a scale of 1 to 7 (in which 1 is the most free).
Freedom House considers the United Kingdom to be a free country.
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More info:
CIA World Fact Book
- Wikipedia
- World Statesmen
- Rulers
- IPU Parline
- Adam Carr
- Parties and elections
- Political resources
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Political parties (including links) - A short history
Executive:
Queen: Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor 1952)
Prime minister: Anthony Charles Lynton [Tony] Blair (1997) Lab
The government is formed by the Labour Party.
The United Kingdom is a member of the European
Union.
Parliament:
Parliament has two
chambers. The House of Commons has 659 members, elected for a five year term in
single-seat constituencies. The
House of Lords has 675 members, 557 life peers and 118 hereditary members (june 2001).
| House of Commons: 7 june 2001 (59.4 %) | % | 659 | |
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| Labour Party | Lab | 40.7 | 413 |
| Conservative Party | Cons | 31.7 | 166 |
| Liberal Democrats | LibDem | 18.3 | 52 |
| Scottish National Party | SNP | 1.8 | 5 |
| United Kingdom Independence Party | UKIP | 1.5 | - |
| Ulster Unionist Party | UUP | 0.8 | 6 |
| Plaid Cymru/Party of Wales | PC | 0.7 | 4 |
| Democratic Unionist Party | DUP | 0.7 | 5 |
| Sinn Fein | SF | 0.7 | 4 |
| Social Democratic and Labour Party | SDLP | 0.6 | 3 |
| Green Party of England and Wales | Greens | 0.6 | - |
| Scottish Socialist Party | SSP | 0.3 | - |
| Socialist Alliance | SA | 0.2 | - |
| Socialist Labour Party | SLP | 0.2 | - |
| British National Party | BNP | 0.2 | - |
| Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | APNI | 0.1. | - |
| Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern | 0.1 | 1 | |
| United Kingdom Unionist Party | UKUP | 0.1 | - |
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Northern Irish parties: Scottish parties: Welsh parties: |
