THE BACKGROUND TO THE UK GENERAL
ELECTIONS
Eriko Araki
In Britain a Parliament serves
for a maximum of five years as set out by The Parliament Act 1911,
after which it is dissolved and a General Election is held. The
reasons for calling a General Election are varied, but generally
stem from a Government's desire to obtain a further or increased
majority in the House of Commons for the next five years - to
have a further five years in power.
To become Members of Parliament (MP) you have to win an election.
To be eligible to become a candidate at a parliamentary election
you must be a British, Commonwealth or Irish Republic citizen
and aged 21 or over. Britain is divided into areas called constituencies
and each constituency
represents one seat in Parliament.
The Electoral Register is a list of all people who are eligible
to vote, that is most people over the age of 18, and have registered
to do so. The Electoral Register for each constituency is revised
each year. Registration is compulsory but, in practice, not everyone
registers. A Poll is another name for an election. On polling
day everyone who is entitled to vote will vote for their choice
of candidate to represent their
constituency and its interests in the House of Commons. Voters
put a cross next to the candidate they have chosen on a ballot
(voting) paper. They then fold the paper and put it into a ballot
box. On the other hand, in the U.S, they use a machine for elections
instead of counting by hand, however this system did not work
well the presidential election last time.
'First Past the Post' is the name usually given to the voting
system used in the United Kingdom for general elections. This
system of voting is based on representing a particular area of
the country. MPs represent individual constituencies and each
constituency elects its representative to Parliament. The candidate
with the most votes in each constituency becomes
its MP.
The United Kingdom has been dominated by the two party system,
with two main parties forming the Government and Official Opposition.
Labour and Conservatives are the two main parties now.
The campaign for the election is very different from it in Japan.
The biggest difference is that candidates will "canvass"
the public for votes at an election. The candidates and their
supporters will go from door to door around the constituency.
In addition to it, the role of media is becoming very important.
Because, it is useful to tell their opinion for many
people.
Concerning about the General Election which was held on 7th of
June, Tony Blair who is the leader of the Labour Party
won again and he is going to be the Prime Minister of the UK in
the next five years. He was born in 1953 in Edinburgh. He went
to private school and St. John's College in Oxford University.
He was a barrister before he became a politician. His wife, Cherie
is also a barrister.
These are the policies of the Labour Party
More children in class sizes of under 30.
The lowest tax burden for a working family since 1972.
At least 1.5 million people gaining from the minimum wage.
A million more jobs, with the help of the New Deal.
Inflation at its lowest for 30 years.
New 10p rate of income tax and the basic rate of income tax reduced
to 22p.
William Hague, he was the leader of the Conservative Party
until the Conservatives were defeated in the election. He was
born in 1961 in Yorkshire. He went to state school and after he
went to business school in France. He also studied in Magdalen
College in Oxford.
Another party, the Liberal
Democrats were also defeated
in this election. Their leader is Charles Kennedy. He was born
in 1959 in Inverness, Scotland. He went to state school and Glasgow
University. He also studied at university in Indiana. He was a
teacher and broadcaster before.
From 'The Japan Times', the report of the BBC said that they estimated
that Labour had won 45.7 percent of the vote, the Conservatives 29.6 percent and the
Liberal Democrats 17.6 percent.
Results showed that both major parties
losing ground to the Liberal Democrats.
Bibliography
http://www.uknow.or.jp/uk_now/features/election/docs/electionl_e.ht
http://www.labour.org.uk/lp/new/labour/labour.www_main.main?p_cornerid=229377
Britain's Blair wins second term. (2001, June 8). Japan Times