Parliament

Parliament, legislative body of Great Britain, technically comprising of the monarch (sovereign in name only), the House of Lords (a relatively powerless body composed of nobles and Anglican prelates), and the 635-member House of Commons, chosen by elections. The term Parliament usually refers to the Commons, the sovereign power of the nation. They elect the prime minister and the nonpartisan speaker who presides over them. The executive head of government also comes from the Commons, and government ministers are selected from either house. The major parties of Parliament today are Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democratic, and Social Democratic. Elections must be held every 5 years, although they may be called more frequently by the prime minister. If the party in power loses its parliamentary majority on a major issue, Parliament is dissolved and new elections held. The beginnings of Parliament go back to medieval times. The Curia Regis (great council), an executive and judicial body gathered from the nobility and the church to aid the monarch, evolved into the House of Lords. Knights and burgesses were summoned to give their approval to royal acts in the 13th century. In the 17th century Parliament won legislative power over taxation and expenditures and then ultimate sovereignty as a result of the Glorious Revolution (1688). The Industrial Revolution brought demands for suffrage from the new classes it created; universal suffrage for men and women was won in the 20th century.