1

Social Hierarchies in Britain

Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification)

between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. Usually individuals
are grouped into classes based on their economic positions and similar
political and economic interests within the stratification system. The
factors that determine class vary widely from one society to another. Even
within a society, different people or groups may have very different ideas
about what makes one higher or lower in the social hierarchy. Some
questions frequently asked when trying to define class include 1) the most
important criteria in distinguishing classes, 2) the number of class
divisions that exist, 3) the extent to which individuals recognise these
divisions if they are to be meaningful, and 4) whether or not class
divisions even exist in the US and other industrial societies.
The theoretical debate over the definition of class remains an important
one today. Sociologist Dennis Wrong defines class in two waysrealist
and nominalist. The realist definition relies on clear class boundaries to
which people adhere in order to create social groupings. They identify
themselves with a particular class and interact mainly with people in this
class. The nominalist definition of class focuses on the characteristics that
people share in a given classeducation, occupation, etc. Class is
therefore determined not by the group in which you place yourself or the
people you interact with, but rather by these common characteristics.
The most basic class distinction is between the powerful and the
powerless. People in social classes with greater power attempt to cement
their own positions in society and maintain their ranking above the lower

social classes in the social hierarchy. Social classes with a great deal of
power are usually viewed as elites, at least within their own societies.
In societies where classes exist, ones class is determined largely by:
personal or household per capita income or wealth/net worth,
including the ownership of land, property, means of production,
etc;
occupation;
education and qualifications;
family background.
Those who can attain a position of power in a society will often adopt
distinctive lifestyles to emphasize their prestige within the powerful class.
Often the adoption of these stylistic traits (which are often referred to as
cultural capital) is as important as ones wealth in determining class
status, at least at the higher levels:
costume and grooming;
manners and cultural refinement;
political standing vis--vis the church, government, and/or social
clubs, as well as the use of honorary titles;
reputation of honor or disgrace;
language, the distinction between elaborate code, which is seen as
a criterion for upper-class, and the restricted code, which is
associated with lower classes.

Elizabethan England: The Social Classes

Holinsheds Chronicles, from which most of the material for the
Shakespearean plays came, were published in 1577. One of Holinsheds
collaborators was William Harrison, chaplain to Lord Cobham, who
wrote the Descriptions of Britain and England for the chronicles. He
testifies that, in England, people were normally divided into four classes
as follows:
Gentlemen;
Citizens or Burgesses (citizens of boroughs);
Yeomen;
Artisans or Labourers.
As far as gentlemen are concerned, the most important, after the king,
were the Prince, dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons. These
were called gentlemen of the greater sort, or, in common usage, lords and
noblemen. Below them were knights, esquires, and, last of all, those that
were simply called gentlemen. Therefore, in effect, the gentlemen were
divided according to their stations in life.
The title of Prince was reserved exclusively for the kings eldest son, who
was called the Prince of Wales, and was the heir apparent to the crown. It
was similar to the situation in France where the kings eldest son had the
title of Dauphin, and was named exclusively Monsieur. In England the
prince was referred to with the Latin word Princeps, since he was the
chief, or principal, person next to the king. The kings younger sons were

only gentlemen by birth. They remained as ordinary gentlemen until they

had been raised, by their father, to a higher position such as either
viscount, earl, or duke. They were referred to by their names, such as
Lord Henry, or Lord Edward etc. with the addition of the word Grace.
This word should have properly been assigned to the king and prince
only, but common usage also assigned it to dukes, archbishops, and (as
some would have it) to marquesses and their wives.
In the class of the bishops entered clergymen who were counted as
honourable and were called lords. In Parliament they were equal in status
to the barons, and, as a matter of honour, sat on the right hand of the
prince. In earlier times, the bishops state had been much more glorious
than it was in the Elizabethan Age.
Dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons were either created by
the king or came to that honour by being the eldest sons or highest in
succession to their parents. In England, the eldest son of a duke was,
during his fathers lifetime, an earl and the eldest son of an earl was a
baron, or sometimes a viscount, according to the manner in which the
original title was created. The original grant of the honourable title had
usually been made by the king in recognition of faithful service on the
part of the first ancestor in the family. It was the custom that the title of
that honour was always given to him and to his direct male heirs only.
Strictly speaking, the rest of the sons of the nobility were only esquires
but it was now common to refer to the sons of all dukes and marquesses
and to the eldest sons of earls as lords.
The barony, or aristocracy, was equivalent to the rank of the senators of
ancient Rome and the state of the English nobility was the same as that of

the Roman Patrician class. Also, in England, no man was normally

created a baron unless he had an annual income greater than a thousand
pounds, or at least as much as would allow him to fully maintain and bear
the appearances and expenses of his position.
There were also knights military and knights by honour. A knights
wife was always referred to as Madam, or Lady, in the same way as
the barons wife. He himself may have used the word Sir before his
name, which is the title by which knights are referred to in England. In
addition, his wife, out of courtesy and during her lifetime was addressed
as my lady.
When it came to Gentlemen, anyone who
practiced law,
taught in the university,
practiced medicine and the liberal sciences,
served as a captain in the wars,
served in the government for the good of the country,
did not depend on manual labour for his living,
was able to afford the behaviour, costs and appearances of a
gentleman and
was willing to bear these
was entitled to have a coat of arms made for him, at a price, by the
College of Heralds. The charters drawn up for this purpose usually
claimed a great (and false) antiquity, contained many decorative and
empty flourishes and were comparatively cheap. Nonetheless, the

purchaser was entitled to be called Master, (the title normally reserved for
esquires and gentlemen) and be referred to as a gentleman for the
remainder of his life.
In the next class the merchants were included, although they often
changed estate with gentlemen, as gentlemen did with them. Their
number had increased so much in those times that the only thing that
maintained them were the excessive prices charged for foreign goods.
The class of yeomen were those which by law were called Legales
homines, free men born English. They were entitled to an annual income
from their own free land up to a maximum sum of forty shillings sterling,
or six pounds as money went in those times. These yeomen had a certain
pre-eminence at the time, and were more highly thought of than labourers
and the common sort of artisans. They were normally well off, kept good
houses, and travelled to make money. And although they were not called
Master, as gentlemen were, or Sir, as knights were, but only John
and Thomas, they had always been the backbone of the nation. The
kings of England, when fighting battles, were always inclined to stay with
their yeomen, who were their footmen.
The fourth and last class of people in England were day-labourers, poor
husbandmen or farmers, and some retailers (those who owned no land)
copyholders, that is leaseholders, and all artisans such as tailors,
shoemakers, carpenters, brickmakers, masons, etc. This class of people,
therefore, had neither voice nor authority in the commonwealth. As for
slaves and bondmen, there were none. Indeed, such was the privilege of
England that if anyone went there from other realms, as soon as they set

foot in the country they were as free as their masters. Thus all notions of
servile bondage were utterly removed from them.
Harrison finds that the country was governed and maintained by three
sorts of persons:
1. The prince, monarch, and head governor, which is called the king, or,
(if the crown fell to a woman), the queen: in whose name and by whose
authority all things were administered.
2. The gentlemen, which class was divided into two sorts: first the
barony or estate of lords (which contained barons and all those above that
degree), and, second, those that were not lords, such as the knights,
esquires, and simple gentlemen. Out of this class the deputies and high
presidents were chosen, such as the Lord Lieutenant in Ireland and the
governors in Wales and Berwick.
3. The third and last sort was called the yeomanry, as well as those
below them, the labourers and artisans. They were not called masters and
gentlemen, but goodmen, as Goodman Smith, Goodman Coot, etc. In
matters of law these and the like were referred to as James Cocke,
yeoman; Harry Butcher, yeoman, etc. This addition to their names set
them apart from more vulgar and common sorts.

Social Classes of Mid-Victorian England

In the Mid-Victorian period in English history there were distinct class
differences in its society. There were three classes in England. These were
the aristocracy, the middle-class (or factory owners) and the working
class. Each class had specific characteristics that defined its behavior.

During the time-period known by most historians as the Industrial

Revolution, a great change overtook British culture.
The populace seeking to better their lives, sought employment in newlyformed industries. Many of the workers which included women and
children, labored through twelve-hour work shifts, with poor nutrition,
poor living conditions and completing tedious tasks. These factors,
accompanied by various ideological precepts by Britains intellectual
community, and those concepts imported from France, provoked a crucial
social evolution. Though no government was overthrown, a distinct
transformation took place causing rebellious behavior to erupt among the
working class.
The middle class held to two basic ideologies that served in the
exploitation of the lower order of the British society. Richard Atlick
identified them as Utilitarianism (or Benthamism) and Evangelicalism.
Utilitarianism created the need to fulfill a principle of pleasure while
minimalising pain. In the context of the industrial revolution this meant
that the pleasure extracted from life would be at the working classes
expense.
The middle class seemed to be just as familiar with the inverse of
Benthamism as they were with its normal application. The pleasure
principle was measured in terms of minimalisation of pain. If the sum of
pain, in a given situation, is less than the sum of pleasure, then it should
be considered pleasurable. The inverse principle applied to the working
class was how pain (work) can be inflicted, with the absolute minimum
distribution of pleasure (wages), without creating an uprising.

The second, Evangelicalism, was considered to be selfish because of its

inflexibility toward actions outside of its moral realm. The Church at that
time would help the poor only to pacify its conscience. Andrew Mearns,
in his article The Bitter Cry of Outcast London, investigated the misery
of the working class and wrote that whilst we have been building our
churches and solacing ourselves with our religion . . . the poor have been
growing poorer, the wretched more miserable, and the immoral more
corrupt. Isolated by these ideologies and rigid social class distinctions,
the lower class began to resent the industrialists that employed them. The
behavior of the working class was termed rebellious by the middle class
and aristocracy of British society. The expression rebellious
characterized their deviation from the conservative norms established by
the middle-class.
Adam Smith justified the oppressive environment that the working class
was subjected to in his work Wealth of Nations. He introduced the
concept of laisser-faire to government and its role in the economy. By
adopting the hands off policy, the British government created an
environment which was conducive to a pure state of capitalism. In this
mode, the industries were given a blank check for the exploitation of the
working

class.

The

result

was

large-scale

urbanisation

and

industrialisation that produced hideous living and working conditions.

However, revolution never occurred as the government allowed the
working class opportunities to vent its social frustrations. These
opportunities were found in the lower classes leisure time. Spending
time in pubs, theaters, music halls and sporting activities created an outlet
for the miserable and unhappy. Industrialization and urbanization took a
toll on the British lower social order, but, consequently, did not push it

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into a revolution. This is to the credit of a society that had the ability to
express itself in coping with social inconsistencies and change.

Social Structure in Britain Today

The Parliament of the United Kingdom still contains a vestige of the
European class structure undone in France by the Revolution. The Queen
maintains her status at the top of the social class structure, with the House
of Lords up until very recently still representing the hereditary upper
class and the House of Commons technically representing everyone else.
Because of the electoral rules, however, the House of Commons
historically (until the late nineteenth, early twentieth century) represented
the landed classes. In the Victorian era of the United Kingdom, social
class became a national obsession, with nouveau riche industrialists in the
House of Commons trying to attain the status of House-of-Lords
landowners through attempts to dress, eat, and talk in an upper class
manner, marriages arranged to achieve titles, and the purchase of grand
country houses built to emulate the old aristocracys feudal castles. It was
the Victorian middle class who tried to distance themselves from the
lower class with terms such as working class, which seemed to imply
that their new white collar positions could not really be considered
work since they were so clean, modern, and safe.
It was also in nineteenth-century Britain that the term Fourth Estate was
used to describe the press. Thomas Carlyle equated the Queen to Frances
First Estate of clergy, the House of Lords to Frances Second Estate of
hereditary aristocracy, and the House of Commons to Frances Third
Estate of rich bourgeoisie. But he then pointed out that the editors of
newspapers in Britains booming Industrial Revolution (similar to the

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pamphleteers before and during the French Revolution) held powerful

sway over public opinion, making them equally important players in the
political arena. The political role of the media has become ever more
important as technology has blossomed in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries, but few academic models today set aside the media as a
specific class.
It remains important in any analysis of social class in the UK to allow for
regional variations. What may be true of England may be untrue or at
least less true of Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales. Attempts to assume
a British class system rarely produce useful or reliable results.
Scotlands populations inter-class relations are (from an English point of
view) confused by the vestiges of the clan system. Wales had most of its
nobility killed off in a series of conflicts between different families and
different centres of power, and of course with England. The effect of this,
according to historian Gwyn Alf Williams in his book When Was Wales,
has been a country which thinks of itself as being a single class. From a
sociological point of view the class system in Britain changed
substantially during the Thatcher Era. With the removal of the majority
of traditional working class industrial jobs from the market, a new
underclass, below working class emerged. The underclass, defined as
unemployed relying on state benefits, is the new bottom of the British
class system.
Due to the integrated nature of modern British society, in which high
earning jobs and positions can be attained by people traditionally
considered of lower social standing, an individuals social class is now
largely governed by mannerisms, education and the status of ones
parents. People are often perceived as being upper class if they were
educated by a public school, use Received Pronunciation and own a large

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number of inherited items such as antique furniture, even if they hold a

job that has a lower rate of pay or is regarded as socially inferior.
Similarly, many high earners can be perceived as belonging to a lower
class as a consequence of having attended state schools or having jobs
that society regards being lower class, even though they pay relatively
well.
If viewed as a hierarchy from the ground up a current model would be as
such (below is only a basic model, other factors such as home, attitude,
clothing, speech, mannerisms, and family ties etc. also affect social
standing, although the main factors are wealth and perceived wealth):
Upper class: generally holders of titles of nobility and their
relatives, some with very high levels of inherited wealth: they will
often have attended the most famous of Britains schools, such as
Eton and Harrow;
Upper middle class: generally professionals with advanced
university degrees and usually with a public school education: a
significant proportion of their wealth is often from inheritance;
Middle class: similar to the upper middle class but usually from a
less establishment-based background and education: generally
professionals with a university degree who will typically own their
own home and earn well above the national average;
Lower middle class: may not hold a university degree but works
in a white collar job and will earn just above the national average;
Upper working class: generally does not hold a university degree
and works in skilled or well experienced role such as supervisor,
foreman, or skilled trade such as plumber, electrician, joiner, toolmaker, train driver;

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Working class: generally has low educational attainment and

works in a semi-skilled or unskilled blue collar profession, in fields
such as industrial or construction work: some examples would be a
drill press operator, car assembler, welding machine operator, lorry
driver,

fork-lift

operator,

docker,

or

production

labourer

(disappearing fast due to de-industialisation and automation);

Lower working class: generally works in low/minimum wage
occupations, such as cleaner, shop assistant, bar worker: often
employed in the personal service industry;
Underclass: reliant on state benefits for income, described by
Marx as the lumpenproletariat: may have an unstable family/home
life and sometimes colloquially referred to as chav class (chav,
common, proletarian and vulgar).
The History of Social Class Schemes
The person responsible for devising the social class scheme was T.H.C.
Stevenson, a medical statistician in the General Register Office. His 1913
classification mixed occupational and industrial groups. While Stevenson
conceived society as divided into three basic social classes (the upper,
middle and working classes), in fact he produced an eight-fold
classification by introducing intermediate classes between the upper and
middle classes and between the middle and working classes; and adding
three industrial groups for those working in mining, textiles and
agriculture.
In 1921 there was a major revision of the class scheme. This was made
possible by the introduction of the first proper classification of
occupations. The three industrial social classes were re-allocated between
the other classes and the new five class scheme was used for the analysis

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of infant and occupational mortality and fertility. Not only did this
revision give stronger emphasis to skill, but there is persuasive
evidence that the revision was constructed in the light of knowledge of
mortality rates.
In 1928, Stevenson gave the first indication of the conceptual basis of his
scheme. In a paper on The Vital Statistics of Wealth and Poverty read to
the Royal Statistical Society, Stevenson noted that culture was more
important than material factors in explaining the lower mortality of the
wealthier classes. And culture (which for Stevenson included
knowledge of health and hygiene issues) was more easily equated to
occupation than to income and wealth. Hence Stevenson inferred social
position from occupation as an indicator of culture. He admitted that
the assignment of occupations to classes was largely an empirical matter
and thus dependent on individual judgement. The validation of the
scheme could be seen in the results it produced, for example the mortality
gradients associated with the scheme which showed a uniform increase as
one moved down the social scale.
Thus, the Registrar-Generals class scheme (RGCS) rested on the
assumption that society is a graded hierarchy of occupations. The five
basic social classes recognised by the Office of Population Censuses and
Surveys (OPCS) were described, from 1921 to 1971, as an ordinal
classification of occupations according to their reputed standing within
the community. In 1980, this was changed so that social class was
equated directly with occupational skill. Unfortunately, OPCS did not
explain the principles behind this reconceptualization. Since only about
7% of cases were awarded different class codes when the same data were
coded according to both 1970 and 1980 procedures and then crossclassified, it seems that, in practice, the changes in mechanism for

15

allocating occupations to classes achieved little beyond further obscuring

the already somewhat unclear class categories themselves. The 1990
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) is much more explicitly
related to skill in the sense of competence required to perform in an
occupation. Again the introduction of SOC affected the allocation of
occupations to classes, although its full effect was deliberately
minimised.
However, these are by no means the only changes made to the official
social class scheme since 1921. At every subsequent Census changes
have been implemented not only in the method of classifying occupations
but also in the allocation of particular occupations to social classes. These
make time-series comparisons extremely difficult. In 1931, for example,
male clerks were demoted from class II to class III; in 1960 airline pilots
were promoted from class III to class II; and in 1961 postmen and
telephone operators were demoted from class II to class IV. These gradual
changes have important cumulative effects, and yet they have to be made
because of social and employment change.
Allocating People to Social Classes
While individual occupations have been re-allocated to different classes,
the overall shape of the model has changed very little during the past
sixty years. The classes are now described as follows:
I. Professional occupations;
II. Managerial and technical occupations;
III. Skilled occupations:
(N) non-manual;
(M) manual;

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IV. Partly-skilled occupations;

V. Unskilled occupations.
It should already be apparent that social class is a derived classification
achieved by mapping occupation and employment status to class
categories. But where do the raw data come from? The principal source
of reliable national data comes from the decennial Population Census.
Census data on occupation, employer and employment status are
collected for the whole working population and 10% of these data are
then coded and used in analyses. Between Censuses, government social
surveys also collect data required for social classifications, as do many
academic studies. In addition valuable data for health and medical
researchers are derived from death registration records which include the
occupations of deceased persons.
In practice individuals are assigned to social classes by a threefold
process. First, they are allocated an occupational group, defined
according to the kind of work done and the nature of the operation
performed. Each occupational category is then assigned as a whole to one
or other social class and no account is taken of differences between
individuals in the same occupation group, e.g. differences of education or
level of remuneration. Finally, persons of particular employment status
within occupational groups are removed to social classes different from
that allocated to the occupation as a whole. Most notably, individuals of
foreman status whose basic social class is IV or V are reallocated to
social class III, and persons of managerial status are (with certain minor
exceptions) placed in social class II.
Ultimately, however, occupations are placed in social classes on the basis
of judgements made by the Registrar-Generals staff and various other

17

experts whom they consult, and not in accordance with any coherent body
of social theory. This is why the classification has rightly been described
as an intuitive or a priori scale. This does not mean, however, that no
theory lay at the basis of Stevensons scheme. His notion of culture as
embodied by occupation did depend upon a definite view of social
processes. We can see this when we examine why the scheme was
deemed necessary.
Some scholars in the 1970s note that the social class scheme was
designed to analyse infant mortality, although others in the 1980s report
Stevensons primary interest as being in the study of fertility, and
especially the then vexed question as to whether the upper and middle
classes were reproducing themselves. Clearly, the two issues are related,
but they must also be seen as central to one of the earliest debates in UK
social sciencethat between the eugenicists and the environmentalists
(eugenics is the study of the hereditary improvement of the human race
by controlled selective breeding).
Although the first published application of the class schema in 1913 was
to the interpretation of infant mortality statistics, the real inspiration for
its construction came from the nineteenth-century debate about
differential fertility, between hereditarian eugenicists on the one hand and
environmentalists on the other. Stevenson, an environmentalist and
advocate of interventionist public health measures, developed the social
class scheme in order to test and disprove eugenicist theories. Thus, while
there is no explicit sociological theory to support the scheme, it is
nevertheless an assertion of the importance of social factors in accounting
for observed trends in fertility and mortality.

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The social class scheme has been widely used by OPCS (Office of
Population Censuses and Surveys) in census reports, decennial
supplements, various survey reports, as well as in many academic studies.
Not surprisingly, given its origins, it has been particularly used in
research on health and in demography. However, for a variety of reasons
some government departments and agencies, and academics in disciplines
other than health studies and demography have used alternatives to the
RGCS (Registrar-Generals class scheme), and notably the second of the
official social classificationsthe Socio-Economic Groups (SEG).
For many sociologists, SEG is seen as a better measure than social class
for social scientific purposes. Its seventeen groups can be collapsed to
produce a scheme not dissimilar from the ones proposed for the studies of
social mobility and class structure. Thus we have two official ways of
classifying people in terms of their employment, based on different
principles and conceptions and without any straightforward mapping
between them.
Given this fact, and given also that the two schemes have remained
largely unaltered for decades while society itself has changed rapidly,
OPCS (the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys) recently
requested the Economic and Social Research Council to undertake a
review of RGSC and SEG. Not only was it thought that two
occupationally-based social classifications might be one too many, but
increasingly government departments and academic researchers have
complained about the fact that the classifications can ignore the 40% of
the population who are not in paid employment.
The ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) Review is in two
phases. Phase 1, now completed, examined whether there was a

19

continuing need for official social classifications; whether the current

ones needed revision; and, if so, how that revision might be achieved.
Phase 2, now underway, is charged with the task of producing, validating
and testing a single, revised social classification which could be used
from the time of the next Census.
There is complete unanimity across central and local government,
academics and the private sector that OPCS (Office of Population
Censuses and Surveys) social classifications are necessary. Central
government departments need them because:
they provide convenient summaries of complex data relevant to the
analysis of social variation and thus to policy formulation;
the classifications are also essential for monitoring the health of the
population;
in the private sector OPCS classifications are a vital element in the
creation of area classifications by companies in the market analysis
field;
academic researchers need the classifications for scientific
analyses,

especially

in

health,

medical,

geographic

and

demographic research;
this leaves government in control of definitions and hence of the
information which must be collected in order to produce
classifications.
Beyond the problems already discussed, the revision of government
social classifications will have to be considered within the framework of
current intellectual debates surrounding class analysis. Principal among

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these, of course, are the problem of what unit of analysis to use, the
relationship between gender and class, the appropriate reference
occupation for the retired, the unemployed and other significant
economically inactive groups, and the even thornier problem of the very
relevance of class analysis to contemporary society and social scientific
explanation. However, whatever the problems, it is intended that Britain
should have a new social classification more fitted to the needs of the
twenty-first century.
Upper Classes in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, entry to the upper class is still considered
difficult, if not impossible, to attain unless one is born into it. Marriage
into upper-class families rarely results in complete integration, since
many factors (to be outlined below) raise a challenging barrier between
the upper, upper middle, and middle classes.
Titles, while often considered central to the upper class, are not always
strictly so. Both Captain Mark Phillips and Vice Admiral Timothy
Laurence, the respective first and second husbands of HRH The Princess
Anne lacked any rank of peerage, yet could scarcely be considered to be
anything other than upper class. That being said, those in possession of a
hereditary (as opposed, importantly, to a conferred, or life) peeragefor
example a Dukedom, an Earldom, or a Barony (though any of these may
be conferred)will, almost invariably be members of the upper class.
Where one was educated is often considered to be more important than
the level of education attained. Traditionally, upper class children will be
brought upat homeby a nanny for the first few years of life, until old
enough to attend a well-established prep school or pre-preparatory school.

21

Moving into secondary education, it is still commonplace for upper-class

children to attend one of Britains prestigious public schools (such as
those in the Eton Group or Rugby Group) although it is not unheard of for
certain families to send their children to Grammar schools.
Insofar as continuing education goes, this can vary from family to family;
it may, in part, be based on the educational history of the family. In the
past, both the British Army and Clergy have been the institutions of
choice, but the same can equally apply to the Royal Navy, or work in the
Diplomatic Corps. HRH Prince Harry of Wales, for instance, has recently
completed his training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in
preparation for entry into the Army. Otherwise, Oxbridge and other
traditional universities (such as Durham University, the University of
Edinburgh, and St Andrews University) are the most popular sources of
higher education for the upper class, although a high academic standard is
required and social class does not as readily secure entry as it once did.
Sportsparticularly those involving the outdoorsare a popular
pastime, and are usually taken up from a school age or before, and
improved upon throughout the educational years. Traditionally, at school,
Rugby union is much more popular than Association Football: indeed, the
two sports are often taken to represent the two extremes of social classes
at play. Other frequented sports include lawn tennis (which has a broad
appeal and could hardly be considered to be dominated by any one class),
croquet (quite the opposite), cricket and golf.
Equestrian activities are also popularwith both sexes. There is a longstanding tradition of the upper class having close links to horses; indeed,
one of the foremost examples of three-day eventing prowess is Zara
Philips, daughter of Princess Anne and recently-crowned Sunday Times

22

Sportswoman of the Year. Men who ride will more often participate in
Polo, as is the case with both HRH Prince Charles and his sons, Their
Royal Highnesses Prince William and Prince Harry.
Hunting and shooting, too, are favoured pastimes. Some upper class
families with large estates will run their own shoots (typically they would
need about 1,000 acres, or 4 km, though some shoots do operate on
about half that), but many will know someone who keeps pheasants, or
other game, and may instead shoot with them. Much as with horses, there
is a particular affinity for dogs (especially Labradors and Spaniels)
amongst the upper class and, equally, sporting pursuits that involve them.
It should, however, be noted that none of the aforementioned sports are,
of course, exclusively upper-class.
Language, pronunciation and writing style have been, consistently, one
of the most reliable indicators of class. The variations between the
language employed by the upper classes and those not of the upper
classes has, perhaps, been best documented by linguistic Professor Alan
Rosss 1954 article on U (for upper class) and non-U English usage.
The discussion was perhaps most famously furthered in Noblesse Oblige
and featured contributions from, among others, Nancy Mitford.
Interestingly, the debate was resumed in the mid-seventies, in a
publication by Debretts called U and Non-U revisited. Ross
contributed to this volume too, and it is remarkable to notice how little
the language (amongst other factors) changed in the passing of a quarter
of a century.
With specific regard to pronunciation, much is made of the lower-class
(albeit slightly regional) tendency towards dropped consonantsfor
instance, lille for little or ow are you? for how are you? The

23

upper class are also distinguishable, though from the absence of vowels in
their speechthus, handkerchief becomes hnkrchf, venison
becomes vnsn and Shropshire becomes Shrpshr.
The choice of house (home, to a non-U-speaker), too, is an important
feature of the upper classes. While it is true that there are fewer upper
class families nowadays that are able to maintain both a well-staffed town
house and a country house than in the past, there are still many families
that have a hereditary seat somewhere in the country that they have
managed to retain: Woburn Abbey, for example, has been in the family of
the Duke of Bedford for centuries. Many upper class country homes are
now open to the public, or have been placed in the care of the National
Trust to aid with the funding of much-needed repairs. (In some cases,
both are true).
The inside of a house, however grand the faade, is equally indicative of
class. Upper class homes (if privately owned, and not staffed) tend to be
comparatively untidy composites of inherited grand furniture, which may
have become worn over time and vast piles of ancient books, papers and
other old reading material for which there is now no room.
Many upper class families will be in possession of works of art by old
masters, valuable sculpture or period furniture, with certain pieces handed
down through several generations. Indeed, inheriting the vast majority of
ones possessions is the traditional form in upper class families. On that
point, there is a well-known derisory quotation from Conservative
politician Michael Jopling, who referred to cabinet colleague Michael
Heseltine as the kind of person who bought his own furniture. (The
former was then put down himself by a Baron as the kind of person who
bought his own castle).

24

So too is the organisation (or lack) of the garden an important upper class
trait. Bedding plants, rockeries (a garden in which rocks are arranged and
plants cultivated in a carefully designed, decorative scheme), hanging
baskets and goldfish ponds will all have been banished in favour of box
hedges, shrub roses, herbaceous borders and stone pathways. Upper class
gardens will look more natural and unconstructed than artificially
trimmed (although as with houses, this is not always true where staff are
employed).
Money and material possessions are often thought of as a less important
factor as regards the United Kingdoms upper class than those upper
classes of other countries, but, although this allows for an upper class
family to be impoverished, an upper class family is likely to have had
wealth at some point in its history.
Vast financial prosperity (only slightly dependent on how it is earned) is
the subject of derision and contemptthe nickname fat cat, in
reference to a wealthy and highly priviledged person, is not one often
attributed to members of the upper class. According to Kate Fox, the
present-day anthropologist, the main difference between the English and
American social system is that in the latter, the rich and powerful believe
they deserve their wealth and power and are more complacent. In the
former, they tend to have a greater sense of social responsibility and
compassion for those less privileged than themselves.

25

The History of the British Monarchy

The Anglo-Saxons
In the Dark Ages during the fifth and sixth centuries, communities of
peoples in Britain inhabited homelands with ill-defined borders. Such
communities were organised and led by chieftains or kings. Following the
final withdrawal of the Roman legions from the provinces of Britannia in
around AD 408 these small kingdoms were left to preserve their own
order and to deal with invaders and waves of migrant peoples such as the
Picts from beyond Hadrians Wall, the Scots from Ireland and Germanic
tribes from the continent.
King Arthur, a larger-than-life figure, has often been cited as a leader of
one or more of these kingdoms during this period, although his name now
tends to be used as a symbol of British resistance against invasion. The
invading communities overwhelmed or adapted existing kingdoms and
created new onesfor example, the Angles in Mercia and Northumbria.
Some British kingdoms initially survived the onslaught, such as
Strathclyde, which was wedged in the north between Pictland and the
new Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria.
By AD 650, the British Isles were a patchwork of many kingdoms
founded from native or immigrant communities and led by powerful
chieftains or kings. In their personal feuds and struggles between
communities for control and supremacy, a small number of kingdoms

26

became dominant: Bernicia and Deira (which merged to form

Northumbria in AD 651), Lindsey, East Anglia, Mercia, Wessex and
Kent. Until the late seventh century, a series of warrior-kings in turn
established their own personal authority over other kings, usually won by
force or through alliances and often cemented by dynastic marriages.
According to the later chronicler Bede, the most famous of these kings
was Ethelberht, king of Kent (reigned c.560-616), who married Bertha,
the Christian daughter of the king of Paris, and who became the first
English king to be converted to Christianity (St. Augustines mission
from the Pope to Britain in 597 during Ethelberhts reign prompted
thousands of such conversions). Ethelberhts law code was the first to be
written in any Germanic language and included 90 laws. His influence
extended both north and south of the river Humber: his nephew became
king of the East Saxons and his daughter married king Edwin of
Northumbria (who died in 633).
In the eighth century, smaller kingdoms in the British Isles continued to
fall to more powerful kingdoms, which claimed rights over whole areas
and established temporary primacies: Dalriada in Scotland, Munster and
Ulster in Ireland. In England, Mercia and later Wessex came to dominate,
giving rise to the start of the monarchy. Throughout the Anglo-Saxon
period the succession was frequently contested, by both the Anglo-Saxon
aristocracy and leaders of the settling Scandinavian communities. The
Scandinavian influence was to prove strong in the early years. It was the
threat of invading Vikings which galvanised English leaders into unifying
their forces, and, centuries later, the Normans who successfully invaded
in 1066 were themselves the descendants of Scandinavian Northmen.

27

The Normans
The Normans came to govern England following one of the most famous
battles in English history: the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Four Norman
kings presided over a period of great change and development for the
country. The Domesday Book, a great record of English land-holding, was
published; the forests were extended; the Exchequer was founded; and a
start was made on the Tower of London. In religious affairs, the
Gregorian reform movement gathered pace and forced concessions: Pope
Gregory I, known as Gregory the Great (590-604) increased papal
authority, enforced rules of life for the clergy, and sponsored many
important missionary expeditions, notably that of Saint Augustine to
Britain (596).The machinery of government developed to support the
country while the monarch was fighting abroad.
Meanwhile, the social landscape altered dramatically, as the Norman
aristocracy came to prominence. Many of the nobles struggled to keep a
hold on their interests in both Normandy and England, as divided rule
meant the threat of conflict. This was the case when William the
Conqueror died. His eldest son, Robert, became Duke of Normandy,
while the next youngest, William, became king of England. Their
younger brother Henry would become king on William IIs death. The
uneasy divide continued until Henry captured and imprisoned his elder
brother. The question of the succession continued to weigh heavily over
the remainder of the period. Henrys son died, and his nominated heir
Matilda was denied the throne by her cousin, Henrys nephew, Stephen.

28

There then followed a period of civil war. Matilda married Geoffrey

Plantagenet of Anjou, who took control of Normandy. The duchy was
therefore separated from England once again. A compromise was
eventually reached whereby the son of Matilda and Geoffrey would be
heir to the English crown, while Stephens son would inherit his baronial
lands. It meant that in 1154 Henry II would ascend to the throne as the
first undisputed king in over 100 yearsevidence of the dynastic
uncertainty of the Norman period.
The Angevins
Henry II, the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet and Henry Is daughter
Matilda, was the first in a long line of 14 Plantagenet kings, stretching
from Henry IIs accession through to Richard IIIs death in 1485. Within
that line, however, four distinct Royal Houses can be identified: Angevin,
Plantagenet, Lancaster and York. The first Angevin King, Henry II, began
the period as arguably the most powerful monarch in Europe, with lands
stretching from the Scottish borders to the Pyrenees. In addition, Ireland
was added to his inheritance, a mission entrusted to him by Pope Adrian
IV (the only English Pope).
A new administrative zeal was evident at the beginning of the period and
an efficient system of government was formulated. The justice system
developed. However there were quarrels with the Church, which became
more powerful following the murder of Thomas Becket (archbishop of
Canterbury from 1162 to 1170, murdered following his opposition to
Henry IIs attempts to control the clergy). As with many of his
predecessors, Henry II spent much of his time away from England

29

fighting abroad. This was taken to an extreme by his son Richard, who
spent only 10 months of a ten-year reign in the country due to his
involvement in the crusades.
The last of the Angevin kings was John, whom history has judged
harshly. By 1205, six years into his reign, only a fragment of the vast
Angevin empire acquired by Henry II remained. John quarrelled with the
Pope over the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury, eventually
surrendering. He was also forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, which
restated the rights of the church, the barons and all in the land. John died
in disgrace, having broken the contract, leading the nobles to summon aid
from France and creating a precarious position for his Plantagenet heir,
Henry III.
The Plantagenets
The Plantagenet period was dominated by three major conflicts at home
and abroad. Edward I attempted to create a British empire dominated by
England, conquering Wales and pronouncing his eldest son Prince of
Wales, and then attacking Scotland. Scotland was to remain elusive and
retain its independence until late in the reign of the Stuart kings. In the
reign of Edward III the Hundred Years War began, a struggle between
England and France. At the end of the Plantagenet period, the reign of
Richard II saw the beginning of the long period of civil feuding known as
the War of the Roses. For the next century, the crown would be disputed
by two conflicting family strands, the Lancastrians and the Yorkists.
The period also saw the development of new social institutions and a
distinctive English culture. Parliament emerged and grew, while the
judicial reforms begun in the reign of Henry II were continued and

30

completed by Edward I. Culture began to flourish. Three Plantagenet

kings were patrons of Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English
poetry. During the early part of the period, the architectural style of the
Normans gave way to the Gothic, with surviving examples including
Salisbury Cathedral. Westminster Abbey was rebuilt and the majority of
English cathedrals remodelled. Franciscan and Dominican orders began
to be established in England, while the universities of Oxford and
Cambridge had their origins in this period.
Amidst the order of learning and art, however, were disturbing new
phenomena. The outbreak of Bubonic plague or the Black Death served
to undermine military campaigns and cause huge social turbulence,
killing half the countrys population. The price rises and labour shortage
which resulted led to social unrest, culminating in the Peasants Revolt in
1381.
The Lancastrians
The accession of Henry IV sowed the seeds for a period of unrest which
ultimately broke out in civil war. Burdened by rebellion and instability
after his usurpation of Richard II, Henry IV found it difficult to enforce
his rule. His son, Henry V, performed better, defeating France in the
famous Battle of Agincourt (1415) and staking a powerful claim to the
French throne. Success was short-lived with his early death. By the reign
of the relatively weak Henry VI, civil war broke out between rival
claimants to the throne, dating back to the sons of Edward III. The
Lancastrian dynasty descended from John of Gaunt, third son of Edward
III, whose son Henry deposed the unpopular Richard II.

31

Yorkist claimants such as the Duke of York asserted their legitimate claim
to the throne through Edward IIIs second surviving son, but through a
female line. The Wars of the Roses therefore tested whether the
succession should keep to the male line or could pass through females.
Ultimately, Henry VI was captured and put to death, and the Yorkist
faction led by Edward IV gained the throne.
The Yorkists
The Yorkist conquest of the Lancastrians in 1461 did not put an end to the
Wars of the Roses, which rumbled on until the start of the sixteenth
century. Family disloyalty in the form of Richard IIIs betrayal of his
nephews, the young King Edward V and his brother, was part of his
downfall. Henry Tudor, a claimant to the throne of Lancastrian descent,
defeated Richard III in battle and Richard was killed. With the marriage
of Henry to Elizabeth, the sister of the young Princes in the Tower,
reconciliation was finally achieved between the warring houses of
Lancaster and York in the form of the new Tudor dynasty, which
combined their respective red and white emblems to produce the Tudor
rose.
The Tudors
The five sovereigns of the Tudor dynasty are among the most well-known
figures in Royal history. Of Welsh origin, Henry VII succeeded in ending
the Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York to found
the highly successful Tudor house. Henry VII, his son Henry VIII and his
three children Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I ruled for 118 eventful
years. During this period, England developed into one of the leading

32

European colonial powers, with men such as Sir Walter Raleigh taking
part in the conquest of the New World. Nearer to home, campaigns in
Ireland brought the country under strict English control.
Culturally and socially, the Tudor period saw many changes. The Tudor
court played a prominent part in the cultural Renaissance taking place in
Europe, nurturing all-round individuals such as William Shakespeare,
Edmund Spenser and Cardinal Wolsey. The Tudor period also saw the
turbulence of two changes of official religion, resulting in the martyrdom
of many innocent believers of both Protestantism and Roman
Catholicism. The fear of Roman Catholicism induced by the Reformation
was to last for several centuries and to play an influential role in the
history of the Succession.
Kings and Queens of the United Kingdom from 1603
Until 1603 the English and Scottish Crowns were separate, although links
between the two were always closemembers of the two Royal families
intermarried on many occasions. Following the Accession of King James
VI of Scotland (James I of England) to the English Throne, a single
monarch reigned in the United Kingdom. The last four hundred years
have seen many changes in the nature of the Monarchy in the United
Kingdom. From the end of the seventeenth century, monarchs lost
executive power and they increasingly became subject to Parliament,
resulting in todays constitutional Monarchy.
The Stuarts
The Stuarts were the first kings of the United Kingdom. King James I of
England who began the period was also King James VI of Scotland, thus

33

combining the two thrones for the first time. The Stuart dynasty reigned
in England and Scotland from 1603 to 1714, a period which saw a
flourishing Court culture but also much upheaval and instability, plague,
fire and war. It was an age of intense religious debate and radical politics.
Both contributed to a bloody civil war in the mid-seventeenth century
between Crown and Parliament (the Cavaliers and the Roundheads),
resulting in a parliamentary victory for Oliver Cromwell and the dramatic
execution of King Charles I. There was a short-lived republic, the first
time that the country had experienced such an event.
The Restoration of the Crown was soon followed by another Glorious
Revolution. The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688,
was the overthrow of King James II of England (VII of Scotland) in 1688
by a union of Parliamentarians with an invading army led by the Dutch
stadtholder (or governor) William III of Orange-Nassau (William of
Orange), who as a result ascended the English throne as William III of
England. It is sometimes called the Bloodless Revolution, but this is
Anglocentric as it ignores the three major battles in Ireland and serious
fighting in Scotland. William and Mary of Orange ascended the throne as
joint monarchs and defenders of Protestantism, followed by Queen Anne,
the second of James IIs daughters.
The end of the Stuart line with the death of Queen Anne led to the
drawing up of the Act of Settlement in 1701, which provided that only
Protestants could hold the throne. The next in line according to the
provisions of this act was George of Hanover, yet Stuart princes remained
in the wings. The Stuart legacy was to linger on in the form of claimants
to the Crown for another century.

34

The Hanoverians
The Hanoverians came to power in difficult circumstances that looked set
to undermine the stability of British society. The first of their Kings,
George I, was only 52nd in line to the throne, but the nearest Protestant
according to the Act of Settlement. Two descendants of James II, the
deposed Stuart king, threatened to take the throne, and were supported by
a number of Jacobites throughout the realm. For all that, the
Hanoverian period was remarkably stable, not least because of the
longevity of its kings. From 1714 through to 1837, there were only five
monarchs, one of whom, George III, remains the longest reigning king in
British History (1760-1820).
The period was also one of political stability, and the development of
constitutional monarchy. For vast tracts of the eighteenth century, great
Whig families dominated politics, while the early nineteenth century saw
Tory domination. Britains first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, dates
from this period, and income tax was introduced. Towards the end of the
Hanoverian period, the Great Reform Act was passed, which amongst
other things widened the electorate.
It was also in this period that Britain came to acquire much of her
overseas empire, despite the loss of the American colonies, largely
through foreign conquest in the various wars of the century. By the end of
the Hanoverian period, the British Empire covered a third of the globe.

35

The theme of longevity was set to continue, as the longest reigning

monarch in British history, Queen Victoria, prepared to take the throne.

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha came to the British Royal Family in 1840
with the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert, son of Ernst, Duke
of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Queen Victoria herself remained a member of
the House of Hanover. The only British monarch of the House of SaxeCoburg-Gotha was King Edward VII, who reigned for nine years at the
beginning of the modern age in the early years of the twentieth century.
King George V replaced the German-sounding title with that of Windsor
during the First World War. The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha survived in
other European monarchies, including the current Belgian Royal Family
and the former monarchies of Portugal and Bulgaria.
The House of Windsor
The House of Windsor came into being in 1917, when the name was
adopted as the British Royal Familys official name by a proclamation of
King George V, replacing the historic name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It
remains the family name of the current Royal Family. The present Queen
has familial ties with most of the monarchs in Europe. During the
twentieth century, kings and queens of the United Kingdom have fulfilled
the varied duties of constitutional monarchy. One of their most important
roles has been acting as national figureheads lifting public morale during
the devastating wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45.

36

The period saw the modernisation of the monarchy in tandem with many
social changes which have taken place over the past 90 years. One such
modernisation has been the use of mass communication technologies to
make the Royal Family accessible to a broader public all over the world.
George V adopted the relatively new medium of radio to broadcast across
the Empire at Christmas; the Coronation ceremony was broadcast on
television for the first time in 1953, at The Queens insistence; and the
World Wide Web has been used for the past seven years to provide a
global audience with information about the Royal Family. During this
period, British monarchs have also played a vital part in promoting
international relations. The Queen retains close links with former colonies
in her role as Head of the Commonwealth.

The Monarchy Today

Monarchy is the oldest form of government in the United Kingdom. In a
monarchy a king or queen is Head of State. The British monarchy is
known as a constitutional monarchy. This means that, while the Queen is
Head of State, the ability to make and pass legislation resides with an
elected Parliament. Although the British Sovereign no longer has a
political or executive role, he or she continues to play an important part in
the life of the nation.
As

Head

of

State,

the

Queen

undertakes

constitutional

and

representational duties which have developed over one thousand years of

history. In addition to these State duties, the Queen has a less formal role
as Head of Nation. She acts as a focus for national identity, unity and
pride; gives a sense of stability and continuity; officially recognises
success and excellence; and supports the ideal of public and voluntary

37

service. In all these roles the Queen is supported by members of her

immediate family.

What Is Constitutional Monarchy?

Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a king or
queen acts as Head of State, while the ability to make and pass legislation
resides with an elected Parliament. The Sovereign governs according to
the constitutionthat is, according to rules, rather than according to his
or her own free will. Although the United Kingdom does not have a
written constitution which sets out the rights and duties of the Sovereign,
they are established by conventions. These are non-statutory rules which
can bind just as much as formal constitutional rules.
As a constitutional monarch, the Queen cannot make or pass legislation,
and must remain politically neutral. On almost all matters the Queen acts
on the advice of ministers. However, the Sovereign retains an important
political role as Head of State, formally appointing prime ministers,
approving certain legislation and bestowing honours. The Queen also
has official roles to play in other organisations, such as the Armed Forces
and the Church of England. As a system of government, constitutional
monarchy has many strengths. One is that it separates out the ceremonial
and official duties of the Head of State from party politics. Another is that
it provides stability, continuity and a national focus, since the Head of
State remains the same even as governments come and go.
The Bill of Rights Act of 1689 sets out the foundations of constitutional
monarchy. Rights obtained by Parliament included:

38

freedom from Royal interference with the law;

freedom from taxation by Royal prerogative;
freedom to petition the King;
freedom to elect members of Parliament without interference from the
Sovereign.
The origins of constitutional monarchy in Britain go back a long way.
Until the end of the seventeenth century, British monarchs were executive
monarchs, which means that they had the right to make and pass
legislation. But even in early times there were occasions when the
Sovereign had to act in accordance with the law and take into account the
will of his people.
With the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215, for example, the leading
noblemen of England succeeded in forcing King John to accept that they
and other freemen had rights against the Crown. In the seventeenth
century, the Stuart kings propagated the theory of the divine right of
kings, claiming that the Sovereign was subject only to God and not to the
law. Widespread unrest against their rule led to civil war in the second
half of the seventeenth century. In 1688-9 Parliamentarians drew up a Bill
of Rights, which established basic tenets such as the supremacy of
Parliament. The constitutional monarchy we know today really developed
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as day-to-day power came to
be exercised by Ministers in Cabinet, and by Parliaments elected by a
steadily-widening electorate.
The Role of the Sovereign

39

The British Sovereign can be seen as having two roles: Head of State, and
Head of the Nation. As Head of State, the Queen undertakes
constitutional and representational duties which have developed over one
thousand years of history. There are inward duties, with the Queen
playing a part in State functions in Britain. Parliament must be opened,
Orders in Council have to be approved, Acts of Parliament must be
signed, and meetings with the Prime Minister must be held. There are
also outward duties of State, when the Queen represents Britain to the rest
of the world. For example, the Queen receives foreign ambassadors and
high commissioners, entertains visiting Heads of State, and makes state
visits overseas to other countries, in support of diplomatic and economic
relations.
As Head of Nation, the Queens role is less formal, but no less
important for the social and cultural functions it fulfils. The Queens role
is to:
perform the ceremonial and official duties of Head of State, including
representing Britain to the rest of the world;
provide a focus for national identity and unity;
provide stability and continuity in times of change;
recognise achievement and excellence;
encourage public and voluntary service.
The Role of the Royal Family
Members of the Royal Family support the Queen in her many State and
national duties, as well as carrying out important work in the areas of
public and charitable service, and helping to strengthen national unity and

40

stability. Those who undertake official duties are members of the Queens
close family: her children and their spouses, and the Queens cousins (the
children of King George VIs brothers) and their spouses.
Younger members of the Royal Family who are presently in education or
military trainingsuch as Prince William and Prince Harrydo not
undertake official duties full-time, but often play a role in important
national events and commemorations. Every year the Royal Family as a
whole carries out over 2,000 official engagements throughout the UK and
worldwide. The number of people entertained each year to dinners,
lunches, receptions and garden parties at the Royal residences is 70,000.
The number of letters received and answered each year by the Royal
Family is 100,000.
These engagements may include official State responsibilities. Members
of the Royal Family often carry out official duties in the UK and abroad
where the Queen cannot be present in person. The Prince of Wales and
the Princess Royal, for example, may present members of the public with
their honours at an Investiture. When official events such as receptions,
State banquets and garden parties are held, the Royal Family supports the
Queen in making her guests welcome.
Members of the Royal Family also often represent the Queen and the
nation in Commonwealth or countries, at events such as State funerals or
national festivities, or through longer visits to strengthen Britains
diplomatic and economic relations. The Royal Family also plays an
important role in supporting and encouraging the public and charity
sectors. About 3,000 organisations list a member of the Royal Family as
patron or president.

41

Queen and State

The Queen is Head of State in the United Kingdom. Her official title in
the UK is Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms
and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the
Faith. As a constitutional monarch, the Queen does not rule the
country, but fulfils important ceremonial and formal roles with respect to
the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and the devolved assemblies of
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Queen is also Fount of Justice, from whom justice in the United
Kingdom derives, and has important relationships with the Armed Forces
and the established Churches of England and Scotland. In addition to her
role in the United Kingdom, the Queen has a special role to play in the
Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, which are dependent territories of
the English Crown.
Queen and Government
As Head of State the Queen has to remain strictly neutral with respect to
political matters, unable to vote or stand for election. But the Queen does
have important ceremonial and formal roles in relation to the Government
of the UK. The formal phrase Queen in Parliament is used to describe
the British legislature, which consists of the Sovereign, the House of

42

Lords

and

the

include opening each

House
new

of

Commons.

session

of

The

Queens

Parliament,

duties

dissolving

Parliament before a general election, and approving Orders and

Proclamations through the Privy Council.
The Queen also has a close relationship with the Prime Minister, retaining
the right to appoint and meet with him or her on a regular basis. In
addition to playing a specific role in the UK Parliament based in London,
the Queen has formal roles with relation to the devolved assemblies of
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Queen and the Law

In the earliest times the Sovereign was a key figure in the enforcement of
law and the establishment of legal systems in different areas of the UK.
As such the Sovereign became known as the Fount of Justice. While no
longer administering justice in a practical way, the Sovereign today still
retains an important symbolic role as the figure in whose name justice is
carried out, and law and order is maintained. Although civil and criminal
proceedings cannot be taken against the Sovereign as a person under UK
law, the Queen is careful to ensure that all her activities in her personal
capacity are carried out in strict accordance with the law.
Queen and Church
In the United Kingdom, the Queens title includes the words Defender of
the Faith. This means Her Majesty has a specific role in both the Church
of England and the Church of Scotland. As established Churches, they are

43

recognised by law as the official Churches of England and Scotland,

respectively. In both England and Scotland, the established Churches are
subject to the regulation of law. The principle of religious toleration is
fully recognised both for those of other creeds and for those without any
religious beliefs.
There are no established churches in Northern Ireland or in Wales. They
were disestablished in 1869 in Northern Ireland and 1920 in Wales. There
is no established Church in any Commonwealth country of which the
Queen is monarch (i.e. a realm). In addition to playing a role in the
Churches of England and Scotland, the Queen recognises and supports
the various other faiths practised in the UK and Commonwealth.
Queen and the Armed Forces
The Sovereign is Head of the Armed Forces and only he or she can
declare war and peace. This dates from the times when the monarch was
responsible for raising, maintaining and equipping the Army and Navy,
and often leading them into battle. But nowadays these powers cannot be
exercised on the monarchs own initiative, but only on the advice of
responsible Ministers. The Bill of Rights (1689) declared that the raising
or keeping of a standing army within the Kingdom in time of peace,
unless it be with the consent of Parliament, is against the law.
The existences of the Army (raised as a series of different regiments by
colonels) and the Royal Air Force are legally based on the Army and Air
Force Acts of 1955 and previous Parliamentary Acts. Their continued
existence depends on annual Continuation Orders passed by Parliament.
On enlistment, the Acts require members of the Army, Royal Air Force

44

and Royal Marines (who operate ashore under the Army Act) to take an
oath of allegiance to the monarch as Head of the Armed Forces.
The Queen takes a keen interest in all the Armed Services both in the
United Kingdom and in the Commonwealth. She keeps in touch with the
work and interests of the Services through the Chiefs of Staff and her
Defence Services Secretary, a serving officer who is also a member of the
Royal Household, who acts as the official link between the Queen,
through her Private Secretary, and the Secretary of State for Defence. The
Queen is regularly briefed by her Ministers.
The Queen and various other members of the Royal Family hold various
appointments and honorary ranks in the Armed Services, both in the
United Kingdom and in some realms. Such appointments include special
relationships with certain ships, honorary colonelcies (known as Royal
colonels) in Army regiments and corps, and honorary ranks connected
with Royal Air Force stations.
These links are maintained by regular visits by members of the Royal
Family to Service establishments and to ships, to meet servicemen and
women of all ranks and their families, both in the United Kingdom and
overseas. Members of the Royal Family have personal experience of life
in the Armed Services. As Princess Elizabeth, the Queen joined the
Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1945, becoming the first female member
of the Royal Family to be a full-time active member of the Armed
Services.
Royal Visits

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Visits to meet people throughout the United Kingdom, Commonwealth

and overseas are an important part of the Royal Familys role. Many of
the visits are connected to charities and other organisations with which
members of the Royal Family are associated. In other cases, Royal visits
help to celebrate historic occasions in the life of a region or nation. Such
visits are memorable occasions for the hosts, providing high-profile
celebration of their work and achievements. International visits play an
important role in strengthening friendships and economic ties between the
UK and other countries. All visits are carefully planned to ensure that as
many people as possible have the opportunity to see or meet members of
the Royal Family.
Honours
The UK honours system rewards people for merit, service or bravery. An
honour, decoration or medal is a public way of illustrating that the
recipient has done something worthy of recognition. As the fountain of
honour in the United Kingdom, the Queen has the sole right of
conferring all titles of honour, including life peerages, knighthoods and
gallantry awards. Since the Queen confers honours mostly on the advice
of the Cabinet Office, recommendations for honours must be sent to the
Ceremonial Secretariat of the Cabinet Office, not Buckingham Palace.
While most honours are awarded on the advice of the Government, there
are still certain honours in the United Kingdom that the Sovereign confers
at his or her own discretion. The only honours for which the Sovereign
personally selects recipients are: the Order of the Garter, the Order of the
Thistle, the Order of Merit, the Royal Victorian Order and the Royal
Victorian Chain, Royal Medals of Honour and Medals for Long Service.

46

Honorary decorations and awards are occasionally granted to people from

other countries who have made a significant contribution to relations
between the United Kingdom and their own country. These awards are
granted on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Orders are also sometimes exchanged between the Sovereign and
overseas heads of state. Since the mid-twentieth century, the exchange of
Orders has become less personal and more formal and diplomatic. The
award, return or removal of Orders can still be highly symbolic.
Examples are the Queens conferring the Order of Merit on President
Mandela, or her return of the Romanian Order received from President
Ceauescu and her instruction to erase the Presidents name from the
Register of the Order of the Bath.
Anniversary Messages
For many people, receiving a congratulatory card from the Queen to mark
a significant birthday or wedding anniversary is a very special part of
their celebrations. Since 1917, the Sovereign has sent congratulatory
messages to people celebrating notable birthdays and anniversaries. Cards
are sent to those celebrating their 100th and 105th birthday and every year
thereafter, and to those celebrating their diamond wedding (60th), 65th, 70th
wedding anniversaries and every year thereafter. The Queen's
congratulatory messages consist of a card containing a personalised
message with a facsimile signature. The card comes in a special envelope,
which is delivered through the normal postal channels.
Charities and Special Associations

47

An important part of the work of the Queen and the Royal Family is to
support and encourage public and voluntary service. One of the ways in
which they do this is through involvement with charities and other
organisations. About 3,000 organisations list a member of the Royal
Family as patron or president. The Queen has over 600 patronages and
the Duke of Edinburgh over 700. These cover every area of the charity
and voluntary sector, from opportunities for young people, to preservation
of wildlife and the environment.
Queen and Commonwealth
The Queen is Head of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 53
independent countries. From Antigua to Zambia, the Commonwealth is a
remarkable international organisation, spanning every geographical
region, religion and culture. It exists to foster international co-operation
and trade links between people all over the world. Some countries within
the Commonwealth have the Queen as their Sovereign, whilst remaining
independent in the conduct of their own affairs. They are known as
Commonwealth realms. The Queen and the Royal Family retain close
links with the Commonwealth realms, and with other members of the
worldwide Commonwealth organisation.
Ceremony and Symbol
Royal ceremonies and symbols hold a powerful fascination. Occasions
such as the State Opening of Parliament, Trooping the Colour and Garter
Day are some of the most colourful and exciting events of the year. But
they are not simply spectacular pageants. These official occasions are also

48

full of symbolism, tradition and meaning, and an integral part of the

Queens role as Head of State.
Ceremonies
Although many of the events date back centuries, they have evolved in
the course of time to keep up-to-date with modern life. Television access
allows millions of people to share in solemn events such as a coronation
or an Investiture; the Maundy service (a public ceremony on Maundy
Thursday when the monarch distributes Maundy money, specially minted
silver coins) has changed during the Queens reign so that it is held in a
different UK cathedral each year; and garden parties are no longer the
formal events they were in previous reigns. For spectators and invited
guests Royal ceremonies are also memorable events which they will
remember all their lives.
Ceremonial Bodies
At events such as the State Opening of Parliament and State visits, a
ceremonial bodyguard attends on the Sovereign. Four ancient
organisations have official duties: Her Majestys Body Guard of the
Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, the Yeomen of the Guard, the
Yeomen Warders and, in Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers.
Dating back centuries, these bodyguards have impressive histories of
valour and many colourful traditions associated with them.
Symbols

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The Sovereign is represented in the UK through many interesting

symbols. Some are familiar everyday objects. Flags, stamps and coins all
have Royal associations and symbolise the Crown in different ways.
Other symbolssuch as the Crown Jewels and coronation regaliaare
unique objects which exert a powerful fascination. With the passage of
years, the history and meaning of many of these symbols has become
obscured.
Transport
Members of the Royal Family carry out nearly 3,000 official
engagements in the United Kingdom and overseas every year. These
engagements involve many journeys, which need to be undertaken in
ways which meet presentational requirements, as well as being efficient
and secure. During five decades as Sovereign, the Queen has used every
conceivable form of transportationfrom elephant to barge. But most
Royal journeys use more conventional forms of transportation: traditional
carriages for ceremonial occasions, and State cars, the Royal Train and
helicopter for engagements and visits in the UK, and aeroplane for
overseas visits. In the past, the Royal Yacht Britannia was also used; this
was decommissioned in 1997.
Royal Finances
The Monarchy has sometimes been described as an expensive institution,
with Royal finances shrouded in confusion and secrecy. In reality, the
Royal Household is committed to ensuring that public money is spent as
wisely and efficiently as possible, and to making Royal Finances as
transparent and comprehensible as possible. Each year the Royal

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Household publishes a summary of Head of State expenditure, together

with a full report on Royal public finances.

Head of State Expenditure

Head of State expenditure is the official expenditure relating to the
Queens duties as Head of State and Head of the Commonwealth. Head of
State expenditure is met from public funds in exchange for the surrender
by the Queen of the revenue from the Crown Estate. In the financial year
to 31 March 2008 the revenue surplus from the Crown Estate paid to the
Treasury amounted to 200 million. Head of State expenditure for 200708 was 40.0 million. This was 2.0% more than in the previous year
(decrease of 3.1% in real terms). Head of State expenditure has reduced
significantly over the past decade, from 87.3 million (expressed in
current pounds) in 1991-92.
Sources of Funding
There are four sources of funding for the Queen, or officials of the Royal
Household acting on Her Majestys behalf, in both a public and private
capacity. These are: the Civil List, the Grants-in-Aid for upkeep of Royal
Palaces and for Royal travel, the Privy Purse and the Queens personal
wealth and income. The Civil List (Royal Salary) allocation for the
financial year 2008-2009 was 12.7 million.
Financial Arrangements of the Prince of Wales

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The Prince of Waless life and work are funded predominantly by the
Duchy of Cornwall. His Royal Highness receives the annual net surplus
of the Duchy of Cornwall and chooses to use a large proportion of the
income to meet the cost of his public and charitable work. The Prince also
uses part of the income to meet the costs of his private life and those of
his wife, The Duchess of Cornwall, and his sons, Prince William and
Prince Harry. As a Crown body, the Duchy is tax exempt, but the Prince
of Wales voluntarily pays income tax (currently at 40 %) on his taxable
income from it. The Prince of Wales does not receive money from the
Civil List, but the Grants-in-Aid paid to the Queens Household are used,
in part, to support his official activities.
Financial Arrangements of Other Members of the Royal Family
Other than the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh is the only member of the
Royal Family to receive an annual parliamentary allowance to enable him
to carry out official public duties supporting the Queen. Since 1993, the
Queen has repaid to the Treasury the annual parliamentary allowances
received by other members of the Royal Family. Most of the allowances
received by members of the Royal Family are spent on staff who support
their public engagements and correspondence. In 2000 the annual
amounts payable to members of the Royal Family (which are set every
ten years) were reset at their 1990 levels for the next ten years, until
December 2010.
Taxation
The Queen pays most of the taxes to which any UK citizen is liable. Her
Majesty has always been subject to Value Added Tax and other indirect

52

taxes and she pays local rates (Council Tax) on a voluntary basis. In 1992,
the Queen offered to pay income tax and capital gains tax on a voluntary
basis. As from 1993, her personal income has been taxable as for any
taxpayer. Income from the Privy Purse is fully taxable, subject to a
deduction for official expenditure. The Civil List and the Grants-in-Aid
are not pay for the Queen but funding for her official work, so they are
disregarded for tax purposes. However, the unique nature of her position
of Sovereign makes the Queen exempt from tax in certain situations.
Titles and Succession
When a monarch dies, or abdicates, a successor is immediately decided
according to rules which were laid down at the end of the seventeenth
century. The family name of the House of Windsor dates back to 1917,
when King George V decided to adopt it. Most members of the Royal
Family, however, are known by formal titles which date back centuries
for example, the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, the eldest
daughter of a British sovereign (Princess Anne).
Succession
The order of succession is the sequence of members of the Royal Family
in the order in which they stand in line to the throne. The basis for the
succession was determined in the constitutional developments of the
seventeenth century, which culminated in the Bill of Rights (1689) and
the Act of Settlement (1701). When James II fled the country in 1688,
Parliament held that he had abdicated the government and that the
throne was vacant. The throne was then offered, not to Jamess young

53

son, but to his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange, as
joint rulers.
It therefore came to be established not only that the Sovereign rules
through Parliament, but that the succession to the throne can be regulated
by Parliament, and that a Sovereign can be deprived of his title through
misgovernment. The succession to the throne is regulated not only
through descent, but also by statute; the Act of Settlement confirmed that
it was for Parliament to determine the title to the throne. The Act laid
down that only Protestant descendants of Princess Sophiathe Electress
of Hanover and granddaughter of James Iare eligible to succeed.
Subsequent Acts have confirmed this.
Parliament, under the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement, also laid
down various conditions which the Sovereign must meet. A Roman
Catholic is specifically excluded from succession to the throne; nor may
the Sovereign marry a Roman Catholic. The Sovereign must, in addition,
be in communion with the Church of England and must swear to preserve
the established Church of England and the established Church of
Scotland. The Sovereign must also promise to uphold the Protestant
succession.
Line of succession (first ten positions):
1. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (b. 1948), eldest son of Queen
Elizabeth II;
2. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (b. 1982), elder son of
Charles, Prince of Wales;
3. Prince George of Cambridge (b. 2013), son of Prince William,
Duke of Cambridge;

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4. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge (b. 2015), daughter of Prince

William, Duke of Cambridge;
5. Prince Henry of Wales (b. 1984), younger son of Charles, Prince of
Wales;
6. Prince Andrew, Duke of York (b. 1960), second son of Queen
Elizabeth II;
7. Princess Beatrice of York (b. 1988), elder daughter of Prince
Andrew, Duke of York;
8. Princess Eugenie of York (b. 1990), younger daughter of Prince
Andrew, Duke of York;
9. Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (b. 1964), youngest son of Queen
Elizabeth II;
10.James, Viscount Severn (b. 2007), son of Prince Edward, Earl of
Wessex.

The British Parliament

Historical Development
Parliament, as a political institution, has developed over hundreds of
years. During that period the two distinct HousesCommons and Lords
emerged and the balance of power between Parliament and the
monarchy changed dramatically. There was no historical continuity
between the Anglo-Saxon witenagemot (an Anglo-Saxon advisory
council to the king, composed of about 100 nobles, prelates, and other
officials, which convened at intervals to discuss administrative and
judicial affairs) and the British Parliament.
Modern parliaments trace their history to the thirteenth century, when the
sheriffs of English counties sent knights to the king to provide advice on
financial matters. Kings, however, generally desired the knights assent to

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new taxation, not their advice. Later in the thirteenth century, King
Edward I (1272-1307) called joint meetings of two governmental
institutions: the Magnum Concilium, or Great Council, comprising lay
and ecclesiastical magnates, and the Curia Regis, or Kings Court, a much
smaller body of semiprofessional advisers. At those meetings of the
Curia Regis that came to be called concilium regis in parliamento (the
kings council in parliament), judicial problems might be settled that had
proved beyond the scope of the ordinary law courts dating from the
twelfth century. The members of the Curia Regis were preeminent and
often remained to complete business after the magnates had been sent
home; the proceedings of Parliament were not formally ended until they
had accomplished their tasks. To about one in seven of these meetings
Edward, following precedents from his fathers time, summoned knights
from the shires and burgesses from the towns to appear with the
magnates.
The parliament called in 1295, known as the Model Parliament and
widely regarded as the first representative parliament, included the lower
clergy for the first time as well as two knights from each county, two
burgesses from each borough, and two citizens from each city. Early in
the fourteenth century the practice developed of conducting debates
between the lords spiritual and temporal in one chamber, or house, and
between the knights and burgesses in another. Strictly speaking, there
were, and still are, three houses: the king and his council, the lords
spiritual and temporal, and the commons. But in the fifteenth century the
kings of the House of Lancaster were usually forced to take all their
councillors from among the lords, and later under the House of Tudor, it
became the practice to find seats in the commons for privy councillors
who were not lords. Meanwhile, the greater cohesion of the Privy Council

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achieved in the fourteenth century separated it in practice from

Parliament, and the decline of Parliaments judicial function led to an
increase in its legislative activity, originating now not only from royal
initiative but by petitions, or bills, framed by groups within Parliament
itself. Bills, if assented to by the king, became acts of Parliament;
eventually, under King Henry VI (reigned 1422-61; 147071), the assent
of both the House of Lordsa body now based largely on heredityand
the House of Commons was also required. Under the Tudors, though it
was still possible to make law by royal proclamation, the monarchs rarely
resorted to such an unpopular measure, and all major political changes
were effected by acts of Parliament.
In 1430 Parliament divided electoral constituencies to the House of
Commons into counties and boroughs. Males who owned freehold
property worth at least 40 shillings could vote in these elections.
Members of the House of Commons were wealthy, as they were not paid
and were required to have an annual income of at least 600 for county
seats and 300 for borough seats. In most boroughs, very few individuals
could vote, and some members were elected by less than a dozen electors.
These rotten boroughs were eventually eliminated by the Reform Bill
of 1832. As parliamentary sessions became more regular from the
fifteenth to seventeenth centuries (legislation in 1694 eventually required
that Parliament meet at least once every three years), a class of
professional parliamentarians developed, some of whom were used by the
king to secure assent to his measures; others would sometimes disagree
with his measures and encourage the Commons to reject them, though the
firm idea of an organized opposition did not develop until much later.

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In the seventeenth century Parliament became a revolutionary body and

the centre of resistance to the king during the English Civil Wars (164251). The Restoration period (1660-88) saw the development of the Whig
and Tory factions, ancestors of the later political parties. The modern
parliamentary system, as well as the principle of parliamentary
sovereignty, quickly developed after the Glorious Revolution (1688-89).
William III (1689-1702) selected his ministers from among the political
parties in Parliament, though they were not subject to control by either
house. While the convention that governments would automatically
resign if they lost election had not yet developed, monarchs began to
adjust the composition of the Privy Council according to that of
Parliament. Later, cabinet officials were appointed from among the party
commanding a majority in the House of Commons.
Decline of the House of Lords
By the late seventeenth century, the power of the monarch had declined,
and the relationship between the Lords and Commons had shifted in
favour of the Commons. When the Whig majority in the House of Lords
threatened to reject the Treaty of Utrecht with France in 1712, the
government created enough Tory peerages in that house to guarantee
support for its policy, a precedent that firmly established the superiority
of the House of Commons. King George I (reigned 1714-27) largely
withdrew from an active role in governance, and in 1721 Robert Walpole,
leader of the Whigs in the House of Commons and the cabinet, was
appointed the first unofficial Prime Minister and became the real head of
government. Unlike previous leading ministers, he did not accept
elevation to the House of Lords, instead remaining a member of the
House of Commons. The principle that the government was subject to the

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House of Commons was reinforced in 1782, when the government of

Lord North resigned because the Commons did not support his policies.
The inferior status of the House of Lords was formally institutionalized in
the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949. The former act, which resulted
from the Lords rejection of the Peoples Budget of Liberal Party
Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George in 1909, specified that
money bills (i.e., bills that impose taxation or spend public funds) could
be presented for royal assent after one month, with or without the Lords
consent. It also limited to two years the length of time the Lords could
delay government legislation; a later amendment (1949) reduced this
period to one year. The preamble to the 1911 bill foreshadowed even
more substantial changes in the relationship between the two chambers:
. . . whereas it is intended to substitute for the House of Lords as it at
present exists a Second Chamber constituted on a popular instead of
hereditary basis, but such substitution cannot be immediately brought into
operation. Although the House of Lords was not replaced with an elected
chamber, the Parliament acts significantly diminished its power, and
future governments threatened the Lords with extinction if they opposed
important government legislation.
The Lords power was further reduced in 1945, when an overwhelming
Labour Party majority in the House of Commons faced a large and
recalcitrant Conservative majority in the House of Lords. By the
Salisbury convention of that year, the Lords were forbidden from
rejecting any bill passed by the Commons that fulfilled a promise in a
partys election manifesto. Notably, the manifesto adopted by the Labour
Party for elections in 1983, which the party lost, promised abolition of the
House of Lords. In the 1990s the hereditary privilege was severely

59

diminished when, in a prelude to wider reform, the Labour government of

Tony Blair eliminated the right of all but 92 hereditary peers to sit and
vote in the Lords.
Each session of Parliament is opened with a speech by the monarch from
the throne in the House of Lords in the presence of members of the House
of Commons. The speech, written by the government and handed to the
sovereign by the Lord Chancellor, contains a list of proposals that the
government intends to introduce in the upcoming parliamentary session.

Parliament: The Political Institution

The Building
Where Parliament now stands has been a centre of authority for over a
thousand years. Once the home of the royal family, and still officially a
royal palace, the buildings that now make up the modern Houses of
Parliament have developed through design, accident and attack. The first
known royal palace to occupy Parliaments site was Edward the
Confessors (c1065). Parliament officially remains a royal palace and is
still referred to as the Palace of Westminster. The site was used as a
royal residence until Henry VIII moved the royal family out in 1512
following a fire. Westminster Hall is the oldest part of Parliament. The
walls were built in 1097 and the hall is one Europes largest medieval
halls with an unsupported roof. It was extensively rebuilt during the

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fourteenth century. Once used as a law court, the hall has held several
notable trials, including that of Sir William Wallace (1305), the
Gunpowder Plot conspirators (1606) and King Charles I (1649). Today
the hall is often used for important State occasions such as the Queens
Golden Jubilee and the lying-in-State of the late Queen Elizabeth the
Queen Mother, both in 2002.
The Palace almost completely burnt down in a fire on 16 October 1834,
which destroyed everything except Westminster Hall, the crypt of St.
Stephens Chapel and the Jewel Tower. The Houses of Parliament, as we
know them today, were rebuilt after the fire. The process, which
incorporated Westminster Hall and the remains of St. Stephens Chapel,
took just over 30 years. The rebuilding was completely finished by 1870.
Architect Charles Barry won an open competition for a new design with
his gothic vision. Barry was assisted by Augustus Welby Pugin,
especially in the details, fittings and furniture. During the Second World
War, on 10 May 1941, a bombing raid destroyed the House of Commons
chamber. Architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed a new, five-floor
block (with two floors occupied by the chamber). It was used for the first
time on 26 October 1950.
The Clock Tower owes its existence to the fire in 1834 that destroyed
most of Parliament. A commission was set up to choose a new building
design from 97 submissions and a clock tower dominated Charles Barrys
winning plan. The clock swung into action in 1859. In 1848, the
Astronomer Royal, Sir George Airey, and barrister Edmund Denison
(who was an amateur watchmaker) took charge of designing the Great
Clock. Clockmaker Edward Dent had the job of building it. Two attempts
were made to cast the Great Bell, or Big Ben as it is more popularly

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known. Cast in 1856, the first bell was transported to the tower on a
trolley drawn by sixteen horses, with crowds cheering its progress.
Unfortunately, it cracked while being tested (blamed on Denison insisting
on an overly heavy hammer) and a replacement had to be made.
The second bell was cast in Londons Whitechapel Bell Foundry on 10
April 1858. In October 1858 the bell was pulled 200 ft. up to the Clock
Towers belfry (the part of a tower in which bells are hung), a feat that
took 18 hours. Big Ben first rang in July 1859 but, again, the bell cracked
in the following September. However, this time the bell was simply
rotated so the hammer did not strike the crack, which remains to this day.
No-one knows the exact origins of the name Big Ben but the most
popular theories are:
that the bell was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, the First
Commissioner of Works and a tall man known in the House of
Commons as Big Ben;
that it was given the nickname of a champion heavyweight boxer
of the time called Ben Caunt; he fought his last fight in 1857 when
the bell, and the debate of what to name it, was in the public
consciousness.
Westminster Hall is the only major part of the ancient Palace of
Westminster which survives in its original form. The hall was built from
1097-99 on the orders of William Rufus (II), son of William the
Conqueror. When first built in the eleventh century, Westminster Hall was
the Great Hall of the Palace of Westminster, used for feasting and
entertaining. From 1189-1821, it was the setting for banquets following
the coronation ceremony held in Westminster Abbey. The Royal Courts of
Justice sat here until 1882, when they were removed to the Strand. The

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original roof was supported by rows of pillars within the hall but in 1399
Richard II commissioned a hammer-beam roof to arch across the entire
span. During extensive repairs undertaken between 1914 and 1923, the
entire hammer-beam roof was reinforced by concealed steelwork and the
decayed portions replaced with new oak. The hammer-beam roof is the
largest medieval timber roof in Northern Europe with a span of 69 feet.
By the time fire engines arrived at the burning Houses of Parliament
during the fire of 1834, the House of Lords was already destroyed and the
Commons was on fire. The Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, directed the
work to soak the roof of Westminster Hall. The rest of the Houses of
Parliament was lost but the hall was saved. In 1941 incendiary bombs set
both Westminster Hall and the Commons Chamber on fire. On the
insistence of Colonel Walter Elliot MP, the hall was saved in preference
to the Commons Chamber. The Commons burned for two days but the
hall survived.
During certain ceremonial occasions, and like the Lords Chamber during
State Opening, Westminster Hall becomes a point of convergence for all
three parts of Parliament: the Queen, the House of Lords and the House
of Commons. The Queen attends parliamentary occasions in her capacity
as the ceremonial head of state. Westminster Hall is traditionally the place
where monarchs, and sometimes former Prime Ministers, lie-in-state
before their funerals. Tablets on the floor of the hall commemorate these
occasions. Exhibitions and other special events are also held in
Westminster Hall and are often open free of charge to the public.
Hansard is a report of both oral and written parliamentary proceedings.
Its origins go back to the seventeenth century, when unofficialand often

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suppressedprintings of debates in Parliament began production.

Suppression stopped in 1771 following a legal battle by John Wilkes MP.
In 1803, William Cobbett started printing records of debates, simply
called Debates. It was the first organised attempt to record proceedings.
Due to insolvency, Cobbett sold the contract for Debates in 1812 to
Thomas Curson Hansard, son of Luke Hansard, the British Governments
printer (although Thomas business was independent). Hansard put his
name on the report in 1829. Operation of Hansard was taken over by the
House of Commons in 1909 and it was given the title Official Report.
After being renamed the Official Report, there were attempts in the early
twentieth century to drop the name Hansard. However, its use
continued until Hansard returned to the reports front cover in 1943.
War Memorials
On Remembrance Sunday, the National Service of Remembrance takes
place at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. A cenotaph is a monument erected in
honor of a dead person whose remains lie elsewhere. This is the focal
point of services taking place around the country and overseas, in
commemoration of the British and Commonwealth servicemen and
women, who died in the two World Wars and later conflicts. Members of
the House of Lords, the House of Commons and the staff employed by
Parliament have also given their lives in service of their country at times
of war and other conflicts. Their service is recorded and commemorated
on the parliamentary estate on a number of war memorials and in books
of remembrance.
In St. Stephens Porch, near Westminster Hall, stands The Recording
Angel, the main memorial dedicated to the Members and Officers of

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both Houses of Parliament, their sons and those police officers who died
in the First World War from 1914 to 1918. Designed by Sir Bertram
Mackennal in 1922, the statue was damaged during the Second World
War; to this day one of the upper statuettes remains detached from the
memorial.
Above the memorial to the First World War in St. Stephens Porch, is the
large stained glass window which contains the service badges and
armorial bearings or initials of Members and staff of both Houses and
police officers, who died in the War of 1939 to 1945. The window was
designed by Sir Ninian Comper and replaced the original Pugin window,
which was destroyed in December 1940 during a bombing raid. In
addition to memorials, there are a number of books of remembrance and
other commemorative artefacts, including:
a piece of timber used during the evacuation of Dunkirk by the
British Expeditionary Force in June 1940, presented by the
Dunkirk Veterans Association to the House of Lords in November
1971;
a box of sand from five beaches (Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and
Sword) used at the Normandy Landings in 1944, presented by the
Normandy Veterans Association.
Layout of the Palace of Westminster
Visitors to the Palace of Westminster come in through St. Stephens
entrance and proceed until they reach Central Lobby. Central Lobby is the
central point in the Palace between the House of Lords and House of

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Commonsthe crossroads of the Houses of Parliament. It is a large

octagonal hall, the centrepiece of the Palace. When waiting to see (or
lobby) their MP, members of the public wait here. From the Central
Lobby, corridors lead north to the House of Commons Lobby and
Chamber and south to the Peers Lobby and House of Lords Chamber.
Beyond the House of Lords are the ceremonial rooms used during the
State Opening of Parliamentthe Queens Robing Room and the Royal
Galleryreached by a separate entrance under Victoria Tower. The Royal
Gallery is often used when members of the two Houses meet together to
hear addresses by visiting heads of State or Government. To the north of
the House of Commons are the Speakers and Serjeant-at-Armss rooms,
and offices for ministers and officials. Beyond these is one of the most
famous features of the Palacethe Clock Tower (Big Ben).
Parliaments Role
Parliament is an essential part of UK politics. Its main roles are:
examining and challenging the work of the government (scrutiny);
debating and passing all laws (legislation);
enabling the government to raise taxes.
The business of Parliament takes place in two Houses: the House of
Commons and the House of Lords. Their work is similar: making laws
(legislation), checking the work of the government (scrutiny), and
debating current issues. The House of Commons is also responsible for
granting money to the government through approving Bills that raise

66

taxes. Generally, the decisions made in one House have to be approved by

the other. In this way the two-chamber system acts as a check and balance
for both Houses.
The Commons is publicly elected. The party with the largest number of
members in the Commons forms the government. Members of the
Commons (MPs) debate the big political issues of the day and proposals
for new laws. It is one of the key places where government ministers, like
the Prime Minister and the principal figures of the main political parties,
work. The Commons alone is responsible for making decisions on
financial Bills, such as proposed new taxes. The Lords can consider these
Bills but cannot block or amend them.
Members of the House of Lords are mostly appointed by the Queen, a
fixed number are elected internally and a limited number of Church of
England archbishops and bishops sit in the House. The Lords acts as a
revising chamber for legislation and its work complements the business
of the Commons. The House of Lords was also, until recently, the highest
court in the land: the supreme court of appeal. A group of salaried, fulltime judges known as Law Lords carried out this judicial work.
The UK public elects Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent their
interests and concerns in the House of Commons. MPs are involved in
considering and proposing new laws, and can use their position to ask
government ministers questions about current issues. They split their time
between working in Parliament itself, working in the constituency that
elected them, and working for their political party. Some MPs from the
ruling party become government ministers with specific responsibilities
in certain areas, such as Health or Defence.

67

When Parliament is sitting (meeting), MPs generally spend their time

working in the House of Commons. This can include raising issues
affecting their constituents, attending debates and voting on new laws.
Most MPs are also members of committees, which look at issues in
detail, from government policy and new laws, to wider topics like human
rights. In their constituency, MPs often hold a surgery in their office,
where local people can come along to discuss any matters that concern
them. MPs also attend functions, visit schools and businesses and
generally try to meet as many people as possible. This gives MPs further
insight and context into issues they may discuss when they return to
Westminster.
The current annual salary for an MP is 61,820. In addition, MPs receive
allowances to cover the costs of running an office and employing staff,
having somewhere to live in London and in their constituency, and
travelling between Parliament and their constituency. The Senior Salaries
Review Body (SSRB) recommends the rate at which MPs are paid and
sets the level of any increase in their salary in line with those in the Civil
Service. The SSRB also suggests the amounts paid in allowances to
Members of both Houses. The House of Commons has the final say in
accepting the recommendations of the SSRB. In the Commons, some
MPs are paid more because of the special jobs they hold. For example,
the Speaker and the Chairmen of Select Committees receive an extra
salary.
MPs who are also ministers in the Government are paid an extra
ministerial salary. There is a contributory pension scheme for Members of
the House of Commons to which MPs contribute 10% of their
parliamentary salary. Some money is paid to those political parties

68

represented in Parliament who are not in government. This is to help

ensure that the Opposition and minority parties have enough funds to
carry out their parliamentary role and to put across their views. The
amount given to each party depends on how many people voted for them
at the last general election, and how many of their candidates were
elected. In the House of Commons this is known as Short Money; in
the House of Lords it is known as Cranborne money (named after
Viscount Cranborne who was the leader of the House of Lords when it
was introduced on 27 November 1996).
By raising an issue in the House of Commons, MPs can bring it to the
attention of the press and public, with the possibility that enough
publicity could persuade government ministers to act. MPs can ask
Ministers questions during Question Time or send written questions to
them. The government is required to answer parliamentary written
questions. The questions and answers are published in Hansard, the
official transcript of what is said in Parliament.
The half-hour adjournment debate offers another opportunity for MPs to
raise matters. Usually taken as the last business of the day, MPs must
either win a ballot or be chosen by the Speaker to voice their concern. An
MP might introduce a Private Members Bill in an attempt to pass a new
law. Few of these Bills are successful but they may draw public attention
to the problem. Ministers are restricted by the Code of Conduct and
cannot raise matters in the House. Parliamentary Private Secretaries and
opposition spokespeople may also be restrained by internal party rules.
The Lords work in Parliaments second chamberthe House of Lords
and complement and operate alongside the business of the House of

69

Commons. It is one of the busiest second chambers in the world. The

expertise of its Members and flexibility to scrutinise an issue in depth
means the Lords makes a significant contribution to Parliaments work.
The UK public does not elect Members of the Lords. Making laws takes
up the bulk of the House of Lords time, and Members are involved
throughout the process of proposing, revising and amending legislation.
Some Bills introduced by the Government begin in the Lords to spread
the workload between the two Houses.
Lords also check the work of the Government by questioning and
debating decisions made by ministers and government departments.
There are permanent committees investigating work relating to Europe,
science and technology, economics and the constitution. Occasionally
one-off committees are set up to deal with issues outside these areas.
The Lords currently has around 800 Members, and there are three
different types: life Peers, bishops and elected hereditary Peers. Unlike
MPs, the public do not elect the Lords. The majority are appointed by the
Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister or of the House of
Lords Appointments Commission. Appointed for their lifetime only, the
life Peers titles are not passed on to their children. The Queen formally
appoints life Peers on the advice and recommendation of the Prime
Minister.
Called Lords Spiritual, a limited number of 26 Church of England
archbishops and bishops sit in the House, passing their membership on to
the next most senior bishop when they retire. The Archbishops of
Canterbury and York traditionally get life peerages on retirement. The
right of hereditary Peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords was ended

70

in 1999 by the House of Lords Act but 92 Members were elected

internally to remain until the next stage of the Lords reform process.
Members of the House of Lords are not paid salaries. But, they are
entitled to claim allowancesor expensesfor costs they incur in
attending either a sitting of the House or a meeting of a committee of the
House. Members of the House of Lords, who are not paid a salary, may
claim the following allowances per sitting daybut only if they attend a
sitting of the House or committee proceedings. The allowances are based
on recommendations of the Senior Salaries Review Body:
Overnight accommodation: 174.00;
Day subsistence: 86.50;
Office costs: 75.00.
Note: the above allowance rates are effective from 1 August 2008.
Claims will vary according to attendance levels and place of residence.
Members of the Lords do not pay tax on their allowances. In the 2006-07
financial year, Members expenses amounted to 18% of the annual
running costs of the House of Lords.
Some Members of the Lords receive a salary because of the offices they
hold:
the Lord Speaker, the Chairman of Committees, and the Principal
Deputy Chairmanpaid from the House of Lords budget;
government
departments.

ministerspaid

by

the

relevant

Government

71

Members who receive a salary are not entitled to claim the additional
allowances based on attendance. The two Opposition parties and the
Convenor of the Crossbench Peers in the House of Lords receive
financial assistance for their parliamentary business. Known as
Cranborne money, the amounts payable are uprated annually in line
with the retail prices index and are subject to independent audit.
The UK has many political parties, the main three being Conservative
(currently in government), Labour and Liberal Democrat. These three
work in both the House of Commons and House of Lords. In addition to
the main three parties, the Commons has a range of other political groups
also elected by the public. This includes nationalist organisations like
Plaid Cymru (Wales) and the Scottish National Party, Northern Irelands
various political parties, and minority parties like Respect.
Outside of the main parties, there are a small number of Members in the
Lords as well that are not affiliated with a main political party and those
belonging to minority groups. In addition there are a limited number of
Church of England archbishops and bishops and the Crossbench Peers
group. The Crossbench Peers group is formed by independent Members
who do not take a party whipwhich means that they are not told how to
vote by a political party.
Nearly all MPs represent political parties. The party with the most MPs
after a general election usually forms the Government. The next largest
party becomes the official Opposition. If MPs do not have a political
party, they are known as Independents. Members of the House of Lords
are organised on a party basis in much the same way as the House of
Commons but with important differences: members of the Lords do not

72

represent constituencies and many are not members of a political party.

Lords who do not support one of the three main parties are known as
Crossbenchers or Independent Peers. There is also a small number who
are not affiliated to any of the main groups.
The system of political parties, which has existed in one form or another
since at least the eighteenth century, is an essential element in the
working of the constitution. Since the Second World War, all the
Governments in the UK have been formed by either the Labour Party or
the Conservative Party. The effectiveness of the party system in
Parliament depends on the relationship between the Government and the
Opposition parties. In general, Opposition parties aim to:
contribute to the creation of policy and legislation through
constructive criticism;
oppose government proposals they disagree with;
put forward their own policies in order to improve their chances of
winning the next general election.
Regarding seating arrangements, MPs from the same party tend to sit
together in the House of Commons Chamber. Because the Chamber is a
rectangular shape, the Government and the Opposition can face each
other. The Government sits on the benches to the right of the Speaker.
The official Opposition and MPs from other parties sit on the benches to
the left of the Speaker. As in the Commons, in the Lords the Government
and the Opposition face each other. The Government and the Bishops sit
on the right of the Lord Speaker. The Opposition parties sit on the
benches to the left of the Lord Speaker while the Crossbench Peers sit

73

mostly on benches that cross the Chamber of the House of Lords behind
the clerks table.
In both the Commons and the Lords, Government ministers and
Opposition shadow ministers sit on the front benches and are known as
frontbenchers. MPs and Members of the Lords who do not hold
ministerial positions sit towards the back of the Chamber and are known
as backbenchers. MPs and Members of the Lords do not have to belong
to a political party. Instead, MPs can sit as Independents and Lords can sit
as Crossbenchers or Independents. The Anglican Archbishops of
Canterbury and York, the Bishops of Durham, London and Winchester
and the 21 other senior diocesan bishops of the Church of England have
seats in the Lords. This is for historical reasons. When they retire as
bishops their membership of the House ends.
Members of either the House of Commons or House of Lords can change
political party at any timeknown as crossing the floor. The term
comes from the fact that, traditionally, Members of Parliament from
opposing parties sit on opposite sides of the Chamber. Therefore, a
Member who changes party usually has to cross the floor of the House to
sit on the other side of the Chamber. The term is used to signify the
changing of allegiance.
Elections
When Parliament is dissolved every seat in the House of Commons
becomes vacant and a general election is held. Each constituency in the
UK elects one MP (Member of Parliament) to a seat in the House of
Commons. The political party that wins a majority of seats in the House

74

of Commons usually forms the Government. General elections are held at

least every five years although not all Parliaments run for the whole five
year period.
MPs are elected from a choice of candidates by a simple majority system
in which each person casts one vote. The candidate with the most votes
then becomes the MP for that constituency. Candidates may be from a
political party registered with the Electoral Commission or they may
stand as an Independent rather than represent a registered party. Most
voting takes place in polling stations but anyone eligible to vote can
apply for a postal vote. British citizens living abroad are also entitled to a
postal vote as long as they have been living abroad for less than 15 years.
People wishing to stand as an MP must be over 18 years of age, and a
British citizen, or citizen of a Commonwealth country or the Republic of
Ireland. Candidates must be nominated by ten parliamentary electors of
the constituency they wish to stand in. Authorisation is required to stand
for a specific party, otherwise candidates will be described as independent
or have no description. In order to encourage only serious candidates to
stand, a 500 deposit is required when submitting the nomination papers
returned if the candidate receives over 5% of the total votes cast.
A by-election takes place when a seat in the House of Commons becomes
vacant between general elections. If there are several vacant seats then a
number of by-elections can take place on the same day. A seat becomes
vacant during the lifetime of a Parliament either when an MP resigns
from Parliament, for example to take up a job which by law cannot be
done by an MP, or because an MP has died. The law also allows a seat to
be declared vacant because of a Members bankruptcy, mental illness or

75

conviction for a serious criminal offence. A by-election does not

automatically take place if an MP changes political party. Until a new MP
is elected, constituency matters are usually handled by an MP of the same
party in a neighbouring constituency.
The UK is currently divided into 646 parliamentary constituencies, each
of which is represented by one MP in the House of Commons. Although
constituencies vary widely in area, the average number of voters in each
constituency is approximately 68,500. There are currently 529
constituencies in England, 59 in Scotland, 40 in Wales and 18 in Northern
Ireland.
Daily Business
The business of both Houses follows a similar daily pattern. Sittings in
both Houses begin with prayers. These follow the Christian faith and
there is currently no multi-faith element. Attendance is voluntary. The
practice of prayers is believed to have started in about 1558, and was
common practice by 1567. The present form of prayers probably dates
from the reign of Charles II. Members of the public are not allowed into
the public galleries during prayers. In the Commons the Speakers
Chaplain usually reads the prayers. In the Lords a senior Bishop (Lord
Spiritual) who sits in the Lords usually reads the prayers. Prayers are read
at the beginning of each sitting. MPs and Peers stand for prayers facing
the wall behind them. It is thought this practice developed due to the
difficulty Members would historically have faced of kneeling to pray
while wearing a sword.

76

Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of

Lords to ask government ministers questions. These questions are asked
at the start of business in both chambers and are known as oral
questions. The Prime Minister answers questions in the Commons every
Wednesday. Question Time takes place for an hour Monday to Thursday
after prayers. Each government department answers questions according
to a rota (a roll call or roster of names) called the Order of Oral
Questions. The questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the
government department concerned.
In the House of Lords Question Time (Oral Questions) takes place at the
beginning of the days business for up to 30 minutes on Mondays to
Thursdays. Lords questions are to the Government as a whole, not to
particular government departments (as they are in the Commons). The
Prime Minister answers questions from MPs in the Commons for half an
hour every Wednesday from 12 p.m.
After Question Time (and any urgent questions that may have been
allowed) a government minister may make an oral statement to the
House of Commons and repeated, at a convenient time, in the House of
Lords. Notice of statements is not usually given until the day they are to
be made.
The main business in both chambers often takes the form of a debate.
This includes debates on legislation, general topics of interest or issues
selected by the major parties. A debate is a formal discussion on a Bill or
topic of interest or importance. A typical debate takes the following form:

77

1. A Member introduces a subject (known as moving a motion); e.g, I

beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
2. The Speaker in the Commons or Lord Speaker in the Lords proposes
a question, which repeats the terms of the motion; e.g., The Question is,
That the Bill be now read a second time.
3. The motion is debated.
4. The original question is repeated and the House comes to a decision
if necessary by means of a vote (division).
Members take it in turns to speak on the subject concerned and the
discussion is strictly controlled by a set of rules called the Standing
Orders. In the Commons, an MP called the Speaker chairs debates and
calls MPs in turn to give their opinion on an issue. MPs must get the
Speakers attention (called catching the Speakers eye) and usually
stand, or half-rise from their seat to do so. They may also write in
advance to indicate their wish to speak, although this gives no guarantee.
MPs address their speeches to the Speaker or their deputy, using notes
only. Normally MPs will speak only once in a debate, although they may
intervene with a brief comment on another members speech. MPs who
introduced the subject of debate (called tabling a motion) have the right
to reply to speeches.
The Lord Speaker chairs debates in the House of Lords but does not call
it to order (as the Commons Speaker does) because the Lords manage
debates themselves. Lords address their speeches to the other Members,
not the Lord Speaker. Members normally speak only once, except to give
clarification or by special leave.

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At the end of a debate the Question (i.e. the motion which is the subject
of the debate) is put to see if Members agree or not. The question may be
decided without voting, or by a simple majority vote. Public debates and
results of divisions in the chamber and committees of both Houses are
published in Hansard. Members of both Houses register their vote for or
against issues by physically going into two different areas on either side
of their debating chambers. This is known as dividing the House, while
the areas concerned are division lobbies. Therefore, a vote is called a
division.
When a vote is held the Speaker in the Commonsor Lord Speaker in
the Lordsasks Members to call out whether they agree or not. The
Speaker will then judge whether there is a clear result. If this cannot be
determined, the Speaker or Lord Speaker calls a division by announcing
clear the lobbies (in the Commons) or clear the bar (in the Lords).
Members do not have to participate in a debate to be able to vote, and
may be elsewhere in the Parliamentary estate. To notify Members that a
division is taking place, division bells located throughout the
Parliamentary estate and surrounding premises ring and TV screens with
a specialised feed (called the annunciator service) display that a
division is taking place. When the division bells ring Members have eight
minutes to vote before the doors to the division lobbies are locked.
During a division, Members literally divide into two separate areas. These
are called the Aye and No lobbies in the Commons and the Contents and
Not Contents lobbies in the Lords. As they pass through the lobbies, the
Members have their names recorded by clerks and are counted by tellers.
Once the lobbies are empty the Speaker (Commons) or the Lord Speaker
(Lords) announces the result of the division. The whole process takes

79

about fifteen minutes. If the vote is tiedwhich is very unusualin the

Commons the Speaker has the casting vote. In the Lords, the Lord
Speaker does not have a casting vote. Instead, the tied vote is resolved
according to established rules (called the Standing Orders).
In addition to oral questions, MPs and Peers can ask government
ministers questions for written answer. These are often used to obtain
detailed information about policies and statistics on the activities of
government departments. Answers are sent directly to the MP or Lord and
printed in Hansard along with the original question.

Making Laws
One of Parliaments main roles is debating and passing laws. A Bill is a
proposal for a new law, or a proposal to change an existing law that is
presented for debate before Parliament. Bills are introduced in either the
House of Commons or House of Lords for examination, discussion and
amendment. When both Houses have agreed on the content of a Bill it is
then presented to the reigning monarch for approval (known as Royal
Assent). Once Royal Assent is given, a Bill becomes an Act of Parliament
and is law.
Different types of Bills can be introduced by:
the government;
individual MPs or Lords;
private individuals or organisations.

80

There are three different types of Bill: Public, Private and Hybrid Bills.
There is also another kind of Public Bill called Private Members Bills.
An Act of Parliament creates a new law or changes an existing law. An
Act is a Bill approved by both the House of Commons and the House of
Lords and formally agreed to by the reigning monarch (known as Royal
Assent). Once implemented, an Act is law and applies to the UK as a
whole or to specific areas of the country.
The procedure for passing the different types of Bills is broadly similar in
both Houses. At a very simple level, a Bill must pass through several
stagesin both Housesto become a law. For Public Bills the following
stages take place in both Houses:

First reading (formal introduction of the Bill without debate);

Second reading (general debate);

Committee

stage

(detailed

examination,

debate

and

amendments; in the House of Commons this stage takes place in

a Public Bill Committee);

Report stage (opportunity for further amendments);

Third reading (final chance for debate; amendments are possible

in the Lords).

When a Bill has passed through both Houses it is returned to the first
House (where it started) for the second Houses amendments to be
considered. Both Houses must agree on the final text. There may be
several rounds of exchanges between the two Houses until agreement is
reached on every word of the Bill. Once this happens, the Bill proceeds to
the next stage: the Royal Assent.

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Private Bills go through broadly the same stages as Public Bills, but some
different rules apply. For example, a debate on the second reading of a
Private Bill will only take place if an MP or Lord objects to the Bill. The
committee stage for a Private Bill is also different. Bills which have been
petitioned against are considered by an Opposed Bill Committee, whereas
Bills not petitioned against go to an Unopposed Bill Committee. Private
Bills in the House of Lords do not have a report stage after they have left
committee.
Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution. It
makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can
create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation
and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.
Parliamentary sovereignty is the most important part of the UK
constitution. People often refer to the UK having an unwritten
constitution but that is not strictly true. It may not exist in a single text,
like in the USA or Germany, but large parts of it are written down, much
of it in the laws passed in Parliamentknown as statute law. Therefore,
the UK constitution is often described as partly written and wholly
uncodified. (Uncodified means that the UK does not have a single,
written constitution.) Much of the work of the House of Commons and
the House of Lords takes place in committees, made up of around 10 to
50 MPs or Lords. These committees examine issues in detail, from
government policy and proposed new laws, to wider topics like the
economy.

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The Budget
Every year the Chancellor of the Exchequer makes a major speech to the
House of Commons on the state of the national finances and the
Governments proposals for changes to taxation. This statement is known
as the Budget. The Budget usually takes place in March. There has to be a
Budget every year because some taxes, such as income tax and
corporation tax, are annual taxes (not permanent), so they must be
renewed each year. The Budget speech usually includes:

a review of how the UK economy is performing;

forecasts of how the UK economy will perform in the future;

details of any changes to taxation.

The Chancellors statement is followed by several days debate. Tax

measures announced in the Budget, known as the Budget Resolutions,
can be approved by the House of Commons to come into effect in law
immediately. But the decisions to agree the resolutions themselves are
taken at the end of the debate on the Budget.
The Finance Bill is the Bill presented to Parliament each year which
enacts the Chancellor of the Exchequers Budget proposals for taxation.
Once the House of Commons has agreed the Budget Resolutions, the Bill
starts its passage through Parliament in the same way as any other Bill.
The House of Lords has a very limited role in respect to Finance Bills.
Many Finance Bills are classed as Money Bills, which the Lords may not
reject and can only delay for a month.

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Since 1997, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has presented an annual preBudget report. This usually takes place in November/December. The preBudget report speech to the House of Commons usually includes:
a report of progress since the previous Budget;
an update on the state of the UK economy;
details of any proposed changes to taxation.
The start of the legal year is marked with a religious service in
Westminster Abbeyin which judges arrive from the Royal Courts of
Justicefollowed by a reception at the Houses of Parliament, hosted by
the Lord Chancellor (Lord Chancellors Breakfast). The ceremony in
Westminster Abbey has roots in the religious practice of judges praying
for guidance at the beginning of the legal term. The custom dates back to
the Middle Ages when the High Court was held in Westminster Hall and
judges would walk over to Westminster Abbey for the service. Before the
Reformation, during the sixteenth century, anyone taking communion was
required to fast for some hours beforehand. Afterwards it became
customary for the Lord Chancellor to offer the judges something to eat
before they went into the High Courthence the breakfast.
Today, judges still keep to the traditional ceremony but instead of the
two-mile walk from the Royal Courts of Justice to Westminster Abbey,
the judges now travel by car for the service conducted by the Dean of
Westminster. After the service, the Lord Chancellor entertains those
present at a breakfasta light buffetto which the fully-robed guests
proceed, on foot, from Westminster Abbey to the Houses of Parliament.
The breakfast is held in Westminster Hall, or the Royal Gallery. The

84

religious service includes prayers, hymns, anthems and psalms, with both
the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice reading a lesson.
Approximately 600 guests attend both events, with a further 300
attending the breakfast. Judges and Queens Counsels (QCs) wear full
court dress, while others wear morning dress.
The State Opening of Parliament marks the beginning of the
parliamentary session. Its main purpose is for the monarch formally to
open Parliament and deliver an outline of the Governments proposed
policies, legislation for the coming session and a review of the last
session. The State Opening usually takes place in November on the first
day of the new parliamentary session. There will also be a State Opening
shortly after a general election. This depends on the timing of an election,
the sessions before and after the election can be shorter or longer than a
normal session.
Traditions surrounding the State Opening and delivery of a speech by the
monarch can be traced back at least to the sixteenth century. The current
ceremony dates from the opening of the rebuilt Palace of Westminster in
1852 after the fire of 1834. State Opening is the main ceremonial event of
the parliamentary calendar, attracting large crowds, both in person and
watching on television and the internet. The Queens procession from
Buckingham Palace to Westminster is escorted by the Household Cavalry.
The Queen arrives at the Sovereigns Entrance at about 11.15 a.m., and
proceeds to the Robing Room, where she puts on the Imperial State
Crown and parliamentary robe. A procession then leads through the Royal
Gallery to the Chamber of the House of Lords, where the Queen takes the
Throne.

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The official known as Black Rod is sent to summon the Commons. In a

symbol of the Commons independence, the door to their chamber is
slammed in his face and not opened until he has knocked on the door with
his staff of office. The Members of the House of Commons follow Black
Rod and the Commons Speaker to the Lords Chamber and stand behind
the Bar of the House of Lords (at the opposite end of the Chamber from
the Throne) to hear the Queens Speech. Although the Queen reads the
Speech, the content is entirely drawn up by the Government and approved
by the Cabinet. It contains an outline of the Governments policies and
proposed new legislation for the new parliamentary session.
Following the State Opening, a motion that the House sends a Humble
Address to the Queen thanking her for the Speech is introduced in both
Houses. The Governments programme, as presented in the Queens
Speech, is then debated by both Houses for four or five days. The debate
on the first day is a general one, with the following days debates on
particular subjects (such as health or foreign affairs). The Queens Speech
is voted on by the Commons, but no vote is taken in the Lords.
Principal Officers and Staff
The Speaker
The Speaker of the House of Commons chairs debates in the Commons
chamber. The holder of this office is an MP who has been elected to be
Speaker by other Members of Parliament. During debates they keep order
and call MPs to speak. The Speaker is the chief officer and highest
authority of the House of Commons and must remain politically impartial
at all times. The Speaker also represents the Commons to the monarch,

86

the Lords and other authorities and chairs the House of Commons
Commission. The current Speaker is John Bercow, MP for Buckingham.
The Speaker is perhaps best known as the person who keeps order and
calls MPs to speak during Commons debates. The Speaker calls MPs in
turn to give their opinion on an issue. MPs signal that they want to speak
by standing up from their seat (a custom known as catching the
Speakers eye) or they can notify the Speaker in advance by writing. The
Speaker has full authority to make sure MPs follow the rules of the House
during debates. This can include:
directing an MP to withdraw remarks if, for example, they use
abusive language;
suspending the sitting of the House due to serious disorder;
suspending MPs who are deliberately disobedient (known as
naming);
asking MPs to be quiet so Members can be heard.
An MP is elected to the role of Speaker by winning majority support in
the Commons. This takes place after every general election or on the
death or retirement of the previous Speaker. It is the practice for a
Speaker to remain in office until retirement and to be automatically reelected internally in all Parliaments after their original election. Speakers
must be politically impartial. Therefore, on election the new Speaker
must resign from their political party and remain separate from political
issues even in retirement. However, the Speaker will deal with their
constituents problems like a normal MP. Speakers still stand in general
elections. They are generally unopposed by the major political parties,
who will not field a candidate in the Speakers constituencythis

87

includes the original party they were a member of. During a general
election, Speakers do not campaign on any political issues but simply
stand as the Speaker seeking re-election.
The Lord Speaker
The Lord Speaker is a role elected internally by Members of the House of
Lords. Politically impartial, responsibilities of the Lord Speaker include
chairing the Lords debating chamber, offering advice on procedure, and
acting as an ambassador for the work of the Lords both at home and
abroad. The current Lord Speaker is Baroness D'Souza. The main
responsibilities of the Lord Speaker include:
chairing daily business in the House of Lords debating chamber;
offering advice on procedure (the formal and informal rules of
the Lords everyday activities);
formal responsibility for security in the Lords area of the
Parliamentary estate;
speaking for the House on ceremonial occasions;
acting as an ambassador for the work of the Lords both at home
and abroad.
The House of Lords elected Baroness D'Souza as its second Lord Speaker
on 18 July 2011. Lord Speakers can sit for two terms only, which last a
maximum of five years each. The Lord Speaker assumed some of the
responsibilities previously held by the Lord Chancellor, but, unlike the
Lord Chancellor, is independent of government in their appointment and
role.

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Although the Lord Speaker chairs the Lords debating chamber, they have
less authority than their counterpart Speaker in the Commons. This is
because the Lords regulate themselves and the order of business in the
House. Therefore, unlike the Speaker in the House of Commons, the Lord
Speaker does not:
call the House to order or rule on points of order;
call Members to speak;
select amendments.
The Lord Chancellor
The Lord Chancellor is a Cabinet minister and currently a Member of the
House of Commons. Recent reforms including the creation of the
Ministry of Justice and the election of a Lord Speaker for the House of
Lords have significantly altered the role of Lord Chancellor. On 9 May
2007, the Ministry of Justice was created. The Ministry of Justice is
responsible for courts, prisons, probation and constitutional affairs. The
Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor is the Rt. Hon. Michael
Gove MP. On 4 July 2006, Members of the House of Lords elected their
first Lord Speaker. This new role assumed some of the Lord Chancellors
responsibilities, such as chairing debates in the Lords chamber and
speaking for the House on ceremonial occasions.
A new Judicial Appointments Commission began to operate from 3 April
2006. This ended the Lord Chancellors past position as head of the
judiciary (courts of law in England and Wales) and power to appoint

89

judges. The reform of the Lord Chancellors role separates its different
responsibilities and makes a clear distinction between government,
Parliament and the judiciary.
The Prime Minister
The Prime Minister is an MP and head of the government. The leader of
the party elected to govern the country in a general election automatically
becomes Prime Minister (unless a coalition government is formed). The
current Prime Minister is David Cameron, leader of the Conservative
Party. The Prime Minister chooses the other members of the government.
It is also the Prime Minister who sets the date for general elections by
asking the Queen for permission to dissolve Parliament. At that point the
current Parliament comes to an end and MPs and their parties seek reelectionthis can happen at any time. The Prime Minister answers
questions every Wednesday in the House of Commons from 12.00 p.m. to
12.30 p.m. Questions can come from any MP and on any subject.
The Leader of the Opposition
There is a Leader of the Opposition in both the House of Commons and
House of Lords. The leader of the largest opposition party holds this
position, which for the Commons and Lords is currently the Labour Party.
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour party, is the current Leader of the
Opposition in the Commons. This role commands an additional salary to
the parliamentary salary received as an MP. The Leader of the Opposition
in the Commons picks a Shadow Cabinet to follow the work of
government departments. The Baroness Smith of Basildon is the Leader
of the Opposition in the House of Lords.

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The Cabinet
The Cabinet consists of a maximum of twenty-two government ministers
picked by the Prime Minister. They can be Members of either House. The
Cabinet develop government policies and some members head
government departments. The Shadow Cabinet consists of MPs from the
main opposition party in the House of Commons, currently the Labour
Party. Its role is to examine the work of each government department and
policies developing in their specific areas.
The Whips
Whips are MPs or Lords appointed by each party in Parliament to help
organise their partys contribution to parliamentary business. One of their
responsibilities is making sure the maximum number of their party
members vote, and vote the way their party wants. Whips frequently act
as tellers (counting votes in divisions). They also manage the pairing
system whereby Members of opposing parties both agree not to vote
when other business (such as a select committee visit) prevents them
from being present at Westminster. Whips are also largely responsible
(together with the Leader of the House in the Commons) for arranging the
business of Parliament. In this role they are frequently referred to as the
usual channels.

The Leader of the House of Commons

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The Leader of the House of Commons is a government minister and

member of the Cabinet. The main role of the Leader is organising
government business in the Commons, through working closely with the
governments Chief Whip. Chris Grayling is the current Leader of the
House of Commons. On Thursday, the Leader tells the Commons about
the business scheduled for the following week. The Leader chairs a
number of Cabinet Committees, including the Ministerial Committee on
Constitutional Affairs and the Legislative Programming Committee. The
Leader can deputise for the Prime Minister, either at Prime Ministers
Questions or for formal duties, but ordinarily the Deputy Prime Minister
fulfils this function.
The Leader of the House of Lords
The Leader of the House of Lords is a government minister and member
of the Cabinet. The office is responsible for the organisation of
government business in the House of Lords, and offering advice on
matters of House procedure (the formal and informal rules of its everyday
activities). The current Leader of the House of Lords is Baroness Stowell
of Beeston. As with all past Leaders, the Prime Minister appointed
Baroness Stowell of Beeston to her position. The Leader expresses the
collective feelings of the House on formal occasions, such as motions of
thanks or congratulations. The Leader is also available to assist and
advise all Lords.

Black Rod

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Black Rod is a senior officer of the House of Lords. He is responsible for

the working facilities for Lords and controlling access to and maintaining
order within the House and its precincts. The Clerk of the Parliaments, to
whom Black Rod reports, is in overall charge of the administration of the
House, which provides all other services for members. Black Rods
parliamentary duties fall into two categories: administrative and
ceremonial.
As administrative duties, Black Rods post consists of three separate
offices:
Gentleman Usher of the Black RodThis is a Crown appointment.
It involves organising access to and maintaining order within the
Chamber and the precincts of the House of Lords.
Secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain In this post, appointed
by the Lord Great Chamberlain, Black Rod is responsible for and
participates in the major ceremonial events in the Palace of
Westminster. He is also responsible for the Queens residual estate
in the Palace.
Agent to the Administration and Works CommitteeThis is a
domestic committee of the House, which oversees its
management

and

administration.

Most

of

Black

Rods

administrative duties fall in this area and include responsibility for

security, works and domestic services in the House of Lords.
The most public aspect of Black Rods role is their ceremonial duties
during the State Opening of Parliament. Black Rod is sent from the
Chamber in the Lords to the Chamber in the House of Commons to

93

summon MPs to hear the Queens Speech. Traditionally the door of the
Commons is slammed in Black Rods face to symbolise the Commons
independence. He then bangs three times on the door with the rod. The
door to the Commons Chamber is then opened and all MPs follow Black
Rod back to the Lords to hear the Queens Speech.

The British Cabinet

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History
The cabinet system of government originated in Great Britain. The
modern history of the Cabinet began in the sixteenth century with the
Privy Council, a small group of advisers to the Monarch. The cabinet
developed from the Privy Council in the seventeenth and early eighteenth
centuries when that body grew too large to debate affairs of state
effectively. In England, phrases such as cabinet counsel, meaning
advice given in private, in a cabinet in the sense of a small room, to the
monarch, occur from the late sixteenth century, and, given the nonstandardised spelling of the day, it is often hard to distinguish whether
council or counsel is meant. The Oxford English Dictionary credits
Francis Bacon in his Essays (1605) with the first use of Cabinet
council, where it is described as a foreign habit, of which he
disapproves: For which inconveniences, the doctrine of Italy, and
practice of France, in some kings times, hath introduced cabinet
counsels; a remedy worse than the disease. Charles I began a formal
Cabinet Council from his accession in 1625, as his Privy Council, or
private council, was evidently not private enough, and the first recorded
use of cabinet by itself for such a body comes from 1644, and is again
hostile and associates the term with dubious foreign practises.
The English monarchs Charles II (reigned 1660-85) and Anne (1702-14)
began regularly consulting leading members of the Privy Council in order
to reach decisions before meeting with the more unmanageable full
council. By the reign of Anne, the weekly, and sometimes daily, meetings
of this select committee of leading ministers had become the accepted
machinery of executive government, and the Privy Councils power was

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in inexorable decline. Since the reign of King George I (1714-27), the

Cabinet has been the principal executive group of British government.
Both he and George II made use of the system, as both were non-native
English speakers, unfamiliar with British politics, and thus relied heavily
on groups of advisers. George I ceased to attend meetings with the
committee in 1717 and the decision-making process within that body, or
cabinet, as it was now known, gradually became centred on a chief, or
prime, minister. This office began to emerge during the long chief
ministry (1721-42) of Sir Robert Walpole and was definitively established
by Sir William Pitt (1783-1801) later in the century. In fact, William Pitt
instituted the right of the PM to ask ministers to resign. So the
conventions of collective Cabinet responsibility and Prime Ministerial
control developed. This enabled Ministers to stand together against
Parliament under clear leadership.
The 1832 Reform Act emphasised the need for government to have the
confidence of Parliament as well as the Monarch for it to act coherently.
This document clarified two basic principles of cabinet government: that
a cabinet should be composed of members drawn from the party or
political faction that holds a majority in the House of Commons and that
a cabinets members are collectively responsible to the Commons for the
conduct of the government. Henceforth no cabinet could maintain itself in
power unless it had the support of a majority in the Commons. Unity in a
political party proved the best way to organize support for a cabinet
within the House of Commons, and the party system thus developed
along with cabinet government in England.
Up to 1916, a letter written by the Prime Minister to the Monarch was the
only recorded decision of Cabinet. In 1916 the War Cabinet Secretariat

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and the post of Cabinet Secretary was created. The basic system has
survived since then. The name and institution have been adopted by most
English-speaking countries, and the Council of Ministers or similar
bodies of other countries are often informally referred to as cabinets. The
term minister came into being since the English sovereigns ministers
ministered the will of the king. In this period, the English monarch was
an absolute monarch, and as such directly exercised all of the executive
powers of the realm.
However, the modern Cabinet system was set up by Prime Minister
David Lloyd George during his premiership of 1916-22, with a Cabinet
Office and Secretariat, committee structures, minutes, and a clearer
relationship with departmental Cabinet Ministers. This development grew
out of the exigencies of the First World War, where faster and better cocoordinated decisions across Government were seen as a crucial part of
the war effort. Lloyd George himself once said, War is too important to
be left to the generals.
Decisions on mass conscription, co-ordination worldwide with other
governments across international theatres, armament production tied into
a general war strategy that could be developed and overseen from an
inner War Cabinet, 10 Downing Street, are all clear elements retained
today. As the country went through successive crises after the 1922-1926
General Strike, the Great Depression of 1929-32, the rise of communist
Bolshevism after 1917 and Fascism after 1922, the Spanish Civil War
1936 onwards, the invasion of Abyssinia 1936, the League of Nations
Crisis which followed, the re-armament and resurgence of Germany from
1933, plus the lead into another World Warall demanded a highly
organised and centralised Government based around the Cabinet.

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This centralisation inevitably enhanced the power of the Prime Minister,

who moved from being the primus inter pares of the Asquith Cabinets of
1906 onwards, with a glittering set of huge individual talents leading
powerful departments, to the dominating figures of Lloyd George,
Stanley Baldwin and Winston Churchill. In political systems, the cabinet
is a body of advisers to a chief of state who also serve as the heads of
government departments. The cabinet has become an important element
of government wherever legislative powers have been vested in a
parliament, but its form differs markedly in various countries, the two
most striking examples being the United Kingdom and the United States.
With some exceptions, all modern Prime Ministers have made use, in
order to live and work, of the famous official residence at 10 Downing
Street in London. This building has existed, to such an extent, at the heart
of British government that an overview of its historical evolution brings
much understanding to the dealings of the Cabinet.
History of the Building at 10 Downing Street
Downing Street began its association with the office of the Prime
Minister in 1730. That the house is still being used today by David
Cameron is down to the refusal of first-ever PM Robert Walpole to accept
the house as a personal gift. Instead he insisted it be used by future First
Lords of the Treasury. During its history the house has undergone major
development to be turned into a grand residence fit for the most powerful
politician in the country.
The site where Downing Street now stands rose to importance early in
British history. Settlement by the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Normans
made the area around todays Westminster a prestigious centre of

98

government over 1000 years ago. Thorney Islandthe island of

thornswas a marshy piece of land lying between two branches of the
river Tyburn that flowed from Hampstead Heath down to the Thames.
The land was boggy, creating problems for building which persist today,
but it did have an ideal position. A ford across the river Thames joined the
Roman road from Kent near where Westminster Bridge now stands,
creating good transportation links.
Henry VIII (reigned 1509-47) made Westminster even more important by
building an extravagant royal residence there. Whitehall Palace was
created when Henry VIII confiscated York House from Cardinal Wolsey
in 1530 and extended the complex. Todays Downing Street is located on
the edge of the Palace site. The huge residence included tennis courts, a
tiltyard for jousting, a bowling green and a cockpit for bird fights.
Stretching from St. Jamess Park to the Thames, it was the official
residence of Tudor and Stuart monarchs until it was destroyed by fire in
1698.
The first domestic house known to have been built on the site of Number
10 was a large building leased to Sir Thomas Knyvet. A Member of
Parliament for Thetford and Justice of the Peace for Westminster, his
claim to fame was arresting Guy Fawkes for his part in the Gunpowder
Plot of 1605. The house was first leased to him in 1581 by Queen
Elizabeth I. One of the Queens favourites, he held high rank in her court.
He was a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and in 1581 became the
Queens Keeper of the Palace. Royal patronage continued under James I,
who knighted Knyvet in 1604. His lifetime lease on the house was
extended in 1604 so that Sir Thomas heirs would hold the property for
sixty years after his death. Now named Knyvet House, the building was

99

made of timber and brick and had a large L-shaped garden. After the
deaths of Knyvet and his wife in 1622, the house passed to their niece,
Elizabeth Hampden, who lived there for the next 40 years.
Downing Street was built as a result of one mans scheming. Sir George
Downing was an enterprising roguea spy, traitor and shady property
developerwho saw building houses on prime London land as a means
to get rich quickly. Brought up in New England, Downing was one of the
earliest graduates of Harvard University. He came back to England during
the Civil War, and by 1650 he was Cromwells Scoutmaster General or
intelligence chief. At the heart of Cromwells inner circle, he enjoyed a
position of great power.
In 1654 Downing acquired the Crown interest in the land, but he could
not take possession as it was under lease to Knyvets descendents. It was
not until 1682, nearly 30 years later, that Downing finally secured the
leases to the property. He quickly set about the project, pulling down
existing properties. In their place sprang up a cul-de-sac of 15 or 20
terraced houses along the northern side of Downing Street. Designed for a
quick turnover, Downings houses were cheaply built, with poor
foundations for the boggy ground. Instead of neat brick faades, they had
mortar lines drawn on to look like even-spaced bricks. The original
numbering of the houses was completely different to todays. The number
sequence was haphazard, and the houses tended to be known by the name
or title of their occupants. The current Number 10 started out life as
Number 5, and was not renumbered until 1779.
It was a period of great change. Rule by a powerful monarch had given
way only a few decades earlier to a different style of government led by
Parliament and party politics. It became important to house the chief

10

ministers in buildings grand enough for their status. King George II

presented both the house on Downing Street, and the house overlooking
Horse Guards, to Sir Robert Walpole, who held the title First Lord of the
Treasury and effectively served as the first prime minister. Walpole
refused the property in Downing Street as a personal gift. Instead he
asked the King to make it available to him, and future First Lords of the
Treasury, in their official capacity.
To this day prime ministers occupy Number 10 in the role of First Lord of
the Treasury. The brass letter box on the black front door is still engraved
with this title. Walpole took up residence in 1735, but only after having
the two housesthe one on Downing Street and the one overlooking
Horse Guardsjoined together and completely refurbished to match his
status. Walpole employed famous architect William Kent to take on the
project. Kent was a Palladian architect who created grand, classical
designs inspired by Roman buildings, a style of architecture popular in
the eighteenth century.
Walpole used the ground floor for business, taking the largest room, on
the north-west side of the house, as his study. It is now the Cabinet Room.
Upstairs on the first floor, the Walpoles lived in the rooms facing onto
Horse Guards Parade. The Walpoles were soon entertaining important
guests in their smart house, from Queen Caroline, the wife of George II,
to politicians, writers and soldiers.
Walpoles successors saw the house as a bonus of the job, which they
could hand over to fellow politicians, family and friends. And prime
ministers Henry Pelham (1743-54) and the Duke of Newcastle (1754-56
and 1757-62) preferred to live in their own residences. It was not until

10

1763 that the next prime minister took up residence. George Grenville
was there for only two years, as he was sacked by George III in 1765 for
imposing stamp duty on the American colonies.
The next prime minister to move in was Lord North, who became First
Lord in 1770. A home-loving figure, he became very fond of the house
and often entertained there. Visitors included writer Samuel Johnson and
Thomas Hansard, founder of the Parliamentary reporting system that still
exists today. Lord North resigned as prime minister in 1782, following
the loss of the American colonies. The Duke of Portland, prime minister
for only nine months, lived in the house briefly, before 24-year-old
William Pitt the Younger moved in.
William Pitt was the longest-serving tenant of Number 10. Britains
youngest ever prime minister, Pitt was resident at Number 10 between
1783-1801 and 1804-1806, and made it more his home than anyone else.
The house was a hive of political activity. Pitt planned some of his
greatest projects in his office there, including Parliamentary reform, free
trade and the improvement of national finances. It was also a social hub.
A keen entertainer and port drinker, Pitt invited guests including William
Wilberforce, who was working on the abolition of slavery, and George
Canning, a future foreign secretary and prime minister. One of the
stranger events in Number 10s history occurred in September 1786,
when William Pitt underwent an operation in the house for the removal of
a facial cystwithout anesthetic. Once the operation was over, he
reportedly told the surgeon off for taking 30 seconds longer than
promised.

10

In the nineteenth century, Downing Street fell on hard times. For 50

years, few prime ministers chose to live in Downing Street, preferring
their own townhouses instead. Lord Wellington (1828-30) moved in only
while his own lavish homeApsley Housewas being refurbished.
Later leaders such as Lord Melbourne (1834 and 1835-1841) and
Viscount Palmerston (1855-58 and 1859-65) used Number 10 only as an
office and for Cabinet meetings. The prestige of Downing Street was
reduced even further by the building of the magnificent new Foreign
Office building at the end of the 1860s. By the time Benjamin Disraeli
became prime minister for the first time, the house was in poor shape.
Having moved his office into the house in 1868 by necessity, Disraeli
described it as dingy and decaying. It was time for modernisation.
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw 10 Downing Street
transformed from a humble terraced house into a grand residence with
modern facilitiesa home and office fit for the most powerful politician
in the country. When Gladstone moved into the house for the first time in
1880, he insisted on redecorating after Disraelis occupancy, spending
about 1,555, an enormous sum for the time, on furniture. In 1894, during
his last occupancy as prime minister, electric lighting was fitted and the
first telephones were installed around the same time.
The Marquess of Salisbury, who followed Gladstone, was the last prime
minister not to live at Number 10. Salisbury never liked the Cabinet
Room, describing it as a cramped close room. He preferred to work in
the larger Cabinet Room in the Foreign Office and live in Arlington
Street, offering Number 10 to his nephew, Arthur Balfour (1902-05), who
also later became prime minister. Balfour was the first inhabitant of
Number 10 to bring a motor car to Downing Street.

10

From Balfour onwards, Number 10 became the residence and office for
all British prime ministers. Six years later, with the outbreak of the First
World War, the Cabinet Room at Number 10 was the nerve-centre of
Britains war effort. Under Prime Minister David Lloyd George, the
number of staff at Number 10 expanded and offices spilled out into the
garden to cope with the war.
Other important changes took place to the house. Labour Prime Minister
Ramsay MacDonald wanted Number 10 to regain some of the grandeur it
had during the times of Walpole and Pitt. Missing a proper library
containing more than Hansard reports, MacDonald started the Prime
Ministers Library, which was housed originally in the Cabinet Room.
The custom began of the prime minister and other ministers donating
books to the library; it continues today. Central heating was installed in
1937 and work began on converting the labyrinth of rooms in the attic,
which had formerly been used by servants, into a flat for the prime
minister.
As tension mounted in Europe in the 1930s, Number 10 became the focus
of international attention. In 1938 Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
posed outside the front door bearing the famous Peace in our Time
document which declared that any future disputes between Britain and
Germany would be settled peacefully. Almost exactly one year later, on 3
September 1939, Chamberlain broadcast from the Cabinet Room,
announcing that the country was now at war with Germany.
When Winston Churchill replaced Chamberlain as Prime Minister, he and
his wife moved into Downing Streets second-floor flat, where Churchill
did much of his work. He often dictated speeches, memos and letters to

10

his secretary while lying propped up in bed in the morning or late in the
evening, cigar in hand. By October 1940, the intense bombing period
known as the Blitz began. On 14 October, a huge bomb fell on Treasury
Green near Downing Street, damaging the Number 10 kitchen and state
rooms and killing three civil servants doing Home Guard duty.
Keeping Downing Street, the Prime Minister and the War Cabinet safe
became a top priority. Steel reinforcement was added to the Garden
Rooms and heavy metal shutters were fixed over windows as protection
from bombing raids. The Garden Rooms provided a small dining room,
bedroom and a meeting area which were used by Churchill throughout
the war. In reality, though, the steel reinforcement would not have
protected him against a direct hit.
In October 1939 the Cabinet had moved out of Number 10 and into secret
underground war rooms built in the basement of the Office of Works
opposite the Foreign Office. Following near-misses by bombs, in 1940
Churchill and his wife moved out of Downing Street and into the Number
10 Annex above the war rooms. Furniture and valuables were removed
from Number 10; only the Garden Rooms, Cabinet Room and Private
Secretaries office remained in use. But Churchill disliked living in the
Annex. Despite its being almost empty, Churchill continued to use
Number 10 Downing Street for working and eating.
A reinforced shelter was constructed under the house for up to six people,
for use by those working in the house. Even George VI sought shelter
there when he dined with Churchill in the Garden Rooms. Although
bombs caused further damage to Number 10, there were no direct hits to
the house, allowing Churchill to continue to work and dine there right up

10

until the end of the war. As soon as war was over, Churchill and his wife
moved back to Number 10. And it was the triumphant setting for his VE
Day broadcast, delivered from the Cabinet Room at 3 p.m. on 8 May
1945.
After the damage of the Second World War, drastic action was required to
make Number 10 fit for prime ministers again, and to bring it up to date
with modern technology. From 1945 to 1950, war damage in the house
was repaired. The attic was converted into a flat, and Prime Minister
Clement Attlee and his wife moved into it instead of the first-floor rooms
where earlier prime ministers had lived. The flat included a sitting room,
dining room, a study, and a number of bedrooms.
By the 1950s the state of the fabric of 10 Downing Street had reached
crisis point. Bomb damage had made existing structural problems worse
the building was suffering from subsidence, sloping walls, twisting
door frames and an enormous annual repair bill. It was decided that
Number 12 should be rebuilt; Number 10 and 11 should be strengthened
and their historic features preserved. Number 10 was completely gutted.
Walls, floors and even the columns in the Cabinet Room and Pillared
Room proved to be rotten and had to be replaced. Work was completed
in 1963.
All the building work of the past few decades could have been ruined
when a terrorist bomb exploded in 1991. An IRA mortar bomb was fired
from a white transit van in Whitehall and exploded in the garden of
Number 10, only a few metres away from where John Major was chairing
a Cabinet meeting to discuss the imminent Gulf War. Although no one
was killed, it left a crater in the Number 10 gardens and blew in the

10

windows of neighbouring houses. John Major and some of his staff

moved into Admiralty Arch while damage caused by the bomb was
repaired.
Number 10 Downing Street has never been busier than it is today. It is an
office for the Prime Minister, a meeting place for the Cabinet, a venue for
state events and a home for the Prime Ministers family. While in office,
prime ministers traditionally live with their families in Downing Street in
the private flat on the second floor. Living above the shop, as Margaret
Thatcher described it, has sometimes made it difficult for prime ministers
to separate family life and work, but it does allow him or her to keep fully
in touch with events as they develop.
Number 10 is a busy office and workplace for the Prime Minister and the
staff employed to support him. The Prime Minister has his own room
where he works and reads. There, or in other rooms in the house, he may
meet colleagues, receive important guests, make phone calls or give
interviews. Number 10 is also the venue for the regular Cabinet meeting.
The Cabinet meets every Tuesday while Parliament is in session in the
Cabinet Room, which has been used by successive Cabinets since 1856.
Lunches and dinners are more formal events. The Small Dining Room
will sit a maximum of 12, and the State Dining Room up to 65 around a
large, U-shaped table. The dining table is laid with items from the state
silver collectiona range of modern silverware pieces commissioned by
the Silver Trust to promote modern British craftsmanship.
The Cabinet Today

10

In Great Britain today, the cabinet consists of about 15 to 25 members, or

ministers, appointed by the prime minister, who in turn has been
appointed by the monarch on the basis of his ability to command a
majority of votes in the Commons. Though formerly empowered to select
the cabinet, the sovereign is now restricted to the mere formal act of
inviting the head of Parliaments majority party to form a government.
The prime minister must put together a cabinet that represents and
balances the various factions within his own party (or within a coalition
of parties). Cabinet members must all be members of Parliament, as must
the prime minister himself. The members of a cabinet head the principal
government departments, or ministries, such as Home Affairs, Foreign
Affairs, and the Exchequer (treasury). Other ministers may serve without
portfolio or hold sinecure offices and are included in the cabinet on
account of the value of their counsel or debating skills. The cabinet does
much of its work through committees headed by individual ministers, and
its overall functioning is coordinated by the Secretariat, which consists of
career civil servants. The cabinet usually meets in the prime ministers
official residence at 10 Downing Street in London.
Cabinet ministers are responsible for their departments, but the cabinet as
a whole is accountable to Parliament for its actions, and its individual
members must be willing and able to publicly defend the cabinets
policies. Cabinet members can freely disagree with each other within the
secrecy of cabinet meetings, but once a decision has been reached, all are
obligated to support the cabinets policies, both in the Commons and
before the general public. The loss of a vote of confidence or the defeat of
a major legislative bill in the Commons can mean a cabinets fall from
power and the collective resignation of its members. Only rarely are
individual ministers disavowed by their colleagues and forced to accept

10

sole responsibility for their policy initiatives; such was the case with Sir
Samuel Hoares resignation in 1935 over his proposed conciliation of
Fascist Italy. Despite the need for consensus and collective action within
a cabinet, ultimate decision-making power rests with the prime minister
as the leader of his party.
Composition
The monarch uses royal prerogative powers to appoint and dismiss
members of Cabinet. By constitutional convention the monarch exercises
these powers in accordance with the Prime Ministers advice. Any change
to the composition of the Cabinet involving more than one appointment is
customarily referred to as a reshuffle. The total number of ministers
allowed to be paid as Cabinet ministers (22) is governed by statute
(Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975), and this has caused successive
Prime Ministers problems, and accounts for some of the unusual regular
attendees at Cabinet, who are not paid as Cabinet ministers. The
numbers often fluctuate between 21 and 24.
In formal constitutional terms, the Cabinet is a committee of the Privy
Council. All Cabinet members are created Privy Councillors on
appointment and therefore use the style The Right Honourable. As
members of the House of Lords are The Right Honourable or hold a
higher style as of right, Privy Councillors in the Lords place the letters
PC after their names to distinguish themselves.
Recent custom has been that the composition of the Cabinet has been
made up almost entirely of members of the House of Commons. The
office of Leader of the House of Lords is offered to a member of the

10

House of Lords, but apart from this one post it is now rare for a peer to sit
in the Cabinet. The role of Lord Chancellor was, until recently, always
occupied by a member of the House of Lords, however since the creation
of the office of Lord Speaker this is no longer necessary and the current
post holder is Kenneth Clarke QC MP, a member of the House of
Commons. Prior to the re-appointment to the cabinet of Lord Mandelson
on 3 October 2008, the former Leader of the Lords, Lady Amos, was the
last peer to sit in any other Cabinet post, as Secretary of State for
International Development from May to October 2003.
Until Mandelson, the last Secretary of State for a major department drawn
from the Lords was Lord Young of Graffham, serving between 1985 and
1989 as Secretary of State for Employment until 1987 and Secretary of
State for Trade and Industry until 1989. Interestingly, the number of
junior ministers who are peers has increased since 1997, though being a
peer can be a block to Cabinet-advancement. Occasionally cabinet
members have been selected from outside the Houses of Parliament.
Frank Cousins and Patrick Gordon Walker were appointed to the 1964
Harold Wilson cabinet despite not being MPs at the time. On 3 October
2008 Peter Mandelson, at the time of appointment not a member of either
House, became Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform.
A small number of other ministers below Secretary of State level may
also be included in Cabinet meetings as a matter of course. The Attorney
General (currently Dominic Grieve QC MP), together with the chair of
the governing parliamentary party, are customarily included and other
members of the Government can be invited at the Prime Ministers
discretion. In recent years, non-members of HM Government have been

110

permitted by the Prime Minister to attend Cabinet meetings on a regular

basis, notably Alastair Campbell in his capacity as Director of
Communications and Strategy between 1997 and 2003, and Jonathan
Powell, Tony Blairs Chief of Staff, with a distinctly separate role from
the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.
Meetings of the Cabinet
The Cabinet meets on a regular basis, usually weekly on a Tuesday
morning, notionally to discuss the most important issues of government
policy, and to make decisions. For a long period of time, Cabinet met on a
Thursday, and it was only after the appointment of Gordon Brown as
Prime Minister that the meeting day was switched to Tuesday. The length
of meetings vary according to the style of the Prime Minister and political
conditions, but today meetings can be as little as 30 minutes in length,
which suggests ratification of decisions taken in committee, by informal
groups, or in bi-lateral discussions between the Prime Minister and
individual departmental Cabinet colleagues, with discussion in Cabinet
itself somewhat curtailed.
The Cabinet has numerous sub-committees which focus on particular
policy areas, particularly ones which cut across several ministerial
responsibilities, and therefore need coordination. These may be
permanent committees or set up for a short duration to look at particular
issues (ad hoc committees). Junior Ministers are also often members of
these committees, in addition to Secretaries of State. The transaction of
government business through meetings of the Cabinet and its many
committees is administered by a small secretariat within the Cabinet
Office.

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Most Prime Ministers have had a so-called kitchen cabinet consisting of

their own trusted advisers who may be Cabinet members but are often
trusted personal advisers on their own staff. In recent governments
(generally from Margaret Thatcher), and especially in that of Tony Blair,
it has been reported that many, or even all major decisions have been said
to be made before cabinet meetings.
Relationship with Parliament
Two key constitutional conventions regarding the accountability of the
cabinet to the Parliament of the United Kingdom exist, collective cabinet
responsibility and individual ministerial responsibility. These are derived
from the fact the members of the cabinet are members of Parliament, and
therefore accountable to it, because Parliament is sovereign. Collective
cabinet responsibility means that members of the cabinet make decisions
collectively, and are therefore responsible for the consequences of these
decisions collectively. Therefore, when a vote of no confidence is passed
in Parliament, every minister and government official drawn from
Parliament is expected to resign from the executive. So, logically, cabinet
ministers who disagree with major decisions are expected to resign, as, to
take a recent example, Robin Cook did over the decision to attack Iraq in
2003.
Individual ministerial responsibility is the convention that in their
capacity as head of department, a minister is responsible for the actions,
and therefore the failings too, of their department. Since the civil service
is permanent and anonymous, under circumstances of gross incompetence
in their department, a minister must resign. Perhaps surprisingly, this is

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relatively rare in practice, perhaps because, whilst many would consider

incompetence more harmful than personal scandal, it is of less interest to
more populist elements of the media, and less susceptible to unequivocal
proof. The closest example in recent years is perhaps Estelle Morris who
resigned as Secretary of State for Education and Skills in 2002 of her own
volition (following severe problems and inaccuracies in the marking of Alevel exams).
The circumstances under which this convention is followed cannot be
strictly defined, and depend on many other factors. If a ministers
reputation is seen to be tarnished by a personal scandal (for example
when it was revealed that David Mellor had an extramarital affair) they
very often resign. This often follows a short period of intense media and
opposition pressure for them to do so. In general, despite numerous
scandals, in Britain cases of serious corruption (e.g. acceptance of bribes)
are relatively rare in comparison with many other democracies. One
reason is because of the strength of the whip system and political parties
in comparison to individual politicians. This means MPs and ministers
have little capacity to be influenced by external groups offering money.
Questions can be tabled for Cabinet ministers in either house of
Parliament (a process called interpellation in political science), which can
either be for written or oral reply. Cabinet ministers must answer them,
either themselves or through a deputy. Written answers, which are usually
more specific and detailed than oral questions are usually written by a
civil servant. Answers to written and oral questions are published in
Hansard. Parliament cannot dismiss individual ministers (though
members may of course call for their resignation) but the House of
Commons is able to determine the fate of the entire Government. If a vote

113

of no confidence in the Government passes, then the Queen will seek to

restore confidence either by a dissolution of Parliament and the election
of a new one, or by the acceptance of the resignation of her entire
government collectively.
In the United Kingdoms parliamentary system, the executive is not
separate from the legislature, since Cabinet members are drawn from
Parliament. Moreover the executive tends to dominate the legislature for
several reasons:

the first-past-the-post voting system (which tends to give a large

majority to the governing party);

the power of the Government Whips (whose role is to ensure party

members vote in accordance with an agreed line);

the payroll vote (a term which refers to the fact that members of
parliament of the governing party will wish to be promoted to an
executive position, and then be on the governments payroll);

Collective Ministerial Responsibility suggests that members of the

government have to vote with the government on whipped votes, or
else resign their position.

The combined effect of the Prime Ministers ability to control Cabinet by

circumventing effective discussion in Cabinet and the executives ability
to dominate parliamentary proceedings places the British Prime Minister
in a position of great power that has been likened to an elective
dictatorship (a phrase coined by Lord Hailsham in 1976). The relative
impotence of Parliament to hold the Government of the day to account is
often cited by the UK media as a justification for the vigour with which
they question and challenge the Government.

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In contemporary times, the nature of the cabinet has been criticised by

some, largely because several Prime Ministers are perceived as acting in a
presidential manner. Such an accusation was made at Tony Blair as he
was believed to have refrained from using the Cabinet as a collective
decision-making body. These actions caused concern as it contravened
the convention of the PM being first among equals. In this sense, he
was acting like a US President, who (unlike the British PM) is not
constitutionally bound to make decisions collectively with a cabinet.
Margaret Thatcher was also noted as being presidential, in the capacity
that she forced her own viewpoints onto her Cabinet. However the
power that a Prime Minster has over his or her Cabinet colleagues is
directly proportional to the amount of support that they have with their
political parties and this is often related to whether the party considers
them to be an electoral asset or liability. Further when a party is divided
into factions a Prime Minister may be forced to include other powerful
party members in the Cabinet for party political cohesion.

Local Government
History of Local Government in the United Kingdom

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The history of local government in the United Kingdom concerns the

period after 1707, although local government itself pre-dates the United
Kingdom, having it origins in the Middle Ages. Its history is marked by a
long period of very little change and, since the nineteenth century, a
constant evolution of role and function. Change did not occur in England,
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in a uniform manner and the
devolution of power over local government to Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland means that further changes are unlikely to be uniform
either. Both the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland had
systems of local government that existed before the creation of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
England and Wales
Local government in England and Wales was provided by counties,
boroughs and parishes. Most functions were provided at the parish or
borough level and there was very little co-ordination between them.
There was a lack of change in its organisation until it was made necessary
by the social movements and increasing urbanisation of the Industrial
Revolution. The ancient shire counties had a more limited role. The
Justices of the Peace, who tried minor offences and the more serious
Assize Courts were organised on a county-wide basis and county-wide
police forces were set up in 1839 and 1856 to cover the rest of the
country outside of the Metropolitan Police District and the boroughs.
From the end of the seventeenth century, improvement commissioners
were established in a number of towns by local act of parliament. The
commissioners had responsibility for duties such as paving or lighting in
a specified district defined in the Act, and were authorised to collect rates

116

to fund their work. In many cases, commissioners districts were within

existing boroughs, creating overlapping jurisdictions. By the nineteenth
century there were about three hundred commissioners districts, with
approximately one hundred in the London area.
Civil parishes had their origins in the ecclesiastical parish and parish
affairs were managed by a group known as the vestry. (A vestry is a
storage room in a church and also an administrative committee of a
church). The principal responsibility of the parish was relief of the poor, a
duty previously established under the Poor Law of 1601. The parish was
required to help those incapable of supporting themselves. The local
officer was known as an Overseer of the Poor. Rates were charged to
households to pay for poor relief. Workhouses were set up by parishes
after 1723. Law and order, by way of a constable, and road repairs were
carried out by the parish.
Nineteenth Century: Municipal Reform
Because new industrial towns in England and Wales were not
incorporated as boroughs they lacked any form of municipal selfgovernment or political representation. The Municipal Corporations Act
of 1835 reformed many existing boroughs and allowed large towns to be
incorporated under the Act. Significantly, London was excluded from the
legislation.
The Metropolis
The growth of the London conurbation caused particular problems, with
existing structures proving ineffective. Policing was removed from the

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various parish authorities in 1829 with the formation of the Metropolitan

Police under the control of the Home Secretary. A Metropolitan Buildings
Office was created in 1840 and a Metropolitan Commission of Sewers in
1848. In 1855 these were absorbed in the Metropolitan Board of Works
which was set up to undertake major works in the metropolitan area such
as the sewerage, roads and bridges. The Metropolitan Board of Works
(MBW) membership was not directly elected, being chosen by the parish
vestries.
Ad-Hoc Bodies
The period from 1800 to 1889 is marked by an expansion in the number
of ad-hoc boards and bodies. Each was able to set and claim its own rates
and provided only particular services, often without universal coverage.
The parish began to reduce in significance. It lost responsibility for poor
relief in 1834. Ad-hoc Boards of Guardians covered new areas known as
Poor Law Unions. Local boards of health were set up under the Public
Health Act of 1848.
In 1862 parishes were grouped into Highway districts, with responsibility
for roads passing to Highway Boards. In 1870 school boards were set up
under the 1870 Education Act. However, their coverage was not universal
and ratepayers would request creation of a board. The 1872 Public Health
Act made it mandatory for each local board and board of guardians to
appoint a medical officer of health. Sanitary authorities were created in
1875 by the 1873 and 1875 Public Health Acts with a limited role, mainly
to improve sanitary conditions. Existing municipal boroughs and local
board districts became in addition urban sanitary districts while rural
sanitary districts were formed based on the poor law unions. These were

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to form a direct precursor of future local government districts. By the late

nineteenth century several commentators, such as the Royal Sanitary
Commission, considered the wide range of ad-hoc bodies and fractured
service provision to be a system in chaos.
Elected Councils
Elected county councils were set up in 1889 with the functions that were
historically organised at county level transferred to the new councils,
including the Justices of the Peace, the rates, the licensing, the asylums,
the highways, the weights and measures and the police. The area of
London that had been the responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of
Works became the County of London, with responsibility for local
government passing to the London County Council. Initially the parishes
and ad-hoc boards remained the principal service providers in the
counties but the situation was not to last. Also created in 1889 were
county boroughs. They covered major towns and provided all services in
their areas. Many of the larger councils, such as Birmingham City
Council, had radical and extensive programmes of social and municipal
service provision.
The 1894 Local Government Act largely replaced the functions of the adhoc boards with urban districts and rural districts, based on the sanitary
districts set up in 1872. Outside London, local government now had a
consistent pattern of county boroughs, non-county boroughs (the
reformed boroughs), urban districts and rural districts. In rural areas the
role of the parish was revived under the Act. The districts gained limited
functions from the county councils and responsibility for public health
and highways from the ad-hoc boards.

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Twentieth Century: The Golden Age

The period from 1900 to 1939 is generally described as a golden age of
service expansion and consensus with central government. Much of the
expansion of local authority role in England and Wales in the period is
consolidated by the Local Government Act of 1933. In 1900 the district
pattern was completed in England and Wales by the introduction of
metropolitan boroughs in the County of London. They gained a few
functions from the London County Council and replaced the functions of
the various vestries.
The structure set up in the latter half of the previous century had
legitimacy in the eyes of the public due to its democratically elected
officials. Its significance increased in the first fifty years of the new
century with an expanding role. Local authorities also enjoyed a period of
consensus with central government because their purpose was growing in
importance. The demise of the ad-hoc bodies came in the early part of the
century. The Education Act of 1902 abolished the school boards and
transferred responsibility to the elected local authorities. Spending on
education has represented the biggest financial responsibility of local
government since the Act. The poor law was abolished in 1930 with the
responsibilities of the unions transferred to the county and county
borough councils.
Councils during this period were not limited to the functions sanctioned
by central government only. In addition councils could promote private
bills to provide other services. Hull City Council was the last to retain
provision of a telephone service. Electricity and gas services from local

12

councils were widespread. The 1870 Tramways Act allowed local

authorities to inevitably acquire tram equipment in their areas after
twenty-one years of operation, and every seven years thereafter. From the
beginning of the twentieth century local councils thus became major
public transport operators, electrifying the tramways with power supplied
by

the

municipal

electricity

utility. Trams

were

subsequently

supplemented or replaced with trolleybuses and omnibuses.

New functions during this period included from 1905 the ability to set up
local labour bureaus and from 1910 an early careers service could be set
up to advise young people looking for work or even fund their
emigration. As they expanded with new functions, local authorities also
became significant employers. Significantly, the old age pension of the
1908 Old Age Pensions Act was not provided by local government;
instead it was administered by the Post Office to remove any possibility
of guilt arising from involvement in poor relief. Similarly, the
unemployment benefit created in 1934 was administered by a new ad-hoc
Unemployment Assistance Board.
From 1890, and particularly after World War I, local authorities had an
increasing role in low-cost housing provision, to such an extent that by
1976 a third of all housing would be council-owned. In London, the
London County Council constructed vast housing estates often outside its
formal boundaries. Attempts to expand its scope in the 1920s to
administer services in the Greater London area were to fail.
Although the local government structure had been put in place to meet the
demands of increasing urbanisation, there was further growth in the
towns and cities. In 1922 there were 82 county boroughs, 21 more than
the original 61. They had a total population of 3 million people. This was

12

significant as it was reducing the tax-earning potential of the county

councils. In the shires, the rural districts increasingly came under review
and some of them were slowly turned into new urban districts.
The Welfare State
The Labour government of 1945-1951 meant radical change to the
services provided by local government. It did not, however, cause only an
expansion of services. The nationalisation of the health service removed
responsibility from local authorities for certain hospitals and the
nationalised utilities meant the end to localised gas and electricity supply
by councils. The era was marked instead by an increase in the social care
provision of local authorities. The Education Act of 1944 gave local
authorities new autonomy to create whatever kind of education system
they favoured within a broad framework.
The Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 gave local government
power to control development and required councils to produce
development plans. The legislation was amended for Scotland in 1973
and for England in 1971 to require upper and lower tier authorities to
produce structural and local plans respectively.

Reorganisation
By 1940 there had been a significant further drift from the country to the
cities and commentators felt that the structures set up in the 1890s were

12

failing to meet the demands of the growing cities. After a period of

lengthy and ineffective review in the 1950s, a series of major reforms
throughout the 1960s and 1970s made significant changes to the
boundaries of counties, significantly reduced the number of local
government districts, thus increasing their size and also made changes to
the way service provision was distributed.
In England the existing county structure was adapted and in Wales new
counties created. The county boroughs, which by 1970 accounted for
25% of the population, were abolished and usually merged with their
less-urbanised surrounding areas. In the major conurbations of England,
metropolitan counties were created with county councils, which provided
only the most strategic services such as transport and planning, while
most social welfare services were provided by the districts. In the shire
counties the situation was reversed with more services provided by the
upper rank authorities. In London an enlarged Greater London Council
shared power with the London boroughs. By 1985, one third of the UK
population were living in Greater London and the metropolitan counties.
Thatcherism
The period from 1979 to 1990 is marked by decline in the relationship
between local and national government and a series of laws designed to
reduce its importance, independence and spending. The Local
Government Finance and Planning Act of 1980 and the Local
Government Finance Act of 1982 applied individual spending targets for
each authority and failure to meet these targets led to the loss of central
grant money. The Rates Act of 1984 allowed central government to
restrict increases to local taxation made by each authority. The Act was

12

successfully used to force councils to comply with government limits.

Councillors in Lambeth and Liverpool refused to accept the legislation
and were found to be acting ultra vires (to abuse their powers); they were
prosecuted, fined and banned from office for ten years.
The role of councils as housing providers was challenged by the right to
buy scheme. In the period from 1980 to 1996 the amount of money paid
to councils in general grants, which they could spend as they wish,
reduced from 65% of income to 51%. Instead grant money was provided
for centrally specified purposes. The animosity and ideological
differences between the Thatcher government and the Labour-controlled
councils came to a head in the mid 1980s. Direct responsibility for public
transport, which had only been gained in 1970, was removed from the
Greater London Council in 1984 and passed to London Regional
Transport. Finally, the Local Government Act of 1985 abolished the
metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council and
distributed

their

responsibilities

between

joint-boards,

special

arrangements, the boroughs and quangos (organisations or agencies that

are financed by a government but that act independently of it: qua[si]
n[on-]g[overnmental]) o[rganisation]). Thatchers reform of local
taxation would ultimately lead to her downfall. The replacement for
property-based rates, the Community Charge or poll tax was unpopular
from the outset. Designed to expose overspending councils, it cost 7bn
to administer during the 1991-2 tax year alone.
Review and Regions
A review of local government was undertaken during the 1990s which led
to the creation of unitary authorities throughout Wales and in some non-

12

metropolitan areas of England. Essentially a recreation of the county

boroughs, they provide all local government functions in their areas.
Since the 1990s there has been an increasing role for the regions. A
regional Greater London Authority was created in 2000 to replace the
Greater London Council. Indirectly elected regional chambers have been
set up in the other regions. A referendum proposing the introduction of
further unitary authorities and an elected regional assembly in the North
East was unsuccessful in 2004.
Privatisation
First under Thatcher and Major, but increasingly under the Blair
government, local government services have been provided by the private
sector. The most controversial such arrangement was the Private Finance
Initiative for maintenance of the London Underground. Control was only
handed back to local government after the contract had been agreed and
despite a high profile campaign against it.

Scotland
Scottish burghs were reformed earlier in 1833 by the Burgh Police
(Scotland) Act and the Parliamentary Burghs (Scotland) Act, but not all
burghs were covered by the Act. In Ireland the reform did not come until
1840. In 1889, Scotlands four largest cities became counties of cities.
The lower rank of local government was not reformed until 1929. The
Local Government (Scotland) Act of 1929 created a system of counties of
cities, large burghs, small burghs, counties and districts. Parishes were

12

abolished for the purpose of local government. The districts in rural areas
provided only a limited number of services.
The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act of 1947 gave local
government power to control development and required councils to
produce development plans. The legislation was amended in 1973 to
require upper and lower tier authorities to produce structural and local
plans respectively. In the 1970s, a new system of regions and districts,
based on travel-to-work patterns, was put in place. The reforms sought to
end the urban-rural dichotomy in areas outside of the major conurbations.
A review of local government was undertaken during the 1990s which led
to the creation of unitary authorities providing all local government
functions in their areas.
Local Government Today
The system of local government is different in each of the four countries
of the United Kingdom. The most complex system is in England, the
result of numerous reforms and reorganisation over the centuries.
England is subdivided on different levels. The top level of local
government within England are the nine regions. Each region has a
government office and assorted other institutions. Only the London
region has a directly elected administration. Only one other regional
referendum has been held to date to seek consent for the introduction
direct elections elsewherein the northeast of Englandand this was
soundly rejected by the electorate.
The layers of government below the regions are mixed. Historic counties
still exist with adapted boundaries, although in the 1990s some of the
districts within the counties became separate unitary authorities and a few

12

counties have been disbanded completely. There are also metropolitan

districts in some areas which are similar to unitary authorities. In Greater
London there are 32 London boroughs which are a similar concept.
Counties are further divided into districts (also known as boroughs in
some areas). Districts are divided into wards for electoral purposes.
Districts may also contain parishes and town council areas with a small
administration of their own. Other area classifications are also in use,
such as health service and Lord-Lieutenant areas.
Northern Ireland is divided into 26 districts. Local government in
Northern Ireland does not carry out the same range of functions as those
in the rest of the United Kingdom. The Northern Irish Department of the
Environment has announced plans to decrease the number of councils to
11. Wales has a uniform system of 22 unitary authorities, referred to as
counties or county boroughs. There are also communities, equivalent to
parishes. Local government in Scotland is arranged on the lines of unitary
authorities, with the nation divided into 32 council areas.
Local Government affects everyones lives. The local councils provide a
wide range of services, like emptying bins, maintaining highways,
running education, social services, parks and gardens. The Department
Communities and Local Government is responsible for national policy on
local government in England. That includes:
how it is set up;
what it does;
how well it works;
how it is funded.

12

All day-to-day servicesas well as local matters in an areaare run by

the local authority. This includes setting and collecting the council tax.
To stand for election as a local councillor one must satisfy the following
criteria on the day one is nominated and on polling day:

be at least 18 years of age;

be a British citizen, a qualifying citizen of a Commonwealth

country, a citizen of the Irish Republic, or a citizen of another
member state of the European Union.

One must also meet at least one of the four following qualifications on
the day one is nominated and on polling day:

be registered as a local government elector for the local authority

area in which one is standing;

have occupied as an owner or a tenant any land or premises in the

local authority area in which one is standing during the whole of
the 12 months before the day one is nominated;

have had ones main or only place of work during the last 12
months in the local authority area in which one is standing;

have lived in the local authority area in which one is standing

during the whole of the last 12 months.

In accordance with section 80 of the Local Government Act of 1972, a

person is disqualified from being elected to a local authority if he/she:
is employed by the local authority, holds a paid office under the
authority or holds a politically restricted post within a local
authority;
is subject to a bankruptcy restrictions order or interim order;

12

has within five years before the day of election been sentenced to a
term of imprisonment of three months or more (including a
suspended sentence) without the option of a fine;
has been disqualified under Part III of the Representation of the
People Act 1983 (which relates to donations and other offences).
The above list of disqualifications is not exhaustive. The full range of
disqualifications of candidates at local elections is complex, and some
exceptions to the disqualification provisions may also apply. Candidates
are, therefore, strongly advised to seek their own legal advice and consult
the relevant legislation to ensure that none of the disqualifications apply
when considering whether to stand for election as a councillor.
Strong and Prosperous Communities is a government white paper (report)
on the future role and structure of local government. It sets out many
changes, including plans to give people more say on public services and
action in their area. The main changes are:
reducing central government control;
setting up the framework for strong and high-profile local leaders;
giving more power to local people and communities;
making sure local services improve and become more popular.
Some changes need legislation. The Local Government and Public
Involvement in Health Bill went through Parliament in 2008. Other
changes can go ahead now and are based on what the best councils are
already doing. The Implementation Plan on the practitioners pages sets
out the timetable for the changes up to and around April 2009. But it does
not stop there. Local Government will go on evolving and improving to
make life better for people living and working in the place it serves.

12

The structure of local government varies from area to area in England. In

some areas there are two layers or tiersa district council and a county
council. In others there is just onea unitary authority. In London each
borough is a unitary authority, with the Greater London Authoritythe
Mayor and Assemblyproviding strategic, city-wide government. In
addition there could be a town or parish council, covering a much smaller
area. Councils are also run in different ways. You might have a directly
elected Mayor, for example, with a cabinet. All councillors are expected
to keep up certain standards of behaviour. In many areas, citizens take
part in running their neighbourhood or in working with the council in
some way. Nowadays people often keep in touch with their council by
email or via the internet.
One important aim is for local authorities to provide the highest standard
of service for the best possible value for money. Their performance is
monitored through:

The Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA);

Best Value Performance Indicators;

Inspections.

For the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) the Audit

Commission collects a range of performance information, including Best
Value Performance Indicators, and gives each council an overall rating.
Councils get from 0 to 4 stars based on the quality of their services and
their management. Highly-rated councils and their partners have extra
freedom over what they can do. All the results are published by the Audit
Commission so the public can see what progress a certain council is
making. Best Value is how local authorities are encouraged to make their
services better and better by asking questions and listening to what local
people say. Local Government works with the local services

13

inspectorates, like the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate. If a council is doing

well in certain services, it may have a Beacon Award to recognise this.
Over the years, the range of services provided by local government has
changed. For example, once councils supplied gas and ran local health
services. In the list of the main activities below national policy for them
is dealt with by the respective central government department:

educationDepartment for Education and Skills;

electionsMinistry of Justice;

environment

and

environmental

healthDepartment

for

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;

fire and rescue serviceCommunities and Local Government;

housingCommunities and Local Government;

licensingDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport and Home

Office;

parks and recreationDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport,

Communities and Local Government;

planningCommunities and Local Government;

social servicesDepartment of Health;

trading standardsDepartment for Business, Enterprise &

Regulatory Reform;

transport, roads and highwaysDepartment for Transport;

waste disposal and collectionDepartment for Environment, Food

and Rural Affairs.

The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are responsible for local
government in Scotland and Wales.
Over 19,000 elected councillors serve on some 410 local authorities in
England and Wales. Also, over two million people work in local councils,

13

delivering a range of some 700 different services in England and 164,000

people work in local councils in Wales. As such, the local councils are
one of the largest employers in England and Wales. Education, leisure
and social services are just some of the areas to which people are
employed within local authorities. An estimated 400 occupations and
thousands of different job titles existfor example, officers work in
environmental health, planning, surveying, legal work, accountancy, IT,
personnel, policy and research. 58% of jobs in local government are in
education (teachers and support staff), 14% in social services and 8% in
corporate functions.

Local government in England and Wales is

organised in two contrasting ways. In Wales and some parts of England, a

single tier all purpose council is responsible for all local authority
services and functions (Unitary, Metropolitan or London Borough). The
remainder of England has a two-tier system, in which responsibility for
services is divided between district and county councils.
There are over 1,200 councillors serving on Wales 22 all-purpose local
authoritiesthese are responsible for 4 billion of public expenditure
which is over one third of the total Welsh budget. Local government is
also one of the largest employers in Wales with some 150,000
employees. The National Assembly for Wales develops and issues
secondary legislation in Wales within the primary legislative framework
agreed at Westminster. The Assembly funds, develops and implements
policy for much of the public sector in Wales, including local
government, education and health. Devolution therefore is creating an
increasingly diverse and diverging public policy agenda across the UK.
Councillors are responsible for making decisions on behalf of their local
community about local services such as land use, refuse collection and

13

leisure facilities. They also agree on the local authority budget and set
the policy framework as well as appointing chief officers and making
constitutional decisions. Councillors are elected for a four-year term by
local people. There are nearly 39.7 million people registered to vote in
local elections. Voter turnout during the June 2005 local elections was an
estimated 64%, higher than the general election turnout of 61.3%. 55%
of people favour future elections by post with no polling stations and
69% consider all-postal voting to be convenient. However, people are
more likely to know about their local MP than their local councillor but
similarly people know less about Westminster Parliament than about their
local council.
Local government spends billions every year in order to provide local
services. The money comes from central government, from business rates
and from council tax. Local government spent 83.8 billion on the day to
day running of local services in 2005-2006. Research shows that people
believe council tax pays for between a quarter and three-quarters of
council servicesin fact it accounts for only 26% of all costs.
Local authorities have a duty to promote the social, economic and
environmental well-being of their local community. A number of policies
have been put into place at a local level in order to deal with some of the
main causes of social exclusion, such as unemployment and the high
incidence of children growing up in workless and low-income
households. A total of 91% of authorities have a cross-agency local
strategic partnership in their area which brings together a number of local
organisations such as the council, the police and the health service, to
improve the quality of life in their locality.

13

Councils have a range of transport responsibilities within their local areas

from traffic regulation to residential car parking, to road safety and
provision of concessionary bus passes. Local authorities are also
involved in developing cycle ways and improving public footpaths and
rights of way and work alongside bus and rail companies to improve their
local public transport networks.
Councils work closely with the police to reduce levels of crime and
disorder in their communities and enhance the local environment. They
consider the crime and disorder implications of every policy and
operational decision made by the authority. Many councils employ
different types of community wardens who work alongside the police in
their local areas. In addition, they work closely with the police and fire
services to develop community initiatives, particularly with schools and
young people. Crime is tackled in every local area by Crime and
Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). There are 376 CDRPs across
England and Wales which combine local authorities, police and other
organisations to tackle local crime and disorder.
Local authorities provide a range of care and support services to children,
families and vulnerable adults, in particular they provide support for older
people, adults with physical or learning disabilities or mental health
needs. Councils also coordinate fostering and adoption services. In 200304 councils in England spent 16.8 billion on personal social services.
An estimated 3.4 million hours of home care were provided to around
355,600 households in September 2004. Around 26% of households
received intensive home care support which is an increase of 6% from
2003. In 2003/04 expenditure on services for children and families
accounted for 24% of total gross current expenditure, whilst expenditure

13

on services for older people accounted for 44%. An estimated 60,800

children are being looked after by local councils in England.
All county councils and unitary authorities have a major role to support
school improvement and a responsibility for schools and education
services in their areas. This can range from the provision of adult
education services, to play schemes, pupil referral centres and educational
psychologists.
Local authorities are expected to draw up strategies for all housing in
their areas, based on proper assessments of need, including the needs of
homeless people and to make the best use of all the resources available in
the light of local circumstances.

They are responsible for the

maintenance, improvement and development of housing in their local

area and are also responsible for grants available to older homes, helping
to adapt the homes of elderly and disabled people and funding housing
associations to build new housing.
Councils have wide-ranging involvement in the cultural provision of their
local communities. In particular they are responsible for local libraries,
the management of entertainment venues and the coordination and
promotion of a variety and events and leisure activities in their local area.
Local councils have a number of responsibilities surrounding the
sustainability and improvement of their local environment. They oversee
a range of activities such as street cleaning, household refuse collection,
waste management, recycling schemes and street scene maintenance.
Councils have different levels of responsibilities. They deal mainly with
planning applications and enquiries and will guide development in

13

accordance with the local development plan and framework. Councils

receive many types of planning applications, which range from listed
building and conservation area consents, to permissions to display
advertisements. Councils also have regulatory responsibilities, such as
trading standards and environmental health.
Tourism can be a principal form of revenue for many local economies and
can be an important factor in regenerating communities. Councils in
different areas may take into consideration a range of factors when
developing their tourism strategies. For instance, those in coastal, seaside
areas will have different priorities to those in city areas. Councils see the
redevelopment and enhancement of their town centres, whether rural or
urban, as important objectives. Most councils work closely with their
business community, often through a dedicated economic development
department.

13

The Legal System

History of the British Constitution
The History of the British constitution is the history of the development
of the constitution of the United Kingdom from before the creation of the
United Kingdom itself, up to the present day. The UK constitution is not
in a single, written document, but is drawn from legislation many
hundreds of years old, judicial precedents, convention, and numerous
other sources. This means that it is ever-changing and has developed from
centuries of conflict between monarchy, aristocracy, religious institutions,
and the peoples of Britain.
Pre-Civil War England: Before the Norman Conquest
The Kingdom of England was formed in the mid ninth century and what
is now recognized as England came about in A.D. 927 when the last of
the Heptarchy kingdoms (the informal confederation of the Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms from the fifth to the ninth century, consisting of Kent, Sussex,
Wessex, Essex, Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia) fell under the rule
of the English King. On October 14, 1066, King Harold II of England
was shot on horseback through his eye with an arrow and killed while
leading his men in the Battle of Hastings against Duke William of
Normandy. The event was so significant that it completely changed the
course of English history. Until 1066, England was ruled by monarchs
that were elected by the witan (which means wise). There were various
elements of democracy at a local level too.

13

The Normans
Henry I of England was king from 1100 to 1135. When he ascended to
the throne he granted the Charter of Liberties. This document is not a Bill
of Rights but a series of decrees and assurances. Probably the most
important statement in the charter is at the beginning, where the king
admits that by the mercy of God and the common counsel of the barons
of the whole kingdom of England I have been crowned king of said
kingdom. This represents a step away from absolute monarchy and a
step toward constitutionalism. The king had recognised that the right to
rule came not only from God but also from the common counsel of the
barons. From this point onward, and more especially between the reigns
of King John and Charles II, the power structure in England evolved from
an essentially absolutist model to an essentially constitutional one.
The Plantagenets
John was King of England from 1199 to 1216. He was the youngest
brother of Richard I and his reign was fraught with conflicts. There was
conflict between England and France, between England and the Pope and
between the King and the barons. Eventually the barons forced John to
sign the Magna Carta (which confirmed feudal rights against monarchical
claims), often looked upon as the first truly significant document in a
long succession of documents over the centuries up to the present day
which collectively constitute the legal sovereignty of the land now known
as the United Kingdom. The constitution of this sovereignty is thus
distributed across many historical precedents rather than written in one
piece. Henry III (1216-1272) succeeded his father John. Henry was only
nine years of age when he became king and so the country was ruled by

13

regents until Henry reached the age of 20. Under pressure from the
barons, led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, Henry had to
accept the existence of the first English Parliament.
In the next century, in the reign of Richard II there was an uprising, the
Peasants Revolt of 1381. The revolt came surprisingly close to getting
their demands (such as fair rents and the abolition of serfdom) granted by
the king but at the end the protesters were tricked out of it all. The revolt
remains as an important moment in history, but failed to contribute to the
written body of the constitution.
The Tudors
The first Act of Supremacy (1534) had made King Henry VIII the
supreme head of the Church of England and the second Act of Supremacy
(1559) restored these powers for Elizabeth I. This event reversed Catholic
legislation passed during the reign of Mary, though the title Elizabeth
gained was Supreme Governor of the Church of England rather than
supreme head so as not to imply that she had control over the churchs
doctrine. The act also required all officials and clergy to swear an oath of
allegiance acknowledging her as the governor of the Church of England.
The monarchy had to get the consent of Parliament in all issues, but with
the threat of war looming from Spain, Parliament showed great loyalty
toward Queen Elizabeth I since she was a strong leader. When the
Spanish Armada was defeated (1588), the Parliament felt safe and thus it
decreased its loyalty to the monarchy.
Parliament consisted of two levels of administration: the House of Lords
that was made up of the influential nobles, and the House of Commons

13

that was made up of influential and representative members of the middle

class. The House of Commons had grown sharply, doubling in size due to
the prosperity of the middle class during that time. There were a number
of vocal Puritans in the House of Commons who began asking for more
rights for themselves, but Elizabeth I was strong enough not to ignore
their demands. James I would have problems with them too.
James VI and I
When Queen Elizabeth I died (1603) without issue, she was succeeded by
her cousin James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and he
became King James I of England. This was a major step towards creating
a united kingdom. James VI faced an antagonistic religious England since
it contained Anglicans, Puritans, Separatists (who wanted to break from
the Anglican Church), and Catholics. He was a believer in the Theory of
the Divine Right of Kings, which stated that Kings were chosen by God
and should therefore be absolute and answerable only to God. This was
corroborated by his Presbyterian belief in predestination but although he
was a Presbyterian, he was against the Presbyterian idea of allowing the
congregation (people) to elect their presbyters (church officials) since it
undermined his absolutism (according to the Divine Right). Thus he was
often at odds with the Puritans, who were English Presbyterians. He did
concede to the Puritans by allowing them to create the King James
Bible that was an English translation and interpretation of the Bible.
Then James VI began fighting with the Catholics, but eventually gave
them rights (after his secretly Catholic wife probably persuaded him to),
exempting the Catholics from having to pay the tithe (a tenth part of
ones annual income contributed voluntarily or due as a tax, especially for

14

the support of the clergy or church) to the Anglican Church, but this
caused a great decrease in Anglican Church revenue, so he quickly took
those rights away. The actions of King James VI were unpopular during
his reign.
The Civil War: Charles I
James was succeeded by his son who became Charles I in 1625. Charles I
believed in the Divine Right of Kings Theory, like his father, and thus
continued to fight with parliament. Parliaments main power at this time
was its control of the taxes, so it demanded more power over the taxes.
Traditionally, Parliament had voted at the beginning of a Kings reign on
the amount allowed for a Kings Tonnage and Poundage, the customs
duties (taxes on imported goods like wool and wine) that made up a large
portion of a kings annual income. Now Parliament wanted to re-evaluate
these taxes annually, which would give them more control over the king.
James I had resisted this abrogation of his Divine Right and had dealt
with the situation by dissolving Parliament. Charles I did the same at first
and later just ignored its annual evaluations.
Charles acquired much of his money with forced loans from the nobles.
He also received a lot of money through taxes. One important tax that
Charles collected was the Ship Money tax that required the counties
bordering the sea to fund a navy to protect the English coastline. The
coastal counties were unhappy with it since Charles was collecting the
Ship Money tax during a time of peace and since he was not using it
really to fund the navy. To get even more money, Charles placed the Ship
Money tax on the interior counties as well, which angered the English
people, because now Charles was creating new taxes without the consent

14

of the Parliament, which was against the (unwritten) law. A man in

London named John Hampden, who was also a member of Parliament,
refused to pay this new, interior Ship Money tax, so he was tried for a
crime by Charles I and lost with a vote of 7 to 5. This meant that 5 of 12
jurors were against their king, which did not look good or forecast well
for Charles I.
But, Charles I was at war with France and Spain, and this drained a lot of
money from him, so he was forced to call upon Parliament (1629) to
approve new taxes for him. Parliament would not grant Charles new taxes
until he had signed the Petition of Rights that established conditions in
which Charles had to submit to the law of the Parliament. It stipulated
that
(1) the king could not establish martial law in England during times of
Peace;
(2) the king could not levy taxes without the consent of the Parliament;
(3) the king could not arbitrarily imprison people;
(4) the king could not quarter soldiers in private homes.
After Charles got the taxes from Parliament (1629), he dissolved
Parliament and broke the tenets of the Petition of Rights (since he
believed in the Divine Right of Kings Theory).
On top of the wars England had with France and with Spain (both caused
by the Duke of Buckingham), Charles I and William Laud (the
Archbishop of Canterbury) began a war with Scotland in an attempt to
convert Scotland to the Church of England (the Anglican Church). This
was called the Bishops War (16391640) and it had two major parts. The

14

first Bishops War (1639) ended in a truce. The second Bishops War, the
following year, began with the Scottish invasion of England in which the
Scots defeated the English and remained stationed in England until their
issues were solved. To get the Scots out, Charles I signed the Treaty of
Ripon (1640), which required England to pay an indemnity of 850 for
each day that the Scottish were stationed in England.
During the second part of the Bishops War, Charles I had run very low
on money (since he was also fighting France and Spain), so he was forced
to call a Parliament to make new taxes. He and the Parliament could not
agree on anything, so after three weeks, Charles I dissolved the
Parliament. Then he desperately needed new taxes, so he called a
Parliament again and it would only help him if he agreed to some terms,
which ultimately made Charles I a constitutional monarch. It was called
the Long Parliament (16401660), because it was not officially dissolved
by its own vote until 1660.
These terms were:
Charles I had to impeach Thomas Wentworth and William Laud.
He reluctantly placed them under arrest and put them in the Tower,
executing Wentworth in 1641 (for which Charles I never forgave
himself since he was close to Thomas Wentworth) and William
Laud in 1645;
Charles I had to agree to the Triennial Act (1641), which required
the Parliament to meet every three years with or without the kings
consent;

14

Charles I had to abolish the Court of the Star Chamber, a royal

court controlled completely by Charles I in which the prosecutor
was also the judge (which pretty much guaranteed a guilty verdict
for the defendant) and it was intended to be used to implement the
will of the king legally with a judicial faade; it was considered
an extralegal court and dealt with odd cases and punishments;
Charles I had to abolish the High Court, which was the same as the
Court of the Star Chamber, though it dealt with religious heresy;
Charles I had to accept the Grand Remonstrance and allow the
circulation of its copies; it was a document that outlined
(hyperbolically) the crimes that officials had accused Charles of
committing since the beginning of his reign; Charles I was also
never to do any of those crimes again;
Charles I, most importantly, had to agree never to dissolve a
Parliament without the consent of the Parliament.
Most of England believed that Parliament had done enough to curb the
power of King Charles I, but the radicals in Parliament (the extremist
Puritans) and the radicals around the country (again, extremist Puritans)
wanted to reform the Church of England by getting rid of the bishops
(and all other things with the semblance of Catholicism) and by
establishing the Puritans method of worship as the standard. This caused
a political division in Parliament, so Charles I took advantage of it. He
then sent 500 soldiers into the House of Commons to arrest five of the
Puritans ringleaders (John Hampden included). The five ringleaders had
been tipped off, so they had left Parliament and Charles I was only left
with the shame of storming Parliament.

14

King Charles I left London and went to Oxford, and the English Civil
War began (1642). The North and West of England were on Charless side
(along with most of the nobles and country gentry). They were known as
the Cavaliers. Charles I created an army illegally (since he needed
Parliaments consent). The South and East of England were on
Parliaments side and were known as Roundheads, for their haircuts. In
response to Charles I raising an army, they did so as well. Yet, they did
not have the military might that King Charles I (and his nobles) had, so
they solicited the help of the Scots with the Solemn League and Covenant
that promised to impose the Presbyterian religion on the Church of
England. They called their army the New Model Army and they made its
commander Oliver Cromwell, who was also a Member of Parliament.
The New Model Army was comprised mostly of Presbyterians.
Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth
Though Parliament won, it was clear to the Scots that it was not going to
uphold the Solemn League and Covenant by imposing Presbyterianism
on England (Puritanism was not quite Presbyterian), so the New Model
Army, Parliament and the Scots began falling apart. The Scots were paid
for their help and sent back to Scotland. The Presbyterian Roundheads
were interested in freedom to practice their religion and not in making the
Presbyterian religion the state religion.
Cromwell proposed that Parliament reinstate the bishops of the Church of
England and King Charles I as a constitutional monarch, but allow for the
toleration of other religions. At the end of the war though, the people of
England could accept Charles I back in office but not religious toleration.
They also wanted the New Model Army dissolved since it was a

14

provocative factor. Thus Parliament disallowed religious toleration and

voted to disband the New Model Army, but the Army refused the order.
Charles I then made the same deal that the Roundheads had made with
the Scottish and Parliamentary Presbyterians. He solicited the help of
Scotland (and the Presbyterians) and in return he promised to impose
Presbyterianism on England. The New Model Army would not allow this
deal to be made (because it would give Charles I military power once
more). Thus a new civil war broke out in 1648.
This time, Scotland, the Parliamentary Presbyterians and the royalists
were on the side of Charles I. The New Model Army and the rest of
Parliament were against him. In the Battle of Preston (1648) Cromwell
and his New Model Army defeated Charles I. Then one of Cromwells
officers, Colonel Pride, destroyed the Presbyterian majority in Parliament
by driving out of Parliament 143 Presbyterians of the 203 (leaving behind
60). The new Parliament constituted a Rump Parliament (leftover
Parliament),

which

was

Parliament

in

which

the

minority

(Presbyterians) carried on in the name of the majority that was kicked

out. The Rump Parliament:
abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords in Parliament (it
then executed Charles I after publicly trying him for crimes);
created a republic called the Commonwealth that was really just
a dictatorship run by Cromwell.
Scotland was against Cromwells Commonwealth (Republic) and
declared Charles Is son king at Edinburgh as King Charles II, but
Cromwell and the New Model Army defeated him (1650) and he fled to

14

France where he stayed until 1660. Cromwell then went to Ireland to

govern it, but was disgusted with the Catholics, so he massacred many
of them (in battle) and so the Irish rebelled against him as well. Cromwell
then dissolved the Rump Parliament and declared himself to be the Lord
Protector (dictator).
Richard Cromwell and Charles II
Cromwell died (1658) and was succeeded by his son Richard Cromwell,
who tried to keep power militarily and absolutely, but he was also
incapable of unifying all of the diverse groups (religious and ethnic).
General George Monk came down from Scotland and overthrew Richard.
He then invited the remnants of the Long Parliament (the Rump
Parliament) to reconvene. The Long Parliament met and officially ended
(in 1660, after being open since 1640) when it voted to dissolve itself and
create a new Parliament. The new Parliament began the Restoration of the
monarchy by choosing Charles Is son Charles II to be the King of
England.
The Bill of Rights (1689)
The Bill of Rights (or Declaration of Rights) is an act of the Parliament of
England, with the long title An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of
the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown. The Bill of Rights
of the United Kingdom is largely a statement of certain rights to which
citizens and permanent residents of a constitutional monarchy were
thought to be entitled in the late seventeenth century, asserting subjects
right to petition the monarch, as well as to bear arms in defence. It also
sets outor, in the view of its drafters, restatescertain constitutional

14

requirements of the Crown to seek the consent of the people, as

represented in parliament. In this respect, the Bill of Rights differs from
other bills of rights, including that of the United States of America,
although many of the first eight amendments to the US constitution echo
the contents of the 1689 Bill of Rights.
Along with the Act of Settlement (1701), the Bill of Rights remains today
one of the main constitutional laws governing the succession to the throne
of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms. Since the
implementation of the Statute of Westminster in each of the
Commonwealth realms (on successive dates from 1931 onwards), the Bill
of Rights cannot be altered in any realm except by that realms own
parliament, and then, by convention, and, as it touches on the succession
to the shared throne, only with the consent of all the other realms. In the
United Kingdom, the Bill of Rights is further accompanied by the Magna
Carta and Parliament Acts as some of the basic documents of the British
constitution. A separate but similar document, the Claim of Right Act,
applies in Scotland. Further, the bill is listed in the Republic of Irelands
Statute Law Revision (Pre-Union) Bill, 2006, as an English act of
parliament to be retained as part of the countrys law.
Original Context
In 1687 the English Bill of Rights was created. The bill was a failure at
first, but after some changes, it became a document that was able to
govern England successfully for several years until Englands monarchy
was overthrown, then rebuilt in 1688. It was delivered to William of
Orange and Mary at the Banqueting House, Whitehall, on February 13,
1689. Having accepted this declaration, William and Mary were offered

14

the throne, and were crowned as joint monarchs in April of the same year.
The Declaration of Right itself was later embodied in an act of
parliament, now known as the Bill of Rights, on December 16, 1689. In
the separate Kingdom of Scotland, the 1689 Claim of Right of the
Scottish Estates was expressed in different terms, but to a largely similar
effect, declaring William and Mary to be King and Queen of Scotland on
April 11, 1689.
Provisions of the Act
The Bill of Rights laid out certain basic tenets for all Englishmen of that
time. These rights continue to apply today, not only in England, but in
each of the jurisdictions of the Commonwealth realms as well. The
people, embodied in Parliament, are granted immutable civil and political
rights through the act, including:
Freedom from royal interference with the law. Though the
sovereign remains the fount of justice, he or she cannot unilaterally
establish new courts or act as a judge.
Freedom from taxation by Royal Prerogative. The agreement of
parliament became necessary for the implementation of any new
taxes.
Freedom to petition the monarch.
Freedom from the standing army during a time of peace. The
agreement of parliament became necessary before the army could
be moved against the populace when not at war.
Freedom for Protestants to bear arms for their own defence, as
suitable to their class and as allowed by law.

14

Freedom to elect members of parliament without interference from

the sovereign.
Freedom of speech in parliament. This means that the proceedings
of parliament can not be questioned in a court of law or any other
body outside of parliament itself; this forms the basis of modern
parliamentary privilege.
Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, as well as excessive
bail.
Freedom from fine and forfeiture (penalty) without a trial.
Certain acts of James VII (of Scotland) and II (of England) were also
specifically named and declared illegal by the Bill of Rights, while
James flight from England in the wake of the Glorious Revolution was
also declared to be an abdication of the throne. Also, in a prelude to the
Act of Settlement to come twelve years later, the Bill of Rights barred
Roman Catholics from the throne of England, as it hath been found by
experience that it is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this
Protestant kingdom to be governed by a papist prince. Thus William III
and Mary II were named as the successors of James VII and II, and that
the throne would pass from them first to Marys heirs, then to her sister,
Princess Anne of Denmark and her heirs, and further to any heirs of
William by a later marriage. The monarch was further required to swear a
coronation oath to maintain the Protestant religion. The act also required
the monarch to summon parliament frequently, a clause that was later
reinforced by the Triennial Act (1694).
Augmentation and Effect

15

The Bill of Rights was later supplemented by the Act of Settlement in

1701 (while the Claim of Right Act in Scotland was supplemented by the
Act of Union, 1707). Both the Bill of Rights and the Claim of Right
contributed a great deal to the establishment of the concept of
parliamentary sovereignty, and the curtailment of the powers of the
monarch, leading ultimately to the establishment of constitutional
monarchy, while also settling the political and religious turmoil that had
convulsed Scotland, England, and Ireland in the seventeenth century. It
also became a predecessor of the United States Constitution, the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, and the European Convention on Human
Rights. For example, as with the Bill of Rights, the US constitution
requires jury trials and prohibits excessive bail and cruel and unusual
punishments. Similarly, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments are
banned under Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Two special designs of the British commemorative two pound coins were
issued in the United Kingdom in 1989, to celebrate the tercentenary of the
Glorious Revolution: one referred to the Bill of Rights and the other to
the Claim of Right. Both depict the Royal Cypher (monogram) of
William and Mary and the mace (rod) of the House of Commons; one
also shows a representation of the St. Edwards Crown, and another, the
Crown of Scotland.

The United Kingdom: Formation

15

On 1 May 1707, the United Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the
political union of the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and
the Kingdom of Scotland. This event was the result of the Treaty of
Union that was agreed on 22 July 1706 and then ratified by both the
Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland each passing an Act of
Union in 1707. Almost a century later, the Kingdom of Ireland, which had
been brought under English control between 1541 and 1691, joined the
Kingdom of Great Britain with the passing of the Act of Union 1800.
Expansion of the Electoral Franchise
Between 1832 and 1989, numerous Acts of Parliament increased the
number of people allowed to vote. The expansion was from 5% of the
adult population to the system of universal suffrage for all people 18 or
over that exists today.
New Labours Reforms
In Labours first term (19972001), it introduced a large package of
constitutional reforms, which it promised in its 1997 manifesto. The most
major were:

The creation of a devolved parliament in Scotland and assemblies

in Wales and Northern Ireland, with their own direct elections.

The creation of a devolved assembly in London and the associated

position of a directly elected Mayor.

The beginning of a process of reform of the House of Lords,

including the removal of all but 92 hereditary peers.

15

The incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights

into UK law by passing the Human Rights Act 1998.

The passing of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The passing of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act

2000, creating the Electoral Commission to regulate elections and
referendums and party spending to an extent.

Key documents of the United Kingdoms Constitution:

Charter of Liberties (1100)served as the model for the Magna
Carta (The Great Charter) in 1215;
Magna Carta (1215)largely repealed today except clauses 1, 13,
and 39;
The Petition of Right (1628);
English Bill of Rights (1689);
Act of Settlement 1701;
Acts of Union 1707;
Act of Union 1800;
Scotland Act of 1998 and Associated Legislation;
Government of Wales Act of 1998 and Associated Legislation;
Northern Ireland Act of 1998 and Associated Legislation;
The Belfast Agreement (1998);
The Human Rights Act (1998).

Law of the United Kingdom

15

The United Kingdom has three legal systems. English law, which applies
in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland law, which applies in
Northern Ireland, are based on common-law principles. Scots law, which
applies in Scotland, is a pluralistic system based on civil-law principles,
with common law elements dating back to the High Middle Ages. The
Treaty of Union, put into effect by the Acts of Union in 1707, guaranteed
the continued existence of a separate law system for Scotland. The Acts
of Union between Great Britain and Ireland in 1800 contained no
equivalent provision but preserved the principle of separate courts to be
held in Ireland, now Northern Ireland.
The Appellate Committee of the House of Lords (usually just referred to,
as The House of Lords) was the highest court in the land for all
criminal and civil cases in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and
for all civil cases in Scots law. Recent constitutional changes (2003) have
seen the powers of the House of Lords transfered to a new Supreme Court
of the United Kingdom. In England and Wales, the court system is headed
by the Supreme Court of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of
Appeal, the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court
(for criminal cases). The Courts of Northern Ireland follow the same
pattern. In Scotland the chief courts are the Court of Session, for civil
cases, and the High Court of Justiciary, for criminal cases, while the
sheriff court is the Scottish equivalent of the county court.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the highest court of
appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the British
overseas territories, and the British Crown dependencies. There are also
immigration courts with UK-wide jurisdictionthe Asylum and
Immigration Tribunal and Special Immigration Appeals Commission. The

15

Employment tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal have

jurisdiction throughout Great Britain, but not Northern Ireland.
Sources of Laws: Statute Law
A statute is an express and formal laying down of a rule or rules of
conduct to be observed in the future by those to whom the statute is
expressly or by implication made applicable. It explicitly introduces a
new law or modifies an existing one. Statutes can come from:
Acts of Parliament, which may explicitly define the law, or
delegate responsibility to others (e.g. Ministers or Local
Authorities) to define explicit rules within certain constraints;
European LawAs part of the European Union, Britain adopts
legislation developed by the EUs institutions. In many cases, such
laws can be enforced in the British Courts, but sometimes cases
have to be taken to the courts of the European Union.
Case Law
This is the greatest proportion of the law of the country. It is based on
precedents: previous decisions of certain courts will normally be applied
to similar cases unless the judge (or judges in some cases) can identify
features which distinguish the current case from the previous one. The
consistency implied by the use of precedents provides an element of
certainty which is necessary for society to function. The use of precedent
requires an effective system of case reporting. In deciding a case, the two
sides will present their view of the facts and will direct the judge to
relevant precedents. If there is no jury, the judge decides which version
of the facts is to be believed and, based on those facts and the precedents,

15

decides what the law is, and how it is to be applied in the particular case.
If there is a jury, they will be informed of the relevant law by the judge
and will then reach a decision based on the facts of the case as they see
them. Because the judges have to abstract general principles from specific
cases, they are effectively creating new law.
Interpretation of Statutes
Statute law would appear to be more certain than case law. However, the
statutes must be interpreted by the judge, which might be difficult for
several reasons: the Act may be unclear or ambiguous, or circumstances
may have changed since the Act was passed by Parliament. In interpreting
an Act, a Judge may refer to certain other documents (e.g. the relevant
European Treaty when interpreting an Act which is intended to implement
the treaty) but cannot refer to the discussion in Parliament. Judges will try
to interpret the law in a way which furthers the purpose of the Act. This
sometimes is in conflict with the literal interpretation.
Summary of Interpretation
if the law is clear
then use it
else if the law is ambiguous but has one sensible meaning
then use that meaning
else try to apply a meaning that achieves what Parliament probably
intended
Applying Case Law

15

In applying case law, the judge will look at the relevant case report and
extract what he or she believes is the principle behind the decision of the
judge who decided the original case. Although a judge will be guided by
the statement of reasons and other comments given in an earlier
judgement (particularly if it is a judgement from a senior court such as
the House of Lords), the abstraction they decide upon is not necessarily
what the original judge would have chosen. This is permissible because
under British Law, judges do not make the law by formulating and stating
it but by applying it to cases coming before them.
Within this framework, a judge is bound by precedent according to a
hierarchy of courts. However, judges can escape the bounds of precedent
by:
distinguishing the present case by finding some facts which make it
different from the previous case;
deciding that the principle of the previous case is too obscure to be
used;
declaring that the previous case is in conflict with a fundamental
principle of the law (i.e. it was wrong!);
finding that the previous case was decided in ignorance of a
relevant case or statute;
finding that a new statute overrules the previous decision;
finding that there are several similar cases with conflicting
decisions at the same level.
This gives the judges significant flexibility in applying the law in
particular circumstances to reach what they believe to be a just decision.

15

Hierarchy of Courts

Courts in England and Wales

The magistrates courts are the lowest level of court for trying minor
offences and the first hearing of serious cases which are passed up to a
higher court. Mostly unpaid members of the public (local businessmen,
Headmasters) act as Justices of the Peace (JPs). The magistrates are
assisted by a legally qualified clerk. In London and some of the other
major cities, the main magistrates courts are held by professional
magistrates called Stipendiary Magistrates as they receive a stipend or
salary (about 70,000 a year). There are about one hundred of these
magistrates, who are qualified solicitors. There are Magistrates Courts in
all towns. Offenders under 17 years old are sent to juvenile courts.

15

The crown courts mostly try criminal offences. In the larger towns,
these courts function with a Judge and a Jury (of 12 ordinary men and
women). The Judge decides the punishment according to the law and
taking into account previous offences. The county courts are destined to
hear civil cases, which may include cases of bankruptcy, ratification of
wills, divorce etc. The High Court is where more serious civil cases and
appeals from County Courts are presented. Three judges without a jury
preside over it. The Court of Appeal hears appeals from criminal cases
while the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land.
Precedents
The use of Case Law provides

some certainty;

some flexibility to handle changing circumstances;

the ability to expand the law to greater detail to handle particular

circumstances: it would be impossible to define statutes so
precisely that they could handle all possibilities;

faster creation of law than is possible using statutes.

Generally, courts are bound by their own previous decisions. This is not
true at the lowest level when there are far too many cases to allow
successful reporting. However, the potential variation is regarded as
insignificant because these courts deal with trivial cases and the parties
may be able to appeal to a higher court. The Supreme Court has asserted
its right not to be bound by a previous decision.

This provides an

important way of allowing an unjust decision to be changed without

relying on Parliament to change the law by statute. The courts are all
bound by higher courts, which can overrule a decision at a lower

15

level. Any change in case law would affect the current case and future
cases, but not any previous cases that had been decided.

Binding Precedence

How decisions bind other courts

Criminal Law
The situations that come under criminal law are actions which affect
society as a whole: theft, vandalism, murder either investigated by police
or prosecuted by Crown Prosecution Service. The case will be heard by a
magistrate or judge and jury:

the judge rules on law;

the jury decides on factsdetermines what happened;

the judge sentences if guilt is established.

According to the present standard of proof the prosecution must prove its
case beyond reasonable doubt. The penalties are intended as a

16

punishment although there may be some compensation. The types of

penalties can include:
binding overordering the criminal to obey the law, under the
threat of suffering penalties for the current crime if convicted of
additional crimes;
fines;
prison.
Civil Law
The situations that come under civil law are disputes between parties:
commercial disagreements, breaking of promises, libel (defamation,
slander). These cases will be heard by a tribunal or judge (rarely with
jury). According to the present standard of proof a side must prove its
case on the balance of possibilities. The remedies are usually
compensation rather than a penalty:

injunction, interim or permanentan order to prevent or force a

specific action;

Anton Piller Orderpermission to seize goods and documents

(after a companys name involved in such a case);

account of profits;

damages.

English Law
English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of
common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and
the United States (as opposed to civil law or pluralist systems in other

16

countries, such as Scots law). It was exported to Commonwealth

countries while the British Empire was established and maintained, and it
forms the basis of the jurisprudence of most of those countries. English
law prior to the American revolution is still part of the law of the United
States, except in Louisiana, and provides the basis for many American
legal traditions and policies, though it has no superseding jurisdiction.
English law in its strictest sense applies within the jurisdiction of England
and Wales. Whilst Wales now has a devolved Assembly, any legislation
which that Assembly enacts is enacted in particular circumscribed policy
areas defined by the Government of Wales Act 2006, other legislation of
the UK Parliament, or by orders in council given under the authority of
the 2006 Act. Furthermore that legislation is, as with any by-law made by
any other body within England and Wales, interpreted by the undivided
judiciary of England and Wales.
The essence of English common law is that it is made by judges sitting in
courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent
(stare decisis) to the facts before them. A decision of the highest appeal
court in England and Wales, the Supreme Court, is binding on every other
court in the hierarchy, and they will follow its directions. For example,
there is no statute making murder illegal. It is a common law crimeso
although there is no written Act of Parliament making murder illegal, it is
illegal by virtue of the constitutional authority of the courts and their
previous decisions. Common law can be amended or repealed by
Parliament; murder, by way of example, carries a mandatory life sentence
today, but had previously allowed the death penalty.

16

England and Wales are constituent countries of the United Kingdom,

which is a member of the European Union and EU law is effective in the
UK. The European Union consists mainly of countries which use civil
law and so the civil law system also exists in England in this form. The
European Court of Justice, a predominantly civil law court, can direct
English and Welsh courts on the meaning of EU law.
Responsibilities for the administration and management of the legal
system are divided between various government departments and
agencies, including:
the Ministry of Justice which has overall responsibility for the
court system, the appointment or advising on the appointment of
judges, the provision of legal aid and legal services and the
promotion of reform and revision of English civil law;
the Home Secretary who has overall responsibility for criminal
law, the police service, the prison system and the probation service.
England and Wales as a Distinct Jurisdiction
The United Kingdom is a state consisting of several legal jurisdictions.
Notably (a) England and Wales; (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland.
The formerly separate jurisdiction of Wales was absorbed into England
by Henry VII Tudor. By the Act of Union, 1707 Scotland retained an
independent church and judiciary. Ireland lost its independent parliament
later than Scotland. The legal system of Ireland is completely separate
from that of the UK now, but that of Northern Ireland retains some links
from the Imperial past, inasmuch as it is based on the medieval English

16

common law system, and there is an appeal to the Judicial Committee of

the House of Lords from the Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland.
Wales
Although devolution has accorded some degree of political autonomy to
Wales in the National Assembly for Wales, it did not have sovereign lawmaking powers until after the 2007 Welsh general election when the
Government of Wales Act 2006 granted powers to the Welsh Assembly
Government to enact some primary legislation. The legal system
administered through both civil and criminal courts remains unified
throughout England and Wales. This is different from the situation of
Northern Ireland, for example, which did not cease to be a state when its
legislature was suspended.
A major difference is also the use of the Welsh language, as laws
concerning it apply in Wales and not in England. The Welsh Language
Act 1993 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which put
the Welsh language on an equal footing with the English language in
Wales with regard to the public sector. Welsh can also be spoken in Welsh
courts. Since 1967 most lawyers have referred to the legal system of
England and Wales as the Laws of England and Wales following the
Welsh Language Act, 1967, as may be seen by looking at the Applicable
law section of most commercial agreements from these countries. Before,
from 1746-1967 this was not necessary but may have been done quite
often nonetheless.
Common Law

16

Since 1189, English law has been described as a common law rather than
a civil law system (i.e. there has been no major codification of the law,
and judicial precedents are binding as opposed to persuasive). This may
have been due to the Norman conquest of England, which introduced a
number of legal concepts and institutions from Norman law into the
English system. In the early centuries of English common law, the
justices and judges were responsible for adapting the Writ system to meet
everyday needs, applying a mixture of precedent and common sense to
build up a body of internally consistent law, e.g. the Merchant Law began
in the Pie-Powder Courts (a corruption of the French pieds-poudrs or
dusty feet, meaning ad hoc marketplace courts). Obviously the Biblical
influences all through precedent can be seen throughout the centuries. As
Parliament developed in strength, and subject to the doctrine of
separation of powers, legislation gradually overtook judicial law making
so that, today, judges are only able to innovate in certain very narrowly
defined areas.
Precedent
One of the major problems in the early centuries was to produce a system
that was certain in its operation and predictable in its outcomes. Too
many judges were either partial or incompetent, acquiring their positions
only by virtue of their rank in society. Thus, a standardised procedure
slowly emerged, based on a system termed stare decisis (to abide by
decided cases). Thus, the ratio decidendi (the reason for the decision)
of each case will bind future cases on the same generic set of facts both
horizontally and vertically. The highest appellate court in the UK is the
Supreme Court and its decisions are binding on every other court in the

16

hierarchy which are obliged to apply its rulings as the law of the land.
The Court of Appeal binds the lower courts, and so on.

Overseas Influences
The influences are two-way. On the one hand, the United Kingdom
exported its legal system to the Commonwealth countries during the
British Empire, and many aspects of that system have persisted after the
British withdrew or granted independence to former dominions. English
law prior to the Wars of Independence is still an influence on United
States law, and provides the basis for many American legal traditions and
policies. Many states that were formerly subject to English law (such as
Australia) continue to recognise a link to English lawsubject, of course,
to statutory modification and judicial revision to match the law to local
conditionsand decisions from the English law reports continue to be
cited from time to time as persuasive authority in present day judicial
opinions. For a few states, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
remains the ultimate court of appeal. Many jurisdictions which were
formerly subject to English law (such as Hong Kong) continue to
recognise the common law of England as their ownsubject, of course,
to statutory modification and judicial revisionand decisions from the
English Reports continue to be cited from time to time as persuasive
authority in present day judicial opinions.
On the other hand, the UK is a dualist in its relationship with
international law, i.e. international obligations have to be formally
incorporated into English law before the courts are obliged to apply
supranational laws. For example, the European Convention on Human

16

Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was signed in 1950 and the UK

allowed individuals to directly petition the European Commission on
Human Rights from 1966. Now section 6 of the Human Rights Act of
1998 (HRA) makes it unlawful . . . for a public authority to act in a
way which is incompatible with a convention right, where a public
authority is any person or body which exercises a public function,
expressly including the courts but expressly excluding Parliament.
Although the European Convention has begun to be applied to the acts of
non-state agents, the HRA does not make the Convention specifically
applicable between private parties. Courts have taken the Convention into
account in interpreting the common law. They also must take the
Convention into account in interpreting Acts of Parliament, but must
ultimately follow the terms of the Act even if inconsistent with the
Convention. Similarly, because the UK remains a strong international
trading nation, international consistency of decision making is of vital
importance, so the Admiralty is strongly influenced by Public
International Law and the modern commercial treaties and conventions
regulating shipping.
Criminal Law
English criminal law derives its main principles from the common law.
The main elements of a crime are the actus reus (doing something which
is criminally prohibited) and a mens rea (having the requisite criminal
state of mind, usually intention). A prosecutor must show that a person
has caused the offensive conduct, or that the culprit had some pre-existing
duty to take steps to avoid a criminal consequence. The types of different
crimes range from the well known ones like manslaughter, murder, theft

16

and robbery to a plethora of regulatory and statutory offences. It is

estimated that in the UK, there are 3,500 classes of criminal offence.
Certain defences may exist to crimes, which include self defence,
necessity, duress (coercion), and in the case of a murder charge, under the
Homicide Act 1957, diminished responsibility, provocation and in very
rare cases, the survivor of a suicide pact. It has often been suggested that
England should codify its criminal law, in an English Criminal Code,
however there has been no overwhelming support for this in the past.
Northern Irish Legal System
The law of Northern Ireland is a common law system. It is administered
by the courts of Northern Ireland, with ultimate appeal to the House of
Lords in both civil and criminal matters. The law of Northern Ireland is
closely similar to English law, the rules of common law having been
imported into the Kingdom of Ireland under English rule. However there
are still important differences. The sources of the law of Northern Ireland
are English common law, and statute law. Of the latter, statutes of the
Parliaments of Ireland, of the United Kingdom and of Northern Ireland
are in force, and currently statutes of the devolved Assembly.
Scots Law
Scots law is a unique legal system with an ancient basis in Roman law.
Grounded in uncodified civil law dating back to the Corpus Juris Civilis,
it also features elements of common law with medieval sources. Thus
Scotland has a pluralistic, or mixed, legal system, comparable to that of
South Africa, and, to a lesser degree, the partly codified pluralistic
systems of Louisiana and Quebec. Since the Acts of Union, in 1707, it

16

has shared a legislature with the rest of the United Kingdom. Scotland, on
the one hand, and England and Wales, on the other, each retained
fundamentally different legal systems, but the Union brought English
influence on Scots law and vice versa. In recent years Scots law has also
been affected by both European law under the Treaty of Rome and the
establishment of the Scottish Parliament which may pass legislation
within its areas of legislative competence as detailed by the Scotland Act
1998. The Scottish Executive Justice Department is responsible for civil
law and criminal justice, including police, prisons and courts
administration. The role of the Scottish Parliament is to make laws in
relations to devolved matters in Scotland.
The British Legal Profession
Solicitors undertake legal business for individual and corporate clients
and deal with property and all forms of law. Some have right of
appearance in courts above the level of Magistrates Courts, but advocacy
in the higher courts is mostly undertaken by barristers (advocates in
Scotland). They usually specialise in particular areas of the law and
advise on legal problems submitted through solicitors and present cases
in higher courts. Certain functions are common to bothfor example, the
presentation of cases in lower courts.
In the English legal system, solicitors traditionally dealt with any legal
matter apart from conducting proceedings in courts (advocacy) with some
exceptions. Minor criminal cases tried in Magistrates Courts, for
example, and small value civil cases tried in county courts are almost
always handled by solicitors. The other branch of the English legal
profession, a barrister, has traditionally carried out the advocacy

16

functions. Barristers would not deal with the public directly. This is no
longer the case, as solicitor advocates may act at certain higher levels of
court which were previously barred to them. Similarly, the public may
now engage a barrister directly and without the need for a solicitor in
certain circumstances.
The most common methods of qualification for a solicitor are a normal
undergraduate law degree or a degree in any subject followed by a oneyear course formerly called the Common Professional Exam and recently
renamed the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). Other routes, include
spending time as a clerk to magistrates or passing exams set by the
Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX). Up to this point a barrister and
solicitor have the same education. Thereafter, they split. Solicitors study a
one-year course called the Legal Practice Course and then must undertake
two years apprenticeship with a solicitor, called the training contract (but
still widely referred to as articles, as in articled clerk by older
members of the profession). Once that is complete, the student becomes a
solicitor and is admitted to the roll. The roll is a list of people
qualified to be a solicitor and is kept on behalf of the Master of the
Rolls whose more important job is as head of the Court of Appeal of
England and Wales. Solicitors who are being disciplined by the Law
Society can be suspended from the roll under Section 12 of the Solicitors
Act 1974 or even struck off, which prevents them acting as a solicitor.
The profession of barrister in England and Wales is separate from that of
solicitor. It is however possible to hold the qualification of both barrister
and solicitor at the same time; it is not necessary to be disbarred in order
to qualify as a solicitor. A barrister must be a member of one of the Inns
of Court, which traditionally educated and regulated barristers. There are

17

four Inns of Court: The Honourable Society of Grays Inn, The

Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn, The Honourable Society of the
Middle Temple, and The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. All are
situated in central London, near the Royal Courts of Justice. They
perform scholastic and social roles, and in all cases, provide financial aid
to student barristers (subject to merit) through scholarships. It is the Inns
that actually call the student to the Bar at a ceremony similar to a
graduation. Social functions include dining with other members and
guests and hosting other events.
Student barristers must take a Bar Vocational Course (BVC) (usually one
year full-time) at one of the institutions authorised by the Bar Council to
offer the BVC. On successful completion of the BVC student barristers
are called to the bar by their respective inns and are elevated to the
degree of Barrister. However, before they can practise independently
they must first undertake twelve months of pupillage. The first six months
of this period is spent shadowing more senior practitioners, after which
pupil barristers may begin to undertake some court work of their own.
Following successful completion of this stage, most barristers then join a
set of Chambers, a group of counsel who share the costs of premises and
support staff whilst remaining individually self-employed.
Certain barristers in England and Wales are now instructed directly by
members of the public. Members of the public may contract with
(instruct) the barrister directly through the barristers clerk; a solicitor is
not involved at any stage. Barristers undertaking Public Access work can
provide legal advice and/or representation in court in almost all areas of
law and they are entitled to represent clients in any court or tribunal in
England and Wales. Once instructions from a client are accepted, it is the

17

barrister (rather than the solicitor) who advises and guides the client
through the relevant legal procedure and the litigation. The Public Access
Scheme was introduced as part of an attempt to open up the legal system
to the public by making it easier and cheaper for the general public to
obtain access to legal advice.
Senior barristers take silk and become QCs (Queens Counsels). They
wear wigs and gowns in court as do judges who are selected from the
ranks of barristers. Solicitors and barristers earn fees (a senior barrister
can earn over 1million a year and senior solicitors several hundred
thousand pounds). Judges are salaried (100,000-150,000), but they get
a pension for which the other two have to make provision for themselves.
A few solicitors (and barristers) now work for contingency fees in civil
cases where the plaintiff would not be able to afford to bring an action.
The legal team would get a share of the damages awarded. While this is
common in the US, it is still rare in the UK.
Although English legal dress has a long history, it has for the most part
evolved without written regulation. Before the seventeenth century
lawyers did not wear wigs, but professional discipline required that their
hair and beards should be moderately short. Nevertheless, the
introduction of wigs into polite society during the reign of Charles II
(1660-1685) was an innovation, and lawyers began wearing wigs in the
1680s. In the 1860s, lawyers were permitted to remove their wigs during
a heat wave. This attracted some comment in the press and it was
suggested that wigs be abandoned altogether by the legal profession.
Although the proposal met with little support, it has been a common
occurrence ever since for judges to allow wigs to be left off in very hot
weather.

17

In England and Wales, the strict separation between the duties of solicitor
and barrister has been partially broken down and solicitors frequently
appear not only in the lower courts but (subject to passing a test)
increasingly in the higher courts, too, (such as the High Court of Justice
of England and Wales and the Court of Appeal). While the independent
bar still exists in a largely unchanged state, a few firms of solicitors now
employ their own barristers and solicitor-advocates to do some court
work. Barristers, in turn, can now be directly instructed by certain
organisations such as trade unions, accountants, and similar groups.
Additionally, barristers who have completed the Bar Councils Public
Access course can take instructions directly from members of the public,
although there are some limitations on the type of work that can be done
this way: for example, such barristers cannot take control of the conduct
of litigation nor can they act in matrimonial matters.

17

The British Economy

Economic History of the United Kingdom
Early History
In Britains earliest history agriculture was overwhelmingly dominant.
The most important export was cassiterite, which gave the country its
name (from the Greek word Cassiterides meaning Tin Islands). In fact,
cassiterite is the main ore for the production of tin. Much of the impetus
behind the Roman invasion of Britain was the desire to control the
exports of this useful metal.
Middle Ages
Initially started to support William the Conquerors (c. 1029-1087)
holdings in France, Englands policy of active involvement in continental
European affairs endured for several hundred years. The Black Death
which has become more recently known as the Black Plague, struck
England and Europe particularly hard during the fourteenth century and
its effects were felt well into the fifteenth century. England also suffered
from a gold and silver shortage as the silver mines of Europe either
closed or fell to the Ottoman Empire, as in Serbia. By the end of the
fourteenth century, foreign trade, originally based on wool exports to
Europe, had emerged as a cornerstone of national policy.

17

England conducted extensive trade with the Low Countries and Italy,
exporting vast quantities of wool to those countries textile industries. For
many years England did not have the skilled workforce or the population
density to itself participate in manufacturing, but turmoil on the continent
as a result of the end of the Italian Renaissance and the religious wars
preceding the Protestant Reformation led to an influx of skilled dyers and
weavers. By the seventeenth century England was a leader in textile
production. It had long been a naval power, dependent on a fleet for the
defence of its coastal areas. The revolution in ship design of the Age of
Navigation, between the fifteenth and the seventeenth century, aided this
immensely. For the first time ships were large and sturdy enough to safely
sail the Atlantic Ocean, and the oceanic trade became the primary one in
Europe, replacing the Mediterranean trade as wealth shifted from
southern to western Europe. Among Scotlands trading partners were
France and the Baltic towns of the Hanseatic League.
The Pre-Industrial Society
The notion of pre-industrial society refers to specific social attributes and
forms of political and cultural organisation that were prevalent before the
advent of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Capitalism. Some
attributes of the pre-industrial societies are:
Limited production (i.e. artisanship vs. mass production);
Primarily agricultural economy;

17

Limited division of laborin pre-industrial societies, production

was relatively simple and, thus, the number of specialized crafts
was limited;
Limited variation of social classes;
Parochialismcommunications were limited between human
communities, few had a chance to see or hear beyond their own
village;
Pre-industrial societies developed largely in rural communities.
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing,
and transportation had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and
cultural conditions in Britain. The changes subsequently spread
throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. The onset
of the Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point in human
society; almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in
some way.
In the later part of the eighteenth century a transition occurred in parts of
Great Britains previously manual-labour-based economy towards
machine-based manufacturing. It started with the mechanisation of the
textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the
increased use of refined coal. Trade expansion was enabled by the
introduction of canals, improved roads and railways. The introduction of
steam power (fuelled primarily by coal) and powered machinery (mainly
in textile manufacturing) strengthened the dramatic increases in

17

production capacity. The development of all-metal machine tools in the

first two decades of the nineteenth century facilitated the manufacture of
more production machines for manufacturing in other industries. The
effects spread throughout Western Europe and North America during the
nineteenth century, eventually affecting most of the world. The impact of
this change on society was enormous.
The First Industrial Revolution, which began in the eighteenth century,
merged into the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850, when
technological and economic progress gained momentum with the
development of steam-powered ships, railways, and later in the
nineteenth century with the internal combustion engine and electrical
power generation. The period of time covered by the Industrial
Revolution varies with different historians. Eric Hobsbawm held that it
broke out in the 1780s and was not fully felt until the 1830s or 1840s,
while T. S. Ashton held that it occurred roughly between 1760 and 1830.
Some twentieth-century historians such as John Clapham and Nicholas
Crafts have argued that the process of economic and social change took
place gradually and the term revolution is not a true description of what
took place. This is still a subject of debate amongst historians. The Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) per capita was broadly stable before the
Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the modern capitalist
economy. The Industrial Revolution began an era of per-capita economic
growth in capitalist economies. Historians agree that the Industrial
Revolution was one of the most important events in history. The most
significant inventions had their origins in the Western world, primarily
Europe and the United States.
Causes

17

The causes of the Industrial Revolution were complicated and remain a

topic for debate, with some historians believing the Revolution was an
outgrowth of social and institutional changes brought by the end of
feudalism in Britain after the English Civil War in the seventeenth
century. As national border controls became more effective, the spread of
disease was lessened, thereby preventing the epidemics common in
previous times. The percentage of children who lived past infancy rose
significantly, leading to a larger workforce. The Enclosure movement and
the British Agricultural Revolution made food production more efficient
and less labour-intensive, forcing the surplus population who could no
longer find employment in agriculture into the cottage industry (a smallscale industry carried on at home), for example weaving, and in the
longer term into the cities and the newly developed factories. The
colonial expansion of the seventeenth century with the accompanying
development of international trade, creation of financial markets and
accumulation of capital are also cited as factors, as is the scientific
revolution of the seventeenth century. Technological innovation was the
heart of the Industrial Revolution and the key technology was the
invention and improvement of the steam engine.
The presence of a large domestic market should also be considered an
important driver of the Industrial Revolution, particularly explaining why
it occurred in Britain. In other nations, such as France, markets were split
up by local regions, which often imposed tolls and tariffs on goods traded
amongst them. Governments grant of limited monopolies to inventors
under a developing patent system (the Statute of Monopolies of 1623) is
considered an influential factor. The effects of patents, both good and ill,
on the development of industrialisation are clearly illustrated in the

17

history of the steam engine. In return for publicly revealing the workings
of an invention the patent system rewards inventors by allowing James
Watt, for instance, to monopolise the production of the first steam
engines, thereby enabling inventors and increasing the pace of
technological development. However, monopolies bring with them their
own inefficiencies: Watts monopoly may have prevented other inventors,
such as Richard Trevithick, William Murdoch or Jonathan Hornblower,
from introducing improved steam engines thereby retarding the industrial
revolution by up to 20 years.
The debate about the start of the Industrial Revolution also concerns the
massive lead that Great Britain had over other countries. Some have
stressed the importance of natural or financial resources that Britain
received from its many overseas colonies or that profits from the British
slave trade between Africa and the Caribbean helped fuel industrial
investment. It has been pointed out, however, that slave trade and West
Indian plantations provided only 5% of the British national income
during the years of the Industrial Revolution.
Alternatively, the greater liberalisation of trade from a large merchant
base may have allowed Britain to produce and use emerging scientific
and technological developments more effectively than countries with
stronger monarchies, particularly China and Russia. Britain emerged from
the Napoleonic Wars as the only European nation not ravaged by
financial plunder and economic collapse, and possessing the only
merchant fleet of any useful size (European merchant fleets having been
destroyed during the war by the Royal Navy). Britains extensive
exporting cottage industries also ensured markets were already available
for many early forms of manufactured goods. The conflict resulted in

17

most British warfare being conducted overseas, reducing the devastating

effects of territorial conquest that affected much of Europe. This was
further aided by Britains geographical positionan island separated
from the rest of mainland Europe.
Another theory is that Britain was able to succeed in the Industrial
Revolution due to the availability of the key resources it possessed. It had
a dense population for its small geographical size. Enclosure of common
land and the related Agricultural Revolution made a supply of this labour
readily available. Local supplies of coal, iron, lead, copper, tin, limestone
and water power, resulted in excellent conditions for the development and
expansion of industry. Also, the damp, mild weather conditions of the
North West of England provided ideal conditions for the spinning of
cotton, providing a natural starting point for the birth of the textiles
industry.
The stable political situation in Britain from around 1688, and British
societys greater receptiveness to change (compared with other European
countries) can also be said to be factors favouring the Industrial
Revolution. In large part due to the Enclosure movement, the peasantry
was destroyed as significant source of resistance to industrialisation, and
the landed upper classes developed commercial interests that made them
pioneers in removing obstacles to the growth of capitalism.
Protestant Work Ethic
Another theory is that the British advance was due to the presence of an
entrepreneurial class which believed in progress, technology and hard
work. The existence of this class is often linked to the Protestant work
ethic and the particular status of the Baptists and the dissenting Protestant

18

sects, such as the Quakers and Presbyterians that had flourished with the
English Civil War. Reinforcement of confidence in the rule of law, which
followed establishment of the prototype of constitutional monarchy in
Britain in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and the emergence of a stable
financial market there based on the management of the national debt by
the Bank of England, contributed to the capacity for, and interest in,
private financial investment in industrial ventures.
Dissenters found themselves barred or discouraged from almost all public
offices, as well as education at Englands only two universities at the time
(although dissenters were still free to study at Scotlands four
universities). When the restoration of the monarchy took place and
membership in the official Anglican Church became mandatory due to the
Test Act, they thereupon became active in banking, manufacturing and
education. The Unitarians, in particular, were very involved in education,
by running Dissenting Academies, where, in contrast to the universities of
Oxford and Cambridge and schools such as Eton and Harrow, much
attention was given to mathematics and the sciencesareas of
scholarship vital to the development of manufacturing technologies.
Historians sometimes consider this social factor to be extremely
important, along with the nature of the national economies involved.
While members of these sects were excluded from certain circles of the
government, they were considered fellow Protestants, to a limited extent,
by many in the middle class, such as traditional financiers or other
businessmen. Given this relative tolerance and the supply of capital, the
natural outlet for the more enterprising members of these sects would be
to seek new opportunities in the technologies created in the wake of the
scientific revolution of the seventeenth century.

18

Innovations
The commencement of the Industrial Revolution is closely linked to a
small number of innovations, made in the second half of the eighteenth
century:
TextilesCotton spinning using Richard Arkwrights Water
Frame,

James

Hargreavess Spinning

Jenny, and

Samuel

Cromptons Spinning Mule (a combination of the Spinning Jenny

and the Water Frame). This was patented in 1769 and so came out
of patent in 1783. The end of the patent was rapidly followed by
the erection of many cotton mills. Similar technology was
subsequently applied to spinning worsted yarn for various textiles
and flax for linen.
Steam powerThe improved steam engine invented by James
Watt was initially mainly used for pumping out mines, but from the
1780s was applied to power machines. This enabled rapid
development of efficient semi-automated factories on a previously
unimaginable scale in places where waterpower was not available.
Iron foundingIn the iron industry, coke was finally applied to
all stages of iron smelting, replacing charcoal. This had been
achieved much earlier for lead and copper as well as for producing
pig iron (crude iron cast in blocks) in a blast furnace, but the
second stage in the production of bar iron depended on the use of
potting and stamping (for which a patent expired in 1786) or

18

puddling, purification of impure metal, especially pig iron, by

heating and stirring in an oxidising atmosphere (patented by Henry
Cort in 1783 and 1784).
These represent three leading sectors, which allowed the economic take
off by which the Industrial Revolution is usually defined. This is not to
belittle many other inventions, particularly in the textile industry. Without
some earlier ones, such as Spinning Jenny and Flying Shuttle in the
textile industry and the smelting of pig iron with coke, these
achievements might have been impossible. Later inventions such as the
power loom and Richard Trevithicks high-pressure steam engine were
also important in the growing industrialisation of Britain. The application
of steam engines to powering cotton mills and ironworks enabled these to
be built in places that were most convenient because other resources were
available, rather than where there was water to power a watermill.
In the textile sector, such mills became the model for the organisation of
human labour in factories, epitomised by Cottonopolis, the name given to
the vast collection of cotton mills, factories and administration offices
based in Manchester. The assembly line system greatly improved
efficiency, both in this and other industries. With a series of men trained
to do a single task on a product, then having it moved along to the next
worker, the number of finished goods also rose significantly. Also
important was the 1756 rediscovery of concrete (based on hydraulic lime
mortar) by the British engineer John Smeaton, which had been lost for 13
centuries.

18

Technological Developments in Britain

Textile Manufacture
In the early eighteenth century, British textile manufacture was based on
wool which was processed by individual artisans, doing the spinning and
weaving on their own premises. This system is called a cottage industry.
Flax and cotton were also used for fine materials, but the processing was
difficult because of the pre-processing needed, and thus goods in these
materials made only a small proportion of the output. The use of the
spinning wheel and hand loom restricted the production capacity of the
industry, but these advances increased productivity to the extent that
manufactured cotton goods became the dominant British export by the
early decades of the nineteenth century. India was displaced as the
premier supplier of cotton goods.
Lewis Paul patented the Roller Spinning machine and the flyer-andbobbin system for drawing wool to a more even thickness, developed
with the help of John Wyatt in Birmingham. Paul and Wyatt opened a
mill in Birmingham which used their new rolling machine powered by a
donkey. In 1743, a factory was opened in Northampton with fifty spindles
on each of five of Paul and Wyatts machines. This operated until about
1764. A similar mill was built by Daniel Bourn in Leominster, but this
burnt down. Both Lewis Paul and Daniel Bourn patented carding
machines in 1748. Using two sets of rollers that travelled at different
speeds, it was later used in the first cotton spinning mill. Pauls invention

18

was later developed and improved by Richard Arkwright in his water

frame and Samuel Crompton in his spinning mule.
Other inventors increased the efficiency of the individual steps of
spinning (carding, twisting and spinning, and rolling) so that the supply
of yarn increased greatly, which fed a weaving industry that was
advancing with improvements to shuttles and the loom or frame. The
output of an individual labourer increased dramatically, with the effect
that the new machines were seen as a threat to employment, and early
innovators were attacked and their inventions destroyed. To capitalise
upon these advances, it took a class of entrepreneurs, of which the most
famous is Richard Arkwright. He is credited with a list of inventions, but
these were actually developed by people such as Thomas Highs and John
Kay. Arkwright nurtured the inventors, patented the ideas, financed the
initiatives, and protected the machines. He created the cotton mill which
brought the production processes together in a factory, and he developed
the use of powerfirst horse power and then water powerwhich made
cotton manufacture a mechanised industry. Before long steam power was
applied to drive textile machinery.
Metallurgy
The Reverberatory Furnace could produce wrought iron using mined
coal. The burning coal remained separate from the iron ore and so did not
contaminate the iron with impurities like sulphur. This opened the way to
increased iron production. The major change in the metal industries
during the era of the Industrial Revolution was the replacement of organic
fuels based on wood with fossil fuel based on coal. Much of this
happened somewhat before the Industrial Revolution, based on

18

innovations by Sir Clement Clerke and others from 1678, using coal
reverberatory furnaces known as cupolas. This was followed by Abraham
Darby, who made great progress using coke to fuel his blast furnaces at
Coalbrookdale in 1709. Bar iron for smiths to forge into consumer goods
was still made in finery forges, as it long had been. However, new
processes were adopted in the ensuing years. The first is referred to today
as potting and stamping, but this was superseded by Henry Corts
puddling (purification) process.
An improvement was made in the production of steel, which was an
expensive commodity and used only where iron would not do, such as for
the cutting edge of tools and for springs. Benjamin Huntsman developed
his crucible steel technique in the 1740s. The raw material for this was
blister steel, made by the cementation process. The supply of cheaper iron
and steel aided the development of boilers and steam engines, and
eventually railways. Improvements in machine tools allowed better
working of iron and steel and further boosted the industrial growth of
Britain.
Mining
Coal mining in Britain, particularly in South Wales started early. Before
the steam engine, pits were often shallow bell pits following a seam of
coal along the surface, which were abandoned as the coal was extracted.
In other cases, if the geology was favourable, the coal was mined by
means of an adit (an almost horizontal entrance to a mine) or drift mine
driven into the side of a hill. Shaft mining was done in some areas, but
the limiting factor was the problem of removing water. The introduction
of the steam engine greatly facilitated the removal of water and enabled

18

shafts to be made deeper, enabling more coal to be extracted. These were

developments that had begun before the Industrial Revolution, but the
adoption of James Watts more efficient steam engine from the 1770s
reduced the fuel costs of engines, making mines more profitable. Coal
mining was very dangerous owing to the presence of firedamp in many
coal seams. Some degree of safety was provided by the safety lamp
which was invented in 1816 by Sir Humphrey Davy and independently
by George Stephenson. However, the lamps became unsafe very quickly
and provided a weak light.
Steam Power
The development of the stationary steam engine was an essential early
element of the Industrial Revolution. However, for most of the period of
the Industrial Revolution, the majority of industries still relied on wind
and water power as well as horse and man-power for driving small
machines. The first real attempt at industrial use of steam power was due
to Thomas Savery in 1698. He constructed and patented in London a lowlift combined vacuum and pressure water pump, that generated about one
horsepower (hp) and was used in numerous water works and tried in a
few mines (hence its brand name The Miners Friend), but it was not a
success since it was prone to boiler explosions. Thomas Newcomens
steam powered atmospheric engine was the first practical engine.
Subsequent steam engines were to power the Industrial Revolution. A
number of Newcomen engines were successfully put to use in Britain for
draining hitherto unworkable deep mines, with the engine on the surface.
These were large machines, requiring a lot of capital to build, and
produced about 5 hp.

18

James Watt
A fundamental change in working principles was brought about by James
Watt. With the close collaboration Matthew Boulton, he had succeeded by
1778 in perfecting his steam engine, which incorporated a series of
radical improvements. These improvements increased engine efficiency
by a factor of about five, saving 75% on coal costs. By 1783 the more
economical Watt steam engine had been fully developed into a doubleacting rotative type, which meant that it could be used to directly drive
the rotary machinery of a factory or mill. In the early nineteenth century
after the expiration of Watts patent, the steam engine underwent many
improvements by a host of inventors and engineers.
Chemicals
The large scale production of chemicals was an important development
during the Industrial Revolution. The first of these was the production of
sulphuric acid by the lead chamber process invented by the Englishman
John Roebuck (James Watts first partner) in 1746. The production of an
alkali on a large scale became an important goal as well, and Nicolas
Leblanc succeeded in 1791 in introducing a method for the production of
sodium carbonate. These two chemicals were very important because
they enabled the introduction of a host of other inventions, replacing
many small-scale operations with more cost-effective and controllable
processes. Sodium carbonate had many uses in the glass, textile, soap,
and paper industries. Early uses for sulphuric acid included pickling

18

(removing rust) iron and steel, and for bleaching cloth. In 1824 Joseph
Aspdin, a British brick layer turned builder, patented a chemical process
for making portland cement which was an important advance in the
building trades. He named the product portland cement because it
resembled a stone quarried on the Isle of Portland, off the British coast.
This process involves sintering a mixture of clay and limestone to about
1400 C, then grinding it into a fine powder which is then mixed with
water, sand and gravel to produce concrete. Portland cement was used by
the famous English engineer Marc Isambard Brunel several years later
when constructing the Thames Tunnel. Cement was used on a large scale
in the construction of the London sewerage system a generation later.
Machine Tools
The Industrial Revolution could not have developed without machine
tools, for they enabled manufacturing machines to be made. Apart from
workshop lathes used by craftsmen, the first large machine tool was the
cylinder boring machine used for boring the large-diameter cylinders on
early steam engines. The planing machine, the slotting machine and the
shaping machine were developed in the first decades of the nineteenth
century. Although the milling machine was invented at this time, it was
not developed as a serious workshop tool until later.
Second Industrial Revolution
The insatiable demand of the railways for more durable rail led to the
development of the means to cheaply mass-produce steel. Steel is often
cited as the first of several new areas for industrial mass-production,
which are said to characterise a Second Industrial Revolution,

18

beginning around 1850, although a method for mass manufacture of steel

was not invented until the 1860s, when Sir Henry Bessemer invented a
new furnace which could make wrought iron and steel in large quantities.
However, it only became widely available in the 1870s. This second
Industrial Revolution gradually grew to include the chemical industries,
petroleum refining and distribution, electrical industries, and, in the
twentieth century, the automotive industries, and was marked by a
transition of technological leadership from Britain to the United States
and Germany.
Gas Lighting
Another major industry of the later Industrial Revolution was gas
lighting. Though others made a similar innovation elsewhere, the large
scale introduction of this was the work of William Murdoch, an employee
of Boulton and Watt, the Birmingham steam engine pioneers. The process
consisted of the large scale gasification of coal in furnaces, the
purification of the gas, and its storage and distribution. The first gas
lighting utilities were established in London between 1812-1820. They
soon became one of the major consumers of coal in the UK. Gas lighting
had an impact on social and industrial organisation because it allowed
factories and stores to remain open longer than with tallow candles or oil.
Its introduction allowed night life to flourish in cities and towns as
interiors and streets could be lighted on a larger scale than before.
Glass Making
A new method of producing glass, known as the cylinder process, was
developed in Europe during the early nineteenth century. In 1832, this

19

process was used by the Chance Brothers to create sheet glass. They
became the leading producers of window and plate glass. This
advancement allowed for larger panes of glass to be created without
interruption, thus freeing up the space planning in interiors as well as the
design and placement of windows in a building. The Crystal Palace in
London is the supreme example of the use of sheet glass in a new and
innovative structure.
Transport in Britain
At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, inland transport was by
navigable rivers and roads, with coastal vessels employed to move heavy
goods by sea. Railways or wagon ways were used for conveying coal to
rivers for further shipment, but canals had not yet been constructed.
Animals supplied all of the motive power on land, with sails providing
the motive power on the sea. The Industrial Revolution improved
Britains transport infrastructure with a turnpike road network (toll barrier
roads), a canal, and waterway network, and a railway network. Raw
materials and finished products could be moved more quickly and
cheaply than before. Improved transportation also allowed new ideas to
spread quickly.
Coastal Sail
Sailing vessels had long been used for moving goods round the British
coast. The trade transporting coal to London from Newcastle had begun
in mediaeval times. The major international seaports such as London,
Bristol, and Liverpool, were the means by which raw materials such as
cotton might be imported and finished goods exported. Transporting

19

goods onwards within Britain by sea was common during the whole of
the Industrial Revolution and only fell away with the growth of the
railways at the end of the period.
Navigable Rivers
All the major rivers of the United Kingdom were navigable during the
Industrial Revolution. Some were anciently navigable, notably the
Severn, Thames, and Trent. Some were improved, or had navigation
extended upstream, but usually in the period before the Industrial
Revolution, rather than during it. The Severn, in particular, was used for
the movement of goods to the Midlands which had been imported into
Bristol from abroad, and for the export of goods from centres of
production in Shropshire (such as iron goods from Coalbrookdale) and
the Black Country. Transport was by way of trowssmall sailing vessels
which could pass the various shallows and bridges in the river. The trows
could navigate the Bristol Channel to the South Wales ports and Somerset
ports, such as Bridgwater and even as far as France.
Canals
Canals began to be built in the late eighteenth century to link the major
manufacturing centres in the Midlands and north with seaports and with
London. Canals were the first technology to allow bulk materials to be
easily transported across country. A single canal horse could pull a load
dozens of times larger than a cart at a faster pace. By the 1820s, a
national network was in existence. Canal construction served as a model
for the organisation and methods later used to construct the railways.
They were eventually largely superseded as profitable commercial
enterprises by the spread of the railways from the 1840s on. Britains

19

canal network, together with its surviving mill buildings, is one of the
most enduring features of the early Industrial Revolution to be seen in
Britain.
Roads
Much of the original British road system was poorly maintained by
thousands of local parishes, but from the 1720s (and occasionally earlier)
turnpike trusts were set up to charge tolls and maintain some roads.
Increasing numbers of main roads were turnpiked from the 1750s to the
extent that almost every main road in England and Wales was the
responsibility of some turnpike trust. New engineered roads were built by
John Metcalf, Thomas Telford and John Macadam. The major turnpikes
radiated from London and were the means by which the Royal Mail was
able to reach the rest of the country. Heavy goods transport on these roads
was by means of slow, broad wheeled carts hauled by teams of horses.
Lighter goods were conveyed by smaller carts or by teams of pack horses.
Stage coaches carried the rich, and the less wealthy could pay to ride on
carrier carts.
Railways
Steam-hauled public railways began with the Stockton and Darlington
Railway in 1825 and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830.
Construction of major railways connecting the larger cities and towns
began in the 1830s but only gained momentum at the very end of the first
Industrial Revolution. After many of the workers had completed the
railways, they did not return to their rural lifestyles but instead remained
in the cities, providing additional workers for the factories. Railways

19

helped Britains trade enormously, providing a quick and easy way of

transport.

Social Effects
In terms of social structure, the Industrial Revolution witnessed the
triumph of a middle class of industrialists and businessmen over a landed
class of nobility and gentry. Ordinary working people found increased
opportunities for employment in the new mills and factories, but these
were often under strict working conditions with long hours of labour
dominated by a pace set by machines. However, harsh working
conditions were prevalent long before the Industrial Revolution took
place. Pre-industrial society was very static and often cruelchild labour,
dirty living conditions and long working hours were just as prevalent
before the Industrial Revolution.
Luddites
The rapid industrialisation of the English economy cost many craft
workers their jobs. The movement started first with textile workers near
Nottingham and spread to other areas of the textile industry. Many
weavers also found themselves suddenly unemployed since they could no
longer compete with machines which only required relatively limited
(and unskilled) labour to produce more cloth than a single weaver. Many
such unemployed workers, weavers and others, turned their animosity
towards the machines that had taken their jobs and began destroying
factories and machinery. These attackers became known as Luddites,
supposedly followers of Ned Ludd, a folklore figure. The first attacks of

19

the Luddite movement began in 1811. The Luddites rapidly gained

popularity, and the British government took drastic measures using the
militia or army to protect industry. Those rioters who were caught were
tried and hanged, or transported for life.
Organisation of Labour
The Industrial Revolution concentrated labour into mills, factories and
mines, thus facilitating the organisation of combinations or trade unions
to help advance the interests of working people. The power of a union
could demand better terms by withdrawing all labour and causing a
consequent stopping of production. Employers had to decide between
giving in to the union demands at a cost to themselves or suffer the cost
of the lost production. Skilled workers were hard to replace, and these
were the first groups to successfully advance their conditions through this
kind of bargaining. The main method the unions used to effect change
was strike action. Many strikes were painful events for both sides, the
unions and the management. In England, the Combination Act forbade
workers to form any kind of trade union from 1799 until its repeal in
1824. Even after this, unions were still severely restricted.
Unions slowly overcame the legal restrictions on the right to strike. In
1842, a General Strike involving cotton workers and colliers was
organised through the Chartist movement which stopped production
across Great Britain. Eventually effective political organisation for
working people was achieved through the trades unions who, after the
extensions of the franchise in 1867 and 1885, began to support socialist
political parties that later merged to became the British Labour Party.
British Agricultural Revolution

19

The British Agricultural Revolution describes a period of development in

Britain between the seventeenth century and the end of the nineteenth
century, which saw a massive increase in agricultural productivity and net
output. This in turn supported unprecedented population growth, freeing
up a significant percentage of the workforce, and thereby helped drive the
Industrial Revolution. How this came about is not entirely clear.
Enclosure, mechanisation, four-field crop rotation, and selective breeding
have been highlighted as primary causes, with credit given to relatively
few individuals.
The invention of machinery played a big part in driving forward the
British Agricultural Revolution. Agricultural improvement began in the
centuries before the Industrial Revolution got going and it may have
played a part in freeing up labour from the land to work in the new
industrial mills of the eighteenth century. As the revolution in industry
progressed a succession of machines became available which increased
food production with ever fewer labourers. Jethro Tulls seed drill
invented in 1731 was a mechanical seeder which distributed seeds
efficiently across a plot of land. Joseph Foljambes Rotherham plough of
1730, was the first commercially successful iron plough. Andrew
Meikles threshing machine of 1784 was the final straw for many farm
labourers, and led to the 1830 agricultural rebellion of the Swing Riots. In
the 1850s and 1860s John Fowlers ploughing system vastly reduced the
cost of ploughing farmland compared with horse-drawn ploughs. Also his
ploughing system, when used for digging drainage channels, made
possible the cultivation of previously unusable swampy land.
Englands Overseas Expansion

19

The usual English practice was to take control of an area and rule it with
a governor supported by military forces. In most colonies, less than 1% of
the people were English (that is, the administrators, soldiers, traders and
missionaries); they were on temporary duty and concentrated in a few
leading cities. Beginning about 1600 an entirely different approach began
in selected areas, whereby large numbers of English settlers moved
permanently to a new area, raising families and creating a new society
that was a replica of village life in the motherland. Thus Sir Walter
Raleigh set up the first colony on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, in
1584, but its 100 or so residents mysteriously disappeared in 1587. The
first surviving English settlement began in 1607 at Jamestown, Virginia.
Britain had started to build of a worldwide empire. Meanwhile London
developed a system of finance and insurance that provided the economic
basis for trade, shipping and imperial administration. British scientists
also played a role, by inventing navigation aids, for example, and
investigating all sorts of exotic plants for their economic value. The
organisational skills and new wealth enabled Britain to defeat its great
continental rival, Napoleons France. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars
in 1815, Britain was the foremost global power and the Royal Navy ruled
the waves. Peace in Europe allowed the British to focus their interests on
more remote parts of the world.
The reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) witnessed the spread of British
technology, commerce, language, and government throughout the world.
The Empire at its height encompassed roughly one quarter of the worlds
area

and

population.

British

colonies

contributed

to

Britains

extraordinary economic growth and strengthened its voice in world

19

affairs but they were expensive and probably were a net economic loss to
the mother country. The dominions (Canada, South Africa, Australia and
New Zealand) on the other hand were economic assets to the mother
country, and tightened their ties during the Great Depression by a system
of favourable taxes inside the Empire.
The Age of Mercantilism
After the 1706 Treaty of Union was put into effect with the creation of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain on May 1, 1707, the UK extended its
influence abroad and consolidated its political development at home. The
basis of the British Empire was founded in the age of mercantilism,
dominated by an economic theory that stressed maximising the trade
inside the empire, and trying to weaken rival empires. The modern British
Empire was based upon the preceding English Empire. The latter first
took shape in the early seventeenth century, with the English settlement
of the eastern colonies of North America (which would later become the
original United States), as well as Canadas Maritime provinces, and the
colonisations of the smaller islands of the Caribbean such as Trinidad and
Tobago, the Bahamas, the Leeward Islands, Barbados, and Jamaica.
These sugar plantation islands, where slavery became the basis of the
economy, were part of Britains most important and successful colonies.
The American colonies also utilized slave labour in the farming of
tobacco, cotton, and rice in the south. In the north, naval material and furs
were less financially successful, but the large areas of good agricultural
land attracted far larger numbers of British immigrants who would also
utilise slave labour for farming.

19

Britains American empire was slowly expanded by war and colonization.

The ever growing American colonies pressed westward in search of new
agricultural lands. Conflict arose with the Dutch over trade and empire,
and was manifest in four Anglo-Dutch Wars, which raged intermittently
between 1652-1784. England gained control of New Amsterdam, which
was renamed New York, but ceded Suriname. They defeated the French,
first expanding their hold over the maritime provinces. Then during the
Seven Years War the British defeated the French at the Plains of
Abraham and captured all of New France in 1760. This gave Britain
control over almost all of North America.
Breakdown of Pax Britannica and New Imperialism
In a scramble for overseas markets between the Franco-Prussian War and
the First World War, Europe added almost 9 million square miles
(23,000,000 km)one-fifth of the land area of the globeto its overseas
colonial possessions. Continental political developments in the late
nineteenth century, relating to the overall breakdown of the Concert of
Europe, also rendered this imperial competition feasible, in spite of
Britains centuries of long-established naval and maritime superiority. As
unification of Germany went forward, contending capitalist powers were
thus ready to compete with Britain over stakes in overseas markets. The
aggressive nationalism of Napoleon III and the relative political stability
of France under the liberal Third Republic also rendered France more
capable of challenging Britains global preeminence. Germany, Italy, and
France were simply no longer as embroiled in continental concerns and
domestic disputes as they were before the Franco-Prussian War.

19

As these other newly industrial powers, the United States, and Japan
began industrializing at a rapid rate, Britains comparative advantage in
trade began diminishing. Just as the power of German and North
American capitalisms increased, the relative decline of the British
capitalist economy began in the last third of the nineteenth century,
contributing to a breakdown of Britains natural superiority in industry
and commerce. Britains share of world trade fell from one-fourth in
1880, one-sixth in 1913, and one-eighth in 1948. Britain was no longer
supplying half the needs in manufactured goods of such nations as
Germany, France, Belgium, and the United States. Britain was even
growing incapable of dominating the markets of Indiaa crown colony
by 1858 that Disraeli would later call the brightest jewel of the
crownManchu China, the coasts of Africa, and Latin America.
To make matters worse, British manufactures were beginning to
experience real competition abroad. The German textiles and metal
industries, for example, had by the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War
surpassed those of Britain in organization and technical efficiency and
usurped British manufacturers in the domestic market. By the turn of the
century, the German metals and engineering industries would be
producing heavily for the free trade market of what was once the
workshop of the world as well.
With contending, emerging capitalist powers once dependent on British
industry ready to fight for overseas markets, inter-capitalist competition
also took the form of protectionism. The only country to escape this trend
was Britain, whose essential strength lay precisely in its preeminence on
the world market. German, American, and French imperialists, as
mentioned, argued that Britains world power position gave the British

20

unfair advantages on international markets, thus limiting their economic

growth.
By the time Benjamin Disraeli ushered in the age of New Imperialism
with his Crystal Palace Speech, Britain was no longer the worlds sole
modern, industrial nation. Pessimists thus inferred that unless Britain
acquired secure colonial markets for its industrial products and secure
sources of raw materials, the other industrial states would seize them
themselves and would precipitate a more rapid decline of British
business, power, and standards of living. The surplus capital was often
more profitably invested overseas, where cheap labour, limited
competition, and abundant raw materials made a greater premium
possible. Another inducement to imperialism, of course, arose from the
demand for raw materials unavailable in Europe, especially copper,
cotton, rubber, tea, and tin, to which European consumers had grown
accustomed and European industry had grown dependent.
The formal control of tropical Africa had strategic implications in an era
of feasible inter-capitalist competition, particularly for Britain, which was
under intense economic and thus political pressure to secure lucrative
markets such as India, China, and Latin America. In Britains case this
process of capitalist diffusion had in many regions led it to acquire
colonies in the interests of commercial security.
The Twentieth Century
By the time of Queen Victorias death in 1901, other nations, including
the United States and Germany, had developed their own industries. The
United Kingdoms comparative economic advantage had lessened, and

20

the ambitions of its rivals had grown. The losses and destruction of World
War I, the depression in its aftermath during the 1930s, and decades of
relatively slow growth eroded the United Kingdoms pre-eminent
international position of the previous century. The Great Depression hit
the nation especially harshly, as it had still not fully recovered from the
war.
In World War II, there was again a great deal of destruction to British
infrastructure, and the years after the war also saw Britain lose almost all
of her remaining colonies as the empire dissolved. In the 1945 general
election, the Labour Party was elected, introducing sweeping reforms of
the British economy. Taxes increased, industries were nationalised, and a
welfare state with national health, pensions, and social security was
created. The next years saw some of the most rapid growth Britain had
ever experienced, recovering from the devastation of the Second World
War and then expanding rapidly past the previous size of the economy.
By the end of the 1960s, this growth began to slow, and by the 1970s
Britain entered a long running period of relative economic depression.
This led to the election of Margaret Thatcher, who cut back on the
governments role in the economy and weakened the power of the trade
unions. The latter decades of the twentieth century have seen an increase
in service-providers and a drop in industry, combined with privatisation
of some sections of the economy. This change has led some to describe
this as a Third Industrial Revolution, though this term is not widely
used.
The New Labour

20

In 1997, the Labour Party swept to power with a huge majority in the
House of Commons. On entering power Tony Blairs Labour Party was
stuck with the former Conservative governments spending plans. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, gained a reputation as the
prudent Chancellor and helped to inspire renewed confidence in
Labours ability to manage the economy. One of the first acts that the new
Labour government embarked on was to give the power to set interest
rates to the Bank of England, effectively ending the use of interest rates
as a political tool. Labour also introduced the minimum wage to the
United Kingdom, which has been raised from time to time since its
introduction. The Blair government also introduced a number of
strategies to cut unemployment. Unemployment fell back to the level it
was in the late 1970s, although it still remained significantly higher than
it was during the post-war era and the 1960s.
The Twenty-First Century
In the Labour Partys second term in office, beginning in 2001, the party
increased taxes and borrowing. The government wanted the money to
increase spending on public services, notably the National Health
Service, which they claimed was suffering from chronic under-funding.
Growth rates have consistently been between 2% and 3% since the year
2000 and inflation has levelled off at around 2%. The Bank of Englands
control of interest rates has been a major factor in the stability of the
British economy in recent years. The pound has continued to fluctuate
however, reaching a low against the dollar in 2001 (to a rate of $1.37 per
1), but rising again to a rate of approximately $2 per 1 in 2007. Against
the Euro, the pound has become steady at a rate of approximately 1.45
per 1.

20

The Economy of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has a mixed economy, which has been ranked fifth
largest in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the sixth
largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It is considered the second
largest economy in Europe after Germanys. Its GDP per capita in 2007
was the 22nd highest in the world. The United Kingdom is one of the
worlds most globalised countries. The capital, London, is the major
financial centre of the world, in front of New York City, Hong Kong and
Singapore according to a report compiled by the City of London.
The British economy is made up (in descending order of size) of the
economies of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK
became a member state of the European Community in 1973 and ratified
the Maastricht Treaty making it a European Union state, at the start of the
EU in 1993. In the 1980s, under the Government of Margaret Thatcher,
most state-owned enterprises in the industrial and service sectors, which
since the 1940s had been nationalised, were privatised. The British
Government now owns very few industries or businessesthe Royal
Mail is one example.
Following the end of World War II, despite a largely prosperous period in
the 1950s and 1960s, the British economy recorded weaker growth than
other European nations and by the 1970s was referred to as the sick man
of Europe. However, the 1980s saw a new economic boom and in recent
years Britain has seen the longest period of sustained economic growth

20

for more than 150 years, having grown in every quarter since 1992. It is
one of the strongest EU economies in terms of inflation, interest rates and
unemployment, all of which remain relatively low. The United Kingdom,
according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2007 had the ninth
highest level of GDP per capita in the European Union in terms of
purchasing power parity, after Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands,
Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and Finland.
During August 2008 the IMF has warned that the UK economic outlook
has worsened due to a twin shock: financial turmoil as well as rising
commodity prices. Both developments harm the UK more than most
developed countries, as the UK obtains revenue from exporting financial
services while recording deficits in finished goods and commodities,
including food. The UK has the worlds third largest current account
deficit, despite significant oil revenues. This is mainly the result of a large
deficit in the trade in manufacture goods. During May 2008, the IMF
advised the UK government to broaden the scope of fiscal policy to
promote external balance. Although the UKs labour productivity per
person employed has been progressing well over the last two decades
and has overtaken productivity in the united Germany, it lags around 20%
behind Frances level, where workers have a 35-hour working week. The
UKs labour productivity per hour worked is currently on a par with the
average for the old EU (15 countries).
Economic Branches
Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European
standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 2% of the
labour force. It contributes around 2% of GDP. Around two-thirds of the

20

production is devoted to livestock, and one-third to arable crops. The

main crops that are grown are wheat, barley, oats, oilseed rape, maize for
animal feeds, potatoes and sugar beet. New crops are also emerging, such
as linseed for oil and hemp for fibre production. The main livestock
which are raised are cattle, chickens (the UK is the second largest poultry
producer in Europe after France) and sheep. Agriculture is subsidised by
the European Unions Common Agricultural Policy. The UK retains a
significant, although vastly reduced, fishing industry. Its fleets bring
home fish ranging from sole to herring. Kingston upon Hull, Grimsby,
Fleetwood, Great Yarmouth, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, and Lowestoft are
among the coastal towns that have fishing industries.
In 2003, the manufacturing industry accounted for 16% of national
output in the UK and for 13% of employment, according to the Office for
National Statistics. This is a continuation of the steady decline in the
importance of this sector to the British economy since the 1960s,
although the sector is still important for overseas trade, accounting for
83% of exports in 2003. The regions with the highest proportion of
employees in manufacturing were the East Midlands and West Midlands
(at 19 and 18% respectively). London had the lowest at 6%.
Although the manufacturing sectors share of both employment and the
UKs GDP has steadily fallen since the 1960s, data from the OECD
shows that manufacturing output in terms of both production and value
has steadily increased since 1945. This is a trend common in many
mature Western economies. Heavy industry, employing many thousands
of people and producing large volumes of low-value goods (such as
steelmaking) has either become highly efficient (producing the same
amount of output from fewer manufacturing sites employing fewer

20

people) or has been replaced by smaller industrial units producing highvalue goods (such as the aerospace and electronics industries).
Engineering and allied industries comprise the single largest sector,
contributing 30.8% of total output in manufacturing in 2003. Within this
sector, transport equipment was the largest contributor, with 8 global car
manufacturers being present in the UKBMW (MINI, Rolls-Royce),
Tata (Jaguar-Land Rover), General Motors (Vauxhall Motors), Honda,
Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen (Bentley) with a number of smaller,
specialist manufacturers (including Lotus and Morgan) and commercial
vehicle manufacturers also being present. The British motor industry also
comprises numerous components for the sector, such as Fords diesel
engine plant in Dagenham, which produces half of Fords diesel engines
globally.
A range of companies like Brush Traction and Hunslet manufacture
railway locomotives and other related components. Associated with this
sector are the aerospace and defence equipment industries. The UK
manufactures a broad range of equipment, with the sector being
dominated by BAE Systems (which manufactures civil and defence
aerospace, land and marine equipment) VT Group (one of the worlds
largest builders of warships), GKN and Rolls Royce who manufacture
aerospace

engines

and

power

generation

systems.

Commercial

shipbuilders include Harland and Wolff, Cammell Laird, Abels, Barclay

Curle and Appledore. Companies such as Fairline Boats and Sunseeker
are major builders of private motor yachts.
Another important component of Engineering and allied industries is
electronics, audio and optical equipment, with the UK having a broad

20

base of domestic firms, alongside a number of foreign firms

manufacturing a wide range of TV, radio and communications products,
scientific and optical instruments, electrical machinery and office
machinery and computers.
Chemicals and chemical-based products are another important
contributor to the UKs manufacturing base. Within this sector, the
pharmaceutical industry is particularly successful, with the worlds
second and third largest pharmaceutical firms (GlaxoSmithKline and
AstraZeneca respectively) being based in the UK and having major
research and development and manufacturing facilities there.
Other important sectors of the manufacturing industry include food,
drink, tobacco, paper, printing, publishing and textiles. The UK is also
home to three of the worlds biggest brewing companies: Diageo,
SABMiller and Scottish and Newcastle, other major manufacturing
companies such as Unilever, Cadbury Schweppes, Tate & Lyle, British
American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco, EMAP, Harper Collins, Reed
Elsevier, Ben Sherman, Burberry, French Connection, Reebok, Pentland
Group and Umbro being amongst the largest present.
London is the worlds largest financial centre, with financial services
based around two districts: the City of London and the Docklands
(particularly around Canary Wharf). The City houses the London Stock
Exchange (shares and bonds), London Metal Exchange (Base Metal and
Plastic futures), Lloyds of London (insurance), and the Bank of England.
The Docklands began development in the 1980s and is now home to the
Financial Services Authority, as well as several important financial
institutions (such as Barclays Bank, Citigroup and HSBC). There are now

20

over 500 banks with offices in the City and Docklands, with the majority
of business in London being conducted on an international basis, with
established leads in areas such as Eurobonds, Foreign exchange markets,
energy futures and global insurance. The United Kingdom had 21bn of
financial exports in 2005, contributing significantly towards the Balance
of Payments. The UK has had an expanding export business in financial
service, which has been influenced by a mixture of unique institutions,
light regulation, and a highly skilled workforce.
Edinburgh also has a long established financial industry, the fifth largest
financial centre in Europe, with many large firms based there, including
the Royal Bank of Scotland (the second largest bank in Europe), HBOS
(owners of the Bank of Scotland) and Standard Life Insurance. Several of
the major English cities have large financial sectors and related services,
notably the Leeds city region which is home to several large banks and
building societies. Manchester also has a large financial sector, including
the Co-Operative Financial Services, who run the most successful ethical
fund in the UK and are the only major unit managers outside of London
and Edinburgh. Manchester also has the largest professional services
sector outside the South East, particularly legal activities.
The UK property market has been booming for the past seven years and
in some areas property has trebled in value over that period. The increase
in property prices has a number of causessustained economic growth,
an expansion in household numbers (including high immigration into
certain regions), low interest rates, the growth in property investment, and
restriction in the supply of new housing (through planning restrictions).

20

Until relatively recently there was debate over whether or not the UK
should abolish its currency Pound Sterling and join the Euro. The former
British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, pledged at the time to hold a
public referendum based on certain tests he set as Chancellor of the
Exchequer. When assessing the tests, Gordon Brown concluded that
while the decision was close, the United Kingdom should not yet join the
Euro. In particular, he cited fluctuations in house prices as a barrier to
immediate entry. Public opinion polls have shown that a majority of
Britons have been opposed to joining the single currency for some
considerable time and this position has now hardened further. The
Conservatives, as the main ruling party, are opposed to membership.
Taxation in the United Kingdom may involve payments to at least two
different levels of government: local government and central government
(HM Revenue & Customs). Local government is financed by grants from
central government funds, business rates, council tax and increasingly
from fees and charges such as those from on-street parking. Central
government revenues are mainly income tax, national insurance
contributions, value added tax, corporation tax and fuel duty. In 2002 the
percentage of population living below the Poverty Line (household
income below 60% of median income) stood at 17%. This has fallen
steadily over recent years to a low of 14% in 2006 the last year for which
figures were available at the time of writing.

21

British Media
The British watch a lot of TV, they are the worlds most dedicated homevideo users, but they have not given up reading either: they are the
worlds third biggest newspaper buyers (after the Japanese and the
Swedes).
Print Media
Newspaper publication is dominated by the national press. Nearly 80% of
all the households buy a copy of one of the main national papers every
day. The circulation of more than eighty local and regional daily papers is
much less than the circulation of the national dailies. There are also
non-national papers with significant circulation, but they are published in
the evening when they do not compete with the national papers. Since
most local newspapers do not appear on Sunday, the dominance of the
national press is absolute: the Sunday papers are actually sisters of the
most important dailies, but with separate editors and journalists. The
morning newspaper is in Britain a household institution. Before the early
1990s, the newsagents were the only shops allowed to open on Sundays,
because people could not be deprived of the pleasure of reading the news
even for one day. The Sunday papers sell slightly more copies than the
dailies and are thicker (six or more sections making up well over two
hundred pages). The morning paper round is organised by most
newsagents and half the countrys readers get their paper delivered to
their door by teenagers who earn a bit of extra money. Scotland is an

211

exception to the dominance of the national press. Here, one paper, The
Sunday Post, sells over a million copies. Scotland on Sunday, another
weekly, also has a large circulation. The Glasgow Herald and The
Scotsman are Scotland only quality papers, while The Daily Record is
the sister paper of the London Daily Mirror, a tabloid.
Because in Britain political parties are essentially parliamentary
organisations, none of them actually owns or sponsors any of the
newspapers, turning them into their own organ. Papers are obviously all
in favour of one or the other of the political parties, but none of them
would ever use we or us to refer to a certain party. In fact, most
papers lean towards the right of the political spectrum, not because most
people support the right, but because their owners usually support the
Conservative party. Most people only buy the papers for sport and human
interest stories and are not interested in the political coverage. The
newspaper publishers are mainly interested in making money. They put
selling copies ahead of political integrity.
Newspapers are traditionally categorised into two types in the United
Kingdom. Broadsheets which are larger in size and are seen as being
more intellectual and upmarket (designed for high-income consumers)
and tabloids which are smaller in size and seen as being more
downmarket than broadsheets, containing more stories about celebrities
or gossip. However, some broadsheet papers, such as The Times and The
Independent have recently switched to a smaller size, preferring to call
themselves compact rather than be stigmatised by the tabloid label. A
bewildering range of magazines are sold in the UK covering most
interests and potential topics. Famous examples include Private Eye,
Hello!, The Spectator, the Radio Times and NME (New Musical Express).

21

The British press is controlled by a small number of large multinational

companies. As a result, it is free from the governments interference. The
press is so powerful that it is sometimes called the fourth estate (the
other three being the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the
monarch). The general feeling is that freedom of speech is a basic
constitutional right. For instance, during the Second World War, the
Cabinet tried to ban The Daily Mirror temporarily because it criticised the
government. But the Labour party, which formed the government
coalition with the Conservatives, demanded a debate and all the other
papers, most of them opposed to the Mirror, leapt to its defence, so the
ban was not enforced.
Another result of the multinational control of the press is its shallowness.
It is one of the lowest presses in Europe: apart from sport the tabloids
deal with little else than stories about the private lives of famous people.
Sometimes their stories are not articles at all, just excuses to show
pictures of almost naked women. During the 1980s The Sun became
infamous in this respect by publishing on its third page such photographs,
hence these women were called page three girls. Sometimes even
broadsheets can look rather popular: for example, The Sunday Times
treated the Prince Charles and Princess Diana affair in this way. The
attitude of the tabloids has generated the debate over restricting the
freedom of the press. Complaints regarding invasions of privacy are dealt
with by the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), which is, interestingly
enough, made up of the journalists themselves. They have been able, so
far, to oppose to the right to privacy the concept of the publics right to
know. The British press is so frivolous because people buy it to entertain

21

themselves. British adults never read comics, so the press must fulfill the
need for very simple reading with a lot of pictures.

History of Newspapers
Origins
Regular newspaper publication dates from the mid seventeenth century. It
was earlier believed that the reckless reporting of news might endanger
the Crown and the country. A limit was placed on the printing of news
other than of events abroad, natural disasters, royal declarations and
crimes. There were weekly corantos (or couriers) published from the
1620s containing these kinds of news. Publication grew following the
general relaxation after the ending of the Star Chamber in 1641.
During the Civil War there were regular news-sheets and then newsbooks
carrying general information along with propaganda. Following the
Restoration there arose a number of publications including the London
Gazette (first published on November 16, 1665 as the Oxford Gazette),
the first official journal of record and the newspaper of the Crown.
Publication was controlled under the Licensing Act of 1662, but the Acts
lapse from 1679-1685 and then its abolition in 1694 encouraged a number
of new titles. There were twelve London newspapers (the Daily Courant
was the first London newspaper) and 24 provincial papers by the 1720s
and by the early nineteenth century there were 52 London papers and
over 100 other titles.
Nineteenth Century

21

As stamp, paper and other duties were progressively reduced from the
1830s onwards (and all duties on newspapers were gone by 1855) there
was a massive growth in overall circulation as major events and improved
communications developed the publics need for information. The Daily
Universal Register began life in 1785 and was later to become known as
The Times from 1788. This was the most significant newspaper of the
first half of the nineteenth century, but from around 1860 there were a
number of more strongly competitive titles, each differentiated by its
political biases and interests. The Manchester Guardian was founded in
Manchester in 1821 by a group of non-conformist businessmen. Its most
famous editor, Charles Prestwich Scott, made the Manchester Guardian
into a world-famous newspaper in the 1890s. It is now called The
Guardian.
The Chartist Northern Star, first published on May 26, 1838, was a
pioneer of popular journalism but was very closely linked to the fortunes
of the movement and was out of business by 1852. At the same time there
was the establishment of more specialized periodicals and the first cheap
newspaper was the Daily Telegraph and Courier (1855), later to be
known simply as the Daily Telegraph. The period from 1860 until around
1910 is considered a golden age of newspaper publication, with
technical advances in printing and communication combined with a
professionalisation of journalism and the prominence of new owners.
Newspapers became more partisan and there was the rise of new or
yellow journalism (sensationalist journalism, from the yellow ink used to
print cartoons in the New York World). Socialist and labour newspapers
also proliferated and in 1912 the Daily Herald was launched as the first
daily newspaper of the trade union and labour movement.

21

Twentieth Century
World War I saw the rise of the press barons initially the Harmsworth
Brothers (later Viscounts Northcliffe and Rothermere) and the Berry
Brothers. A trend continued between the wars when they were joined by
Max Aitken (later Lord Beaverbrook) and the newspaper industry took on
an appearance similar to todays. The post-war period was marked by the
emergence of tabloid newspapers (or red tops), notably with Cecil
Harmsworth King and his International Publishing Corporation. In the
1980s the powerful print trade unions were challenged and production
moved away from Fleet Street, marked by the successes of Rupert
Murdoch and The Sun in the 1980s and 1990s. Currently circulation is in
a slow but steady decline but still comparatively high.
Outstanding Newspapers Today
The Herald (Glasgow)
Type: Daily newspaper;
Format: Broadsheet;
Owner: Newsquest;
Editor: Charles McGhee;
Founded: 1783;
Circulation: 71,000;
Headquarters: 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow.

21

The Herald is a national broadsheet newspaper published Monday to

Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland, with an audited circulation of 71,000,
making it the best-selling national Scottish broadsheet newspaper. The
paper is one of the worlds oldest continuously-published Englishlanguage newspapers, first published in 1783 as the Glasgow Advertiser.
In 1802 it became the Herald and Advertiser, changing to Glasgow
Herald in 1805. It became a daily in 1859. The paper became The Herald
on 3 February 1992. A partner Sunday paper, the Sunday Herald, was
launched in 1999.
The Times
Type: Daily newspaper;
Format: Compact;
Owner: Times Newspapers Ltd;
Founded: 1785;
Political allegiance: Centre-right;
Circulation: 692,581 (2005);
Headquarters: Wapping, London.

The Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom

since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. Together
with its sister paper The Sunday Times it is published by Times
Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of News International. News
International is entirely owned by the News Corporation group, headed
by Rupert Murdoch. Though traditionally a moderately centre-right
newspaper and a supporter of the Conservatives, it supported the Labour

21

party in the 2001 and 2005 general elections. The Times is the original
Times newspaper, lending its name to many other papers around the
world, such as The New York Times, The Times of India, and The Irish
Times. It is the originator of the ubiquitous Times Roman typeface,
originally developed by Stanley Morison of The Times in collaboration
with the Monotype Corporation for its legibility in low-tech printing. The
newspaper was printed in broadsheet format for 200 years, but switched
to compact size in 2004 in an attempt to appeal to younger readers. In
May 2006, it announced plans to launch a United States edition, which
began publishing on June 6, 2006. In November 2006 The Times began
printing headlines in its new font, Times Modern. Although The Times
and The Sunday Times are both owned by News International, a
subsidiary of Rupert Murdochs Newscorp, they do not share editorial
staff and were founded independently. The titles have only shared the
same owner since 1967. The Times used contributions from significant
figures in the fields of politics, science, literature, and the arts to build its
reputation. Keith Rupert Murdoch (born 11 March 1931) is an Australianborn United States citizen who is a global media executive and is the
controlling shareholder, chairman and managing director of News
Corporation, based in New York.
The Observer
Type: Weekly newspaper;
Format: ex-Broadsheet, Berliner (midi, slightly larger than a tabloid);
Owner: Guardian Media Group;
Founded: 1791;
Political allegiance: Centre left;
Circulation: 440,320;

21

Headquarters: Farringdon, London.

The Observer is a United Kingdom newspaper published on Sundays.
Overall slightly to the right of its daily sister paper The Guardian, it takes
a liberal/social democratic line on most issues. The first issue, published
on 4 December 1791, was the worlds first Sunday newspaper. Each issue
comes with a different free monthly magazine focusing, in rotation, on
Sport, Music, Women and Food. These magazines have the titles
Observer Sport Monthly, Observer Music Monthly, Observer Woman
Monthly and Observer Food Monthly. In addition to the rotating
magazines there is the Observer Magazine which is present every Sunday.
The Observer has been named national newspaper of the year at the
British Press Awards 2007.
The Guardian
Type: Daily newspaper;
Format: Berliner;
Owner: Guardian Media Group;
Founded: 1821;
Political allegiance; Centre-left;
Circulation: 355,750 (2007);
Headquarters: 119 Farringdon Road, London.
The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media
Group. It is published Monday to Saturday in the Berliner format. Until
1959 it was called The Manchester Guardian, which reflected its origins.
The paper is rarely still referred to by this name. The newspapers main
offices and printing centres are located in London and Manchester. The

21

Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest

of four newspapers. It contains articles from The Guardian and its
Sunday paper, The Observer, as well as reports, features and book
reviews from The Washington Post and articles translated from Frances
Le Monde. Editorial articles in The Guardian are generally in sympathy
with the middle-ground liberal to left-wing end of the political spectrum.
The Guardian was the only British national newspaper to publish in full
colour (although the edition printed in Northern Ireland still had much
black-and-white content; it was also the first newspaper in the UK to be
printed on the Berliner size. It has been awarded the National Newspaper
of the Year in 1999 and 2006 by the British Press Awards, as well as
being co-winner of the Worlds Best-designed Newspaper as awarded by
the Society for News Design (2006).
The Daily Telegraph
Type: Daily newspaper;
Format: Broadsheet;
Owner: Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay;
Founded: 1855;
Political allegiance: Conservative;
Circulation: 901,238 (2006);
Headquarters: 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London.
The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in 1855.
It is one of the few remaining daily newspapers printed in the Broadsheet
format in the United Kingdom, as most other broadsheet publications
have converted to the smaller tabloid/compact or Berliner formats. Its
sister paper, The Sunday Telegraph, was founded in 1961. In November

22

2006, the Telegraph was the highest selling British broadsheet, with a
certified average daily circulation of 901,238. The Daily Telegraph is
traditionally politically Conservative. The personal links between the
papers editors and the leadership of the Conservative Party, along with
the papers influence over Conservative activists, results in the paper
often being jokingly referred to, especially in the Private Eye, as the
Torygraph. In addition it has also dubbed the Telegraph The Daily
Hurleygraph for their frequent printing of the pictures of Liz Hurley and
other notable attractive women, or as the Maily Telegraph and Daily
Mailograph for the Eyes opinion that the newspaper sometimes focuses
on issues traditionally seen as the preserve of the Daily Mail. Also, The
Daily Telegraph has erroneously published at least four premature
obituaries. Various notable people have had their death announced in
error. The Daily Telegraph is nonetheless noted for the humour and
quality of writing of many of its obituaries. On Wednesday 24 February
1988, The Daily Telegraph was printed with the wrong date: Thursday 25
February was printed by mistake. This caused complaints from confused
readers, but also inspired the first front page cartoon by Matt, who now
has a cartoon on the front page of the Telegraph almost every day. The
cartoon had the caption: I hope I have a better Thursday than I did
yesterday.
Financial Times
Type: Daily newspaper;
Format: Broadsheet;
Owner: Pearson PLC;
Founded: 1888;
Political allegiance: Liberal;

22

Circulation: 448,241international, 133,665UK (2008);

Headquarters: One Southwark Bridge London.
The Financial Times (FT) is a British international business newspaper. In
the UK, it is a morning daily newspaper published in London that has had
a strong influence on the financial policies of the British government. It is
known as one of the UKs superior daily newspapers. The periodical is
printed in 23 cities. Founded in 1888 it has specialized in reporting
business and financial news while maintaining an independent editorial
outlook. On occasion it has attacked the financial policies of the British
government. Circulation of the FT is said to be one of the worlds highest
among financial newspapers, second only to that of The Wall Street
Journal. Printed as a broadsheet on distinctive light salmon pink paper,
the FT is the only paper in the UK providing full daily reports on the
London Stock Exchange and world markets. The FT was launched as the
London Financial Guide on January 9, 1888, by Horatio Bottomley,
renaming itself the Financial Times on February 13 of the same year.
Describing itself as the friend of The Honest Financier and the
Respectable Broker, it was initially published as a four page journal
from its headquarters in London. The initial readership was the financial
community of the City of London. The Financial Times soon established
itself as the sober but reliable stockbrokers Bible or alternatively
parish magazine of the City. Over the years, the newspaper grew in
size, readership and breadth of coverage. It also established a network of
correspondents in major cities around the world, reflecting early moves in
the world economy towards globalisation.
The Evening Standard

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Type: Daily newspaper;

Format: Tabloid;
Owner: Daily Mail and General Trust;
Founded: 1827;
Political allegiance: Right-Wing;
Circulation: 289,254 (2006);
Headquarters: Northcliffe House, Derry Street, Kensington.
The Evening Standard is a British tabloid newspaper published and sold
in London and surrounding areas of southeast England. It is technically a
local or regional paper, although it carries considerable influence,
owing to Londons size and importance. It is dominant as a London daily
paper, with a strong city emphasis as well as carrying national and
international news. The paper was launched as The Standard on May 21,
1827, and for a short period, during the 1990s, it reverted to its original
name (some other local newspapers in the UK have also been named
Evening Standard). In the beginning of the twentieth century the paper
was owned by Canadian tycoon Lord Beaverbrook, who also owned the
Daily Express. The Evening Standard covers national and international
news, with an emphasis on London-centred news (especially in its
features pages), covering building developments, property prices, traffic
schemes, politics, the congestion charge and, in the Londoners Diary
page, gossip on the social scene. It also occasionally runs campaigns
centred around local issues that larger national newspapers do not cover
in long detail. It has a tradition of providing quality arts coverage. Its
headline writers have been accused of having a doom-and-gloom
agenda. It publishes four editions each day, from Monday to Friday
excluding Bank holidays.

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News of the World

Type: Weekly newspaper;
Format: Tabloid;
Owner: News Group Newspapers;
Founded: 1843; ceased publication: 2011;
Political allegiance: Right-Wing;
Circulation: 3,445,459 (2006);
Headquarters: Wapping, London.
The News of the World was a British tabloid newspaper published every
Sunday. It ended its publication on 10 July 2011 after a phone-hacking
scandal when its editor was arrested. It was published by News Group
Newspapers of News International, itself a subsidiary of Rupert
Murdochs News Corporation, and could be considered the Sunday
equivalent of The Sun. The newspaper tended to concentrate on lighterweight news stories, such as celebrity gossip. Its fondness for sex
scandals gained it the nicknames Sexn Scandal weekly, News of the
Screws and Screws of the World. It was Britains biggest selling
newspaper, selling an average of 3,445,459 copies per week in October
2006. The newspaper was first published on October 1, 1843, in London
by John Browne Bell. It was the cheapest newspaper of its time and was
aimed directly at the newly literate working classes. It quickly established
itself as a purveyor of titillation, shock and criminal news. Despite being
dismissed as a scandal sheet it soon established itself as the most
widely read Sunday paper. Countless libel actions were brought against
the News of the World.
Daily Mail

22

Type: Daily newspaper;

Format: Tabloid;
Owner: Daily Mail and General Trust;
Founded: 1896;
Political allegiance: Conservative/Right-Wing;
Circulation: 2,353,807 (2007);
Headquarters: 2 Northcliffe House, London.
The Daily Mail is a British newspaper, currently published in a tabloid
format. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is Britains second
biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper, The Mail
on Sunday was launched in 1982. An Irish version of the paper was
launched on 6 February 2006. The Daily Mail was Britains first daily
newspaper aimed at what is now considered the middle-market and the
first to sell 1 million copies a day. The Mail was originally a broadsheet,
but switched to its current compact format on 3 May 1971, the 75 th
anniversary of its founding. The Daily Mail, devised by Alfred
Harmsworth (later Lord Northcliffe) and his brother Harold (later Lord
Rothermere), was first published on 4 May 1896 and was an immediate
success. It cost a halfpenny at a time when other London dailies cost one
penny, and was more populist in tone and more concise in its coverage
than its rivals. The Daily Mail considers itself to be the voice of Middle
England speaking up for small c conservative values against what it
sees as a liberal establishment. It generally takes an anti-EU, anti-mass
immigration, anti-abortion view, based around what it describes as
traditional values, and is correspondingly pro-family, pro-capitalism
(though not always supportive of its aftereffects), and pro-monarchy, as

22

well as, in some cases, advocating stricter punishments for crime. It also
often calls for lower levels of taxation.

The Daily Express

Type: Daily newspaper;
Format: Tabloid;
Owner: Richard Desmond;
Publisher: Northern and Shell Media;
Founded: 1900;
Political allegiance: Conservative/Right-Wing;
Circulation: 761,637 (2007);
Headquarters: 10 Lower Thames Street, London.
The Daily Express is a conservative, middle-market British tabloid
newspaper. It is the flagship title of Express Newspapers and is currently
owned by Richard Desmond. As of February 2007, it has a circulation of
761,637. Express Newspapers also publishes the Sunday Express
(launched in 1918), Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday. The Daily Express
was founded in 1900 by Cyril Arthur Pearson, publisher of Pearsons
Own and other titles. Pearson sold the title after losing his sight and it was
bought in 1916 by the future Lord Beaverbrook. It was one of the first
papers to carry gossip, sports, and womens features, and the first
newspaper in Britain to have a crossword. The arrival of television and
the publics changing interests took their toll on circulation, and
following Beaverbrooks death in 1964, the papers circulation declined
for several years. The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid
in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in

22

the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was

renamed Express Newspapers. Express Newspapers was sold to publisher
Richard Desmond in 2000, by which time the names had reverted to
Daily Express and Sunday Express. In 2004 the newspaper moved to its
present location on Lower Thames Street in the City of London. In 2000,
it was bought by Richard Desmond, publisher of a range of magazines
including the celebrity magazine OK! Controversy surrounded the
acquisition because, at the time, Desmond also owned a selection of
pornographic magazines (which led to him being nicknamed Dirty Des
by Private Eye). The Daily Express has for many years been a rival of the
Daily Mail, and each frequently attacks the others journalistic integrity.
It also has a reputation for consistently printing conspiracy theories based
on the death of Princess Diana as front page news, earning it the
nickname, the Daily Ex-Princess; this is often satirised in Private Eye,
the newspaper being labelled the Diana Express or the Dily Express,
possibly due to Desmonds close friendship with regular Eye target
Mohamed Fayed.
The Daily Mirror
Type: Daily newspaper;
Format: Tabloid;
Owner: Robert Maxwell;
Publisher: Trinity Mirror;
Founded: 1903;
Political allegiance: Left of centre;
Circulation: 1,419,335 (2008).

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The Daily Mirror is a popular British tabloid daily newspaper. For a

period during the 1990s it was renamed The Mirror, but reverted to its
original name in 2002. The newspaper was launched in 1903 by Alfred
Harmsworth as a newspaper for women. However, in this format it was
unsuccessful and he quickly changed the focus and added pictures and
photographs. This improved the circulation dramatically. The paper was
later owned by Harold Harmsworth and Lord Rothermere, it was bought
by Robert Maxwell in 1984, and is now owned by Trinity Mirror. During
the 1990s the paper was accused of dumbing-down (rewriting for a less
intelligent audience) in an attempt to poach readers from Rupert
Murdochs Sun, although judging by their relative sales figures this was
unsuccessful. Also in 2002 the Mirror changed its logo from red to black
(attempting to dissociate the paper from the term red top, meaning a
sensationalist mass-market tabloid) and it has made efforts to concentrate
on solid journalism rather than celebrity scandalsnot always
successfully. It takes a left-of-centre editorial line. It was the only tabloid
newspaper in the UK to be hostile to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In May
2004, it published what it claimed were photos of British soldiers abusing
Iraqi prisoners. The decision to publish the photos, later proved to be
fake, led to the sacking of the editor.
The Sun
Type: Daily newspaper;
Format: Tabloid;
Owner: News International;
Founded: 1964;
Political allegiance: Right-wing and Populist;
Circulation: 3,126,866 (2007);

22

Headquarters: Wapping, London.

The Sun is a tabloid daily newspaper published in the United Kingdom

and the Republic of Ireland with the highest circulation of any daily
English-language newspaper in the world, standing at 3,126,866 copies
daily in October 2007 and with a daily readership of 7,909,000. It is
published by News Group Newspapers of News International, itself a
subsidiary of Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. The Sun was
launched in 1964 as a replacement for the Daily Herald, of which Mirror
Group had acquired 51 per cent ownership when it took over Odhams
Press in 1961. It was a broadsheet with a logo featuring an orange disc.
The Sun was launched as a rival to The Daily Mirror, which it copied in
several ways. It was the same size and its masthead had the name in white
on a red rectangle of the same colour as the Daily Mirror. The front page
had the same general style and it could easily be picked up by mistake. It
rapidly overtook the Mirror in sales to become the fastest growing daily.
From the start, sex was used as an important element in marketing the
paper. While the Daily Mirror frequently featured a pin-up photograph of
a young woman in bikini or lingerie, ostensibly as a fashion item, The
Sun dispensed with the excuses. It featured what were openly glamour
photographs of women, with fewer clothes than their Mirror counterparts.
After a year, this would eventually become the regular topless picture
known as the Page Three Girl.
The Sun was a very strong supporter of Margaret Thatcher and her
policies, and maintained its support for the Conservatives when Thatcher
was succeeded by John Major in 1990. But it switched support to Labour
in March 1997 when the General Election saw Labour leader Tony Blair

22

become Prime Minister. Since then it has supported Labour in each of the
subsequent three elections, despite criticising some of their policies. The
Sun relies on stories about the entertainment industry, gossip concerning
the British monarchy, and sports, as well as news and politics for its
content, with many items revolving around celebrities. Its serious news
stories frequently focus on themes of immigration, security scandals,
domestic abuse and paedophiles.
Broadcasting Media
Television
The United Kingdom has an extremely diverse media with an almost
unrivalled number of outlets, second only to the United States. Analogue
terrestrial television in the United Kingdom is made up of two chartered
public broadcasting companies, the BBC and Channel 4 and two
franchised commercial television companies, (ITV and Five). There are
five major free-to-air analogue networks: BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1,
Channel 4 and Five.
The BBC is funded by public money coming from a television licence fee
gathered from all UK households with a television set. This fee is legally
compulsory and failure to pay it is punishable by prosecution, resulting in
a fine or imprisonment. There are exceptions to paying, for homes with a
pensioner (person over 65 years old). It is currently set at 135.50 and
may vary. The fee chargeable is limited by the government and regulatory
authorities. The BBC provides two analogue networks, BBC One
(consisting of a network of local BBC stations) and BBC Two. Channel 4
is similarly chartered to the BBC, with the goal to provide public service

23

broadcasting and school programmes. However it runs commercial

advertisements to provide a revenue stream. It produces a single analogue
network, currently branded as 4.
The commercial operators rely on advertising for their revenue, and are
run as commercial ventures, in contrast to the public service operators.
The ITV franchise transmits one analogue network known as ITV1
(consisting of a network of local ITV stations) and Five transmits one
analogue network also. All the major analogue broadcasters provide
additional networks on the free-to-air Freeview digital television service,
and all of these channels can be accessed via a cable or satellite provider,
such as Virgin Media or BSkyB. Freesat, a satellite-based free-to-air
service similar to Freeview, has been reported to be planned by a
consortium led by the BBC.
Radio
There are many hundreds of radio stations in the United Kingdom, the
most prominent of which are the national networks operated by the BBC.
Recent advances in digital radio technology have enabled the launch of
several new stations by the Corporation.

BBC Radio 1 broadcasts pop music output on FM and digital radio,

with live music throughout the year;

BBC Radio 2 is the UKs most listened to radio station, featuring

presenters Terry Wogan and Jonathan Ross, with a mix of music
from the last thirty years;

23

BBC Radio 3 is a serious classical station, broadcasting highquality concerts and performances. At night, it transmits a wide
range of jazz and world music;

BBC Radio 4 is a current affairs and speech station, with news,

debate and radio drama: it broadcasts the daily radio soap The
Archers, as well as flagship news programme Today;

BBC Radio Five Live broadcasts live news and sports commentary
with phone-in debates and studio guests;

BBC 6 Music transmits predominantly alternative rock, with many

live sessions;

BBC 1Xtra broadcasts rap, RnB and drumnbass;

BBC 7 uses the BBCs large archive of speech programming to

broadcast classic comedy and drama, mainly originally from Radio
4.

The BBC also provides 40 local radio services, mainly broadcasting a

mix of local news and music aimed at an older audience.
Also available nationally are three national commercial channels, namely
Virgin Radio, Classic FM and talkSPORT. As with the BBC, digital radio
has brought about many changes, including the roll-out of local stations
(particularly those based in London) to a national audience. Examples of
this are Kiss 100 and Xfm. Commercial radio licences are awarded by
government body Ofcom, which advertises a licence for a specific area
and holds a so-called beauty contest to determine which station will be
granted permission to broadcast in that area. Stations submit detailed
application documents containing their proposed format and the outcome
of research to determine the demand for their particular style of
broadcast.

23

Most local commercial stations in the United Kingdom broadcast to a city

or group of towns within a radius of 20-50 miles, with a second tier of
regional stations covering larger areas such as North West England. The
predominant format is pop music, but many other tastes are also catered
for, particularly in London and the larger cities, and on digital radio.
Rather than operating as independent entities, many local radio stations
are owned by large radio groups which broadcast a similar format to
many areas. The largest operator of radio stations is GCap Media with
over 40 local commercial stations, mainly of the smaller variety. It also
owns Classic FM and Londons most popular commercial station, Capital
FM. Other owners are UTV Radio, with stations broadcasting in large
city areas, Global Radio, owner of the major Heart and Galaxy radio
brands and Bauer Radio, holding radio in the North of England. There are
also regional networks, Real Radio and the Century Network,
broadcasting in some main parts of England, Wales and Scotland. Many
of these stations, including all the BBC radio, are also available via
digital television services.

The History of the BBC

Before the BBC
Guglielmo Marconi is credited with the discovery of radio in 1895,
harnessing the achievements of earlier experimenters James Clerk
Maxwell, Sir Oliver Lodge, and Heinrich Hertz. Having failed to win
support in his native Italy, he brought the technology to England where he
was allowed to demonstrate the potential of radio waves as a means of
wireless telegraphic communication. By 1908 sea captains were using

23

wireless signals to transmit Morse code, and in 1914, speech was

transmitted for the first time. The Great War saw further advances.
Commanders could talk to their troops in remote trenches, and even to
aircraft flying overhead.
In 1920 Marconi invited opera star Dame Nellie Melba to perform at his
works in Chelmsford, demonstrating the potential of the wireless for the
purpose of entertainment. The authorities were reluctant to allow the
chaotic radio free-for-all witnessed in America. There, hundreds of radio
stations had been allowed to spring up, often operating on conflicting
frequencies. By 1921 pressure from the public was mounting. The UK
hobbyists wanted their own service. It was also apparent that Government
caution was holding back the British radio manufacturing industry. Thus,
in early 1922, the Post Office agreed first to the creation of experimental
stations such as 2MT (Writtle Chelmsford) and 2LO (London), and then
to the formation of the British Broadcasting company.
The Beginnings
The British Broadcasting Company, as the BBC was originally called,
was formed in October 1922 by a group of leading wireless
manufacturers including the great radio pioneer, Guglielmo Marconi.
Daily broadcasting by the BBC began from Marconis London studio on
November 14. This was followed the next day by broadcasts from
Birmingham and Manchester, and over the following months the
transmitter network spread across the UK. Wireless quickly caught on as
a medium of mass communication. By 1925 the BBC could be heard
throughout most of the UK.

23

The biggest influence on the early BBC was its general manager, John
Reith, a 33-year-old Scottish engineer. The company had been formed
with a commercial missionto sell radio setsbut Reith had a higher
purpose. He envisaged an independent British broadcaster able to
educate, inform and entertain the whole nation, free from political
interference and commercial pressure. Within a year the BBC had
broadcast plays, concerts of popular and classical music, talks and variety
programmes from its first home in Savoy Hill. But the powerful
newspaper industry successfully kept the BBC out of the news business.
Bulletins were prepared by the news agencies, and could only be
broadcast after 7 p.m.so as not to upset newspaper sales.
The General Strike of 1926 brought the BBC its first serious
confrontation with the Government over editorial independence. With no
regular newspapers being published, the country turned to the BBC for its
news. Winston Churchill, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, urged the
Government to take over the BBC, but Reith persuaded Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin that this would be against the national interest. In 1927,
the British Broadcasting Company became the British Broadcasting
Corporation when it was granted its first Royal Charter and John Reith
was knighted.
Developments
The BBC soon outgrew Savoy Hill, and in 1932 it moved into the worlds
first purpose-built radio production centre, Broadcasting House, in
Portland Place. It quickly became a city landmark and was described as
a new Tower of London. Throughout the 1930s, eminent figures,
including writers, performers, actors and artists, were heard in talks,

23

plays, sport and childrens programmes. In the field of classical music,

the BBC Symphony Orchestra was formed, and the first BBC
commission (to composer Gustav Holst) was awarded. Variety, as light
entertainment was called, had millions of listeners, but taste and decency
became an issue early on for the BBC. Comedians overstepped the mark
at their peril, and jokes about religion, drunkenness, and many other
sensitive subjects were banned. In 1932 the BBC broadened its horizons
with the opening of the Empire Service, the forerunner of BBC World
Service. On Christmas Day 1932, King George V gave the first royal
broadcast to the Empire. It was scripted by the author Rudyard Kipling.
Television
Against the instincts of Lord John Reith, who never saw the value of
television, the BBC was asked to test two rival television systems. Thus,
on 2 November 1936 the BBC opened the worlds first regular service of
high-definition television from Alexandra Palace in North London. The
home favourite was the Scottish inventor John Logie Baird, who had
achieved a world first by transmitting a foggy image 11 years earlier. But
his mechanical system proved a non-starter, and after just two months the
US-backed electronic system developed by EMI-Marconi was formally
adopted.
Like radio, the worlds first regular high-definition television service
developed rapidly between 1936 and 1939. Many ambitious outside
broadcasts were made, including King George VIs coronation procession
on May 12, 1937. This small miracle, as the press called it, was seen on
television by only 10,000 people. Other important landmarks include the
first Wimbledon coverage (June 1937) and the first FA Cup Final

23

coverage (April 30, 1938). Before the decade was out, Lord Reith had
stepped down, bored and restless. His last preoccupation, in anticipation
of new hostilities in Europe, had been to set in place arrangements for
wartime broadcasting.
Impact of the Second World War
With the television service closed for the duration, it was radios war and
the BBC nearly lost it in the opening skirmishes. In the early phoney
war millions found Lord Haw-Haw, the German propaganda weapon,
significantly more entertaining than the austere fare of the BBC. Listeners
complained about the new Home Service, which had replaced the
National and Regional programme services, and there were too many
organ recitals and public announcements. As a result the BBC lightened
its tone, with a new emphasis on morale-boosting entertainment.
In 1943, the BBC set up its War Reporting Unit. Its members underwent
rigorous training in military survival techniques and were equipped with a
new, light recording device developed by BBC engineers for use in the
field of action. The BBC war correspondents were able to bring back
near-live war coverage to a nation desperate for news. The BBC emerged
from the war with an enhanced reputation for honesty and accuracy in its
news broadcasts. Half the population regularly listened to the 9 oclock
news. By the end of the war, the BBC was broadcasting in 40 languages.
Josef Goebbels, Hitlers master of propaganda, is said to have admitted
that BBC Radio had won the intellectual invasion of Europe.
The 1950s

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Radio advanced enormously after World War II. In the austerity of

postwar Britain, listeners enthusiastically welcomed having access to the
great classical repertoire in music, drama, literature as well as the
inaugural Lord Reith lecture in 1948. On June 2 1953, a single event
changed the course of television history. An estimated 22 million TV
viewersmany crowded into neighbours living roomssaw the young
Queen crowned. The television age had arrived. The event prompted
many to buy their own sets, and it was evident that television would soon
be as important as radio to UK audiences.
BBC Radio launched a number of historic shows in the 1950s including
The Archers. But the advent of ITV in September 1955 exposed BBC
Television as dull and complacent. As the ITV transmitter network
expanded, the BBC lost viewers at an alarming rate, and its share of the
viewing audience fell to 28% in 1957. However by the end of the decade
the trend had been reversed. In the 1950s the BBC was again in conflict
with the government, as the country staggered on the brink of war in the
Suez Crisis. Again there was talk of the government taking over the BBC
because of what was seen to be an unpatriotic stance, but the BBC kept
its nerve, and emerged with its reputation for independence intact.
There were two major technological breakthroughs this decade. In 1955,
the introduction of VHF (Very High Frequency) transformed sound
broadcasting. It finally allowed listeners to enjoy clear reception,
overcoming problems associated with the cluttering of the long and
medium wavebands. At the end of the decade, electronic video recording
arrived, to transform television production. At last programmes could be
recorded in advance at low cost, and live programmes, with all their
imperfections, became rarer.

23

The 1960s
This decade brought more up-to-date content that reflected the times and
the expectations of audiences whose appetite had been whetted by the
choice offered by ITV. Radio comedy flourished with new programmes.
BBC Television Centre in West London opened in June 1960. In the same
year, an inquiry into the future of television and radio praised public
service broadcasting and authorised the setting up of a second channel,
BBC Two (launched in 1964). Radio 1 began in 1967 following the
banning of pirate radio stations.
From the late 1960s, radio listeners were able to enjoy more programmes
broadcast in the superior sound of FM stereo. In November 1967 the first
BBC local radio station opened in Leicester and within a few years there
were 20 local stations. Colour television broadcasts began on BBC Two
in 1967, followed by BBC One in 1969. Within ten years there would be
12 million colour licences in the UK. The Sixties was also the decade
when the monarchy first went public on television in The Royal Family
(1969) and when England won the World Cup (1966).
The 1970s
This was the golden age of television. Income grew as more and more
homes bought television licences and, more significantly, more switched
to colour. As a result the schedules were able to offer greater depth and
variety. As well as entertaining and informing, the BBC addressed its
educational role. This decade saw the launch of the university of the

23

airwaves, the BBCs collaboration with the Open University. In 1972 the
CEEFAX text service was introduced after engineers developed the
technique of transmitting digital data within analogue signals. Subtitling
of programmes on CEEFAX began in 1979.
Radio had its work cut out with competition from commercial stations
such as LBC and Capital. The BBC responded with the first phone-in
programmes that had a mixed reception, but many listeners welcomed the
opportunity to put questions directly to politicians and celebrities in live
programmes. The BBC faced many challenges from the Government
regarding programme output. The Annan Committee Report of 1977
criticised the BBC for loss of nerve and organisational fog. As a
result of this report, the way was paved for the establishment of Channel
4, an alternative public broadcasting company (1982). The year 1979 saw
the BBC bring together all its commercial activities under BBC
Enterprises Ltd. Now called BBC Worldwide, this commercial arm
returns significant funds back to BBC programming through its sales of
videos, books, audio and magazines.
The 1980s
This was a challenging decade for BBC correspondents who reported in
depth on dramatic and often dangerous events from Northern Ireland,
Tiananmen Square, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. This was the
decade of the Falklands War (1982), the miners strike (1984), the
wedding of the Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer (1981), the arrival
of EastEnders (February 1985), a famous soap opera. It still regularly
attracts over 12 million viewers. Breakfast Television, a new venture for
the BBC began in 1983. Television coverage of the House of Lords began

24

with a six-month experiment in 1985, and four years later cameras were
allowed in the House of Commons for an experimental period. In 1990
the Commons voted in favour of allowing the cameras to stay.
Home video recorders arrived in the 1980s, and gradually changed the
way the nation regarded and used broadcasting. Other advances included
satellite broadcasting. The BBC contemplated satellite, but judged the
risks, and costs, to be too great. It was a decade of competitive and
political pressure on the BBC. Channel 4 went on air in 1982, more
commercial radio stations opened, and satellite television services were
launched.
The 1990s
The arrival of digital technology and the Internet during this decade
marked a new era in broadcasting. For the viewer, digital television
offered more channels and wider interactivity. For the listener, digital
radio provided CD-quality sound and flexibility of service. BBC Online,
an Internet service which did not exist at the beginning of the 1990s, was
one of the leading websites in Europe by the end of 1999. Radio 5, the
first new network for 23 years, opened in August 1990, offering sport and
learning opportunities. The other networks strengthened their identity and
audience focus with stations like Radio 1 undergoing modernisation.
Radio 4 also underwent significant change, appealing to younger
audiences in areas such as comedy and arts.
In the face of growing competition, the BBC sought to offer a range of
programmes that commercially funded broadcasters would not provide.
The nations fascination with its Royal Family was never more evident

24

than in the 90s. Huge audiences watched an interview with Diana,

Princess of Wales, in which she spoke frankly about her crumbling
marriage, and the expressions of grief at her death in 1997 took the BBC
by surprise.
The 2000s
The BBC opened the new millennium with the most ambitious
programme in its history. Hundreds of outside broadcasts across the globe
fed into BBC Television Centre, and a continuous programme lasting 28
hours was beamed back to viewers around the world. The show involved
60 nations, and was seen in over 80 countries worldwide. Following
ITVs decision to drop News at Ten, the BBCs evening bulletin moved
to 10 p.m. After the turn of the millennium, a new enthusiasm for history
programmes was evident. Digital expansion followed with the launch of
BBC Four, Cbeebies, CBBC and BBC Three. Interactive television
kicked off with coverage of Wimbledon 2001 and its success encouraged
increased interactive activity in television programming.
In line with its public service role, the BBC has led the way in
encouraging digital take-up. When the terrestrial Ondigital service ran
into difficulties, the BBC launched Freeview, enabling licence payers to
move to digital without having to pay a subscription. Radio too
celebrated huge successes in The Century Speaks, which presented a vast
oral history of the twentieth century
BBC Today
The BBC is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world. Its mission
is to enrich peoples lives with programmes that inform, educate and

24

entertain. It is a public service broadcaster, established by a Royal Charter

and funded by the licence fee that is paid by UK households. The BBC
uses the income from the licence fee to provide services including 8
national TV channels plus regional programming, 10 national radio
stations, 40 local radio stations and an extensive website. BBC World
Service broadcasts to the world on radio, on TV and online, providing
news and information in 32 languages. It is funded by a government
grant, not from the licence fee.
The BBC has a commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, which operates a
range of businesses including selling programmes around the world and
publishing books, DVDs and merchandise. Its profits are returned to the
BBC for investment in new programming and services. BBCs mission is
to enrich peoples lives with programmes and services that inform,
educate and entertain. Its values are:

the BBC is independent, impartial and honest;

audiences are at the heart of everything it does;

it delivers quality and value for money;

creativity is the lifeblood of this organisation;

the BBC celebrates diversity so that everyone can give their best;

BBC is one great united organisation.

History of ITV
After much debate both in the British Parliament and the British Press,
the Television Act became law in 1954. This Act paved the way for the
establishment of a commercial television service in the UK, creating the
Independent Television Authority (ITA). The ITAs responsibility was to

24

regulate the new service, ensuring that the new service did not follow the
same path taken by American television networks (which were perceived
as vulgar by some commentators). For example, it was made obligatory
that commercials be clearly distinguishable from programmes.
The Independent Television service, so-called because of its
independence from the BBC (which previously had held a monopoly on
broadcasting in the UK), was to be made up of regions, with each region
run by different companies. The three largest regions (London, the
Midlands and the North of England) were subdivided into weekday and
weekend services, with a different company running each. Space for
commercials, shown during and between programmes was always sold on
a region-by-region basis by each ITV company, and not on a nation-wide
basis throughout the United Kingdom. The reason for this seemingly
over-complicated arrangement was to fulfill the 1954 Acts requirement
for competition within the ITV system (as well as against the BBC) and
also to help prevent any individual company obtaining a monopoly on
commercial broadcasting. The ITV companies were required, by the
terms of their licences from the ITA, to provide a local television service
for their particular region, including a daily local news bulletin and
regular local documentaries.
The ITV regions initially broadcast on 405-line VHF. During the 1960s,
some commercial companies proposed the introduction of colour on the
405-line system, but the General Post Office insisted that colour should
wait until the higher-definition 625-line UHF system became standard.
ITV eventually introduced PAL colour on this system from 15 November
1969, simultaneous with BBC1 and two years after BBC2. This did not,
however, spread immediately across the UK; some regions had to wait a

24

few more years before colour was available. Colour was available to
nearly 100% of the UK from 1976, with the Channel Islands being the
last region to be converted. This enabled the 405-line system to be phased
out between 1982 and 1985.
Contracts to run an ITV region are not permanent. Contracts were
renewed by the ITA every few years, but it was not guaranteed that the
incumbent contractor would win an extension; a new company could take
over instead. November 2, 1982 saw the launch of Channel 4, which built
on the ITV network for its funding. The ITV companies sold Channel 4s
airtime until 31 December 1992, after which a funding formula
continued, whereby the ITV companies would subsidise Channel 4 if it
fell into losses. However, it never did, and the funding formula was
withdrawn in 1998. During the period 1982-98, Channel 4 and ITV
would regularly cross-promote each others programming, free of charge.
Whilst this was clearly in everyones interest prior to 1993, after this date
the two channels were effectively competing, and as part of the funding
formula they were required to cross-promote a certain number of primetime programmes each day.
After the Broadcasting Act of 1990, ITN, the news provider for ITV, was
no longer to be exclusively owned by ITV companies. The legal name of
the ITV network was changed to Channel 3, although the network is still
generally referred to as ITV by the general public and the media.
Additionally, Channel 4, which had previously been an independent
subsidiary of the IBA, was now to become a Government-owned
corporation, patterned after the BBC. It would also begin to sell its own
advertisement spacea function previously provided by each ITV
company as a return for subsidising the channel.

24

Although still the major force in UK commercial television, ITVs share

of the TV viewing audience has been falling for years, particularly since
the start of competition by satellite television and cable, and more
recently Digital Terrestrial Television. As a result, the ITV companies
have tried to adapt by launching several extra channels. As a result, ITV2
was launched in 1998, carrying a mix of imported and homemade
programming; ITV3 in 2004, showing classic programming; ITV4 in
2005, targeting a male audience, including some classic 1960s ITC
series; the CITV Channel in 2006; and ITV Play also in 2006. In
recognition of the fact that there was an ITV2, the ITV network was
branded ITV1 in 2001.
ITV Today
Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service
network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the
Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the
BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since
1990 and the Broadcasting Act 1990, its legal name has been Channel 3,
the number 3 having no real meaning other than to distinguish it from
BBC One, BBC Two and Channel 4. In part, 3 was assigned as
televisions would usually be tuned so that the regional ITV station would
be on the third button, the other stations being allocated to that of the
number their name contained. ITV is to be distinguished from ITV plc,
the company that resulted from the merger of Granada plc and Carlton
Communications in 2004 and which owns all of the Channel 3
broadcasting licences in England, Wales, the Scottish/English Border and

24

the Isle of Man. Unlike practically all other TV channels in the United
Kingdom, ITV is not owned by one single company.
The right granted by Ofcom of Channel 3s nationally-available status on
both analogue and digital television comes with responsibility, in the
form of public service broadcasting. Alongside the BBC, Channel 4 and
Five, the members of the ITV Network and GMTV all have a
responsibility to broadcast various programming of public importance on
their analogue stations. This includes quotas for news, current affairs,
independent and European programming, childrens and religious
programming, and output containing subtitles, signing and audio
description. In addition, Channel 3 stations are legally obliged to screen
party election broadcasts on behalf of all the major political parties, and
also other political events such as the Budget.
With more channels to choose from, digital television is increasingly
putting pressure on the ITV networks ratings and advertising revenues.
Perhaps the most controversial change was the scrapping of the flagship
late evening news programme, News at Ten in 1999, replacing it with a
later, irregular scheduled and shorter news bulletin. ITV argued that the
move would enable it to make the evening schedule more diverse and
flexible, allowing them to show feature length films without a news
break. News at Ten was brought back in January 2008, with just 3.8
million viewers compared to 4.9 million viewers who watched the BBC
News at Ten.
Such actions on the part of ITV together with a move to more populist
programming have led to many commentators to accuse ITV of dumbing
down. In its defence, ITV does continue to show its major strengths in

24

the fields of sports coverage and drama productions. For over 50 years of
Independent Television, the homegrown programmes have become the
best loved and remembered as well as being extremely successful. Before
the 1990s, nearly all of the content for the channel was produced by the
fifteen franchise licensees, the regional companies. Since then, ITV has
struggled to regain viewers trust, as inexpensive programming has not
paid dividends. ITV plc have been working to restore this, as the major
provider of programming.

24

The Welfare State

A social welfare provision refers to any program which seeks to provide a
minimum level of income, service or other support for many marginalised
groups such as the poor, elderly, and disabled people.
British Social Policy (1601-1948)
A 1572 Elizabethan Act made provision for the punishment of sturdy
beggars and the relief of the helpless poor. The 1574 Act in Scotland
duplicated this. In England, the law was replaced in 1598, but the 1574
Act remained in force in Scotland till 1845. The 1598-1601 Elizabethan
Poor Law was a national Act for England and Wales. It provided for

a compulsory poor rate;

the creation of overseers of relief;

conditions for setting the poor on work.

The parish was the basic unit of administration. There was, however, no
general mechanism through which the Poor Law could be enforced, and
its operation was inconsistent between areas. The principle of
settlement in a particular parish relates to feudal ideas. People were tied
to particular locations. According to the 1662 Poor Relief Act, if people
tried to draw relief outside the parish of their birth, they could be
removed. This meant that they could be rejected, or physically
transported to another parish.
The development of workhouses under the Old Poor Law was not
representative of the system which followed after the 1834 reforms, and

24

this is not how the system is now remembered. The 1601 Act made
provision for setting the poor on work. This did not generally include
accommodation, but in 1631 a workhouse was established in Abingdon.
In 1697 the Bristol Workhouse was established by private Act of
Parliament. Scotland had houses of correction set up in burghs, by an
Act of 1672. In 1740 a workhouse was established in Edinburgh. Most
Scottish workhouses were closed after a little while.
The idea that people could receive out-reliefthat is, benefits or cash
outside the poorhousewas new to the Poor Law in the eighteenth
century. The changes of the industrial revolution led to the development
of the towns, rapid population growth, and the first experience of modern
unemployment and the trade cycle. All this caused increasing poor rates.
The reform movement centred on three main doctrines:

Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) was a British economist who

wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), arguing that
population tends to increase faster than food supply, with inevitably
disastrous results, unless the increase in population is checked by
moral restraints or by war, famine, and disease. He believed that the
Poor Law was an encouragement to illegitimacy, and this would
lead in turn to mass starvation.

David Ricardo (1772-1823) was another British economist whose

major work, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817),
supported the laws of supply and demand in a free market. His iron
law of wages was believed to show that the Poor Law was
undermining the wages of independent workers. The advocates of
reform thought they were helping independent workers.

25

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was a British writer, reformer, and

philosopher who laid the foundations of utilitarianism. He argued
that people did what was pleasant and would not do what was
unpleasantso that if people were not to claim relief, it had to be
unpleasant. This was the core of the argument for stigmatising
reliefmaking it, in the happy phrase of the time, an object of
wholesome horror.

The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act established a national Commission

for England and Wales. The Scottish Poor Law was not introduced till
1845. The principles of the Poor Law were never fully enforced. Old
people in many areas did continue to receive relief outside the
workhouse. Workhouses could be appalling: in 1845, there was a scandal
at Andover Workhouse, where starving paupers were found to be chewing
the cartilage of bones they were supposed to be crushing. However, the
conditions of many people inside the workhousessometimes called
pauper palacescould be much worse than conditions outside. If
paupers were fed a basic diet, they were often in a better position than
others outside.
In 1839-1840 a Poor Law Commission enquiry identified disease as a
major cause of pauperism. In 1842, Edwin Chadwick, the secretary of the
Poor Law Commission, and one of the main authors of the 1834 report,
wrote a Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of
Great Britain, identifying sanitation as a principal issue. The 1848 Public
Health Act made it possible to build sewers but the Act excluded London
altogether. The construction of sewers was opposed on the grounds of
cost and the Act was repealed in 1858. The 1866 Sanitation Act created
local boards of health, with Scotland joining the system in 1867. The

25

1872 Public Health Act defined responsible sanitary authorities, either

town councils (in urban areas) or Poor Law Boards of Guardians (in rural
areas). The reason why the Poor Law authorities were used was that there
was no other body in rural areas able to take on new responsibilities
effectively.
Medical care in the nineteenth century was principally private or
voluntary. However, sickness was a primary cause of pauperism, and the
Poor Law authorities began to develop infirmaries for sick people. The
number of infirmaries grew very rapidly after the foundation of the Local
Government Board, because of the influence of doctors. The demand for
the infirmaries was at first resisted by a deliberate emphasis on the stigma
of pauperism, of which the main legal consequence was the loss of the
vote. Few people who became paupers had the vote, but after the
extension of the franchise in 1867 and 1884, the numbers increased
dramatically. In 1885, the law which required people to become paupers
before using the infirmaries was abolished. The 1930 Poor Law Act
transferred the hospitals from the Poor Law that had administered them
up to then, to local authority committees.
In the twentieth century the Liberal government laid the foundations of
contemporary social services. Concerns with national efficiency fuelled
the desire to provide an infrastructure of public services: these services
were deliberately provided outside the Poor Law, to avoid the stigma
associated with pauperism. In the inter-war period services continued to
be introduced outside the Poor Law. They included the means test,
intended to offer relief without the stigma of pauperism. In 1942 the
Beveridge report proposed a system of National Insurance, based on three
assumptions: family allowances, a national health service, and full

25

employment. The Poor Law was abolished by the Labour Government in

1948.
The Welfare State
The Welfare State of the United Kingdom was prefigured in the William
Beveridge Report in 1942, which identified five Giant Evils in society:
squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease. A series of changes were
put in place by government to deal with these Evils after the Second
World War. The changes meant that the government undertook measures
in policy to provide for the people of the United Kingdom from the
cradle to the grave.
The Beveridge Report proposed a system of National Insurance. This
became a major propaganda weapon, with both major parties committed
to its introduction. During the war, the coalition government also
committed itself to full employment through Keynesian policies (John
Maynard Keynes: the state should stimulate economic growth and
improve stability in the private sector through interest rates, taxation and
public projects), free universal secondary education, and the introduction
of family allowances. The Labour Government was elected in 1945, and
introduced four key acts:
the 1946 National Insurance Act, which implemented the Beveridge
scheme for social security;
the National Health Service Act of 1946;
the 1948 National Assistance Act, which abolished the Poor Law
while making provision for welfare services;

25

the 1948 Children Act was another important element.

These Acts were timed to come into force on the same day, 7 June 1948.
The key elements of the Welfare State were understood as being:
Social Security;
Health;
Housing;
Education;
Welfare and children (the personal social services).
The Welfare State was not intended to respond to poverty, that was what
the Poor Law had done. The main purpose was to encourage the
provision of the social services on the same basis as the public services
roads, libraries and so forthan institutional model of welfare.
Criticisms of the Welfare State in later years, however, were to
concentrate increasingly on the problem of poverty.
Social Security
Social security is sometimes used to refer specifically to social insurance,
but more generally it is a term used for personal financial assistance,
whatever form it may take. It is also referred to as income maintenance.
The reasons why financial assistance is given include:
the relief of poverty;
social protectionthe idea of social security implies that people
ought to be able to feel secure. This involves not only being

25

protected against poverty but being protected against the hardships

that may arise through a change in circumstances. If people become
sick, or unemployed, they should not, the argument goes, have to
lose their possessions or deprive themselves as a result. This is why
people on benefit should be expected to have cars and television
sets;
redistributionBenefits which go to people who have inadequate
incomes, at the expense of people who have more, are progressive.
Support for children, by contrast, is mainly a form of horizontal
redistribution, going from people without children to people with
children.
solidaritySocial security is seen not simply as charity, but as a
form of mutual co-operation. It is a principle which can be extended
to the rest of the welfare state.
There are five main types of social security benefits:
Social Insurance: these are benefits paid for by contributions;
Means-tested benefits: these are for people on low incomes;
Non-contributory benefits: there is no test of contribution or of
means, but there may be a test of need; benefits for people with
disabilities are sometimes organised on this basis;
Universal benefits: these benefits are based on broad categories of
people with no tests of means or needs; family allowances and some
old age pensions may be examples;
Discretionary benefits: discretion is widely used in the provision of
social assistance, the provision of benefits for those in need who are
not covered otherwise.

25

Social Security in the United Kingdom

The details of the Beveridge report are concerned with National
Insurance. The scheme was based on six principles of insurance:
comprehensiveness;
classes of insurance;
flat rate benefits;
flat rate contributions;
adequacy;
unified administration.
These objectives were never achieved. The inadequacy and poor coverage
of the benefits meant that other benefits had to be filled in, and these
systems were administered under different rules by different agencies.
Despite the deficiencies, National Insurance still accounts for over half of
the expenditure on social security in the UK. But the failure of the
scheme to cover the population led to increasing dependency on meanstested benefits, and in particular the basic benefitNational Assistance,
later renamed Supplementary Benefit and then Income Support.

Income Support

25

Although Income Support disposes of only a limited proportion of all the

money spent on social security, it is perhaps the most important benefit,
because it guarantees a minimum level of income for many recipients.
There are four basic elements to the Income Support scheme:
the scale rates, or applicable amount: these are supposed to cover
all of a claimants normal needslike food, fuel and clothing
apart from housing costs;
extra weekly payments for people in particular situations, or
premiums;
housing costs, mainly mortgage relief and insurance for owneroccupiers: rent is dealt with through the Housing Benefit scheme.
deductions: people can have their benefit reduced for voluntary
unemployment or striking and there may also be deductions made to
cover past debts.
The basic calculation of Income Support is based on the sum of these
elements, minus the claimants existing income. The number of people
dependent on this basic means-tested benefit has grown steadily over the
years. The response of governments to the increasing numbers of
claimants has been of two kinds. One has been to try to change other
benefits to float people off the safety net. The number of pensioners
claiming in the 1990s fell because of improved insurance-based pensions.
The other response has been to try to adapt the system to its mass role,
changing it from an individuated, complex benefit to a general system
capable of coping with millions of claimants.
Social Security for Unemployed People

25

Unemployment was initially provided for through the Beveridge scheme.

National Insurance was intended to deal with a wide range of marginal
employment, including casual labour, seasonal work and short-time
working. It was never intended, however, to deal with long-term or mass
unemployment. As long-term unemployment grew in the 1970s and early
1980s, unemployed people became increasingly dependent either on
Income Support or on alternative benefits, such as benefits for incapacity
or single parenthood. By the mid-1990s, the system had virtually ceased
to apply, with only 8% of unemployed males receiving National
Insurance. Unemployment Benefit was replaced by Job Seekers
Allowance, basically equivalent to Income Support for unemployed
people. Throughout this period there was also an increasing emphasis on
trying to engage people in the labour market as the main route out of
poverty. The term welfare to work refers to a series of measures
intended to encourage unemployed people into work, including advice,
training and supervision.
Pensions
The Beveridge scheme provided for universal pensions at a low level.
Pensioners were likely to be on low incomes, and in the 1970s more than
half the people in the lowest 20% of the income distribution were elderly.
From the 1950s on, numerous schemes were proposed to offer higher
pensions through earnings-related contributions and benefits. This was
the subject of bi-partisan agreement in the 1970s, and led to the
introduction of the State Earnings-Related Pensions Scheme (SERPS).
Subsequently, however, governments came to feel that this represented
too large a commitment to state pensions: the Conservative government
argued that it would be an abdication of responsibility to hand down

25

obligations to our children which we believe they cannot fulfill. They

arranged for SERPS to phase out gradually and sought instead to
encourage more private and occupational pension provision. From April
2002 SERPS was replaced by the Second State Pension, which makes
more generous provision for people on lower incomes and those whose
contributions are incomplete. The final income of pensioners relies
increasingly on individual and independent provision.
The Pensions Credit has now replaced the previous means-tested support.
The Guarantee Credit, replacing Income Support and the Minimum
Income Guarantee, offers a basic means-tested amount. The Savings
Credit allows extra income to be retained for people within a narrow band
of income. It is complicated, and take-up is uncertain. The government
thinks that half of all pensioners should qualify.
Child Benefit
Tax allowances for children were first introduced in 1909, and Family
Allowances in 1945. In 1955 Richard Titmuss (1907-1973), a British
social researcher, made the important argument that tax allowances and
benefits were really two aspects of the same thing, a principle which has
gradually gained acceptance since then. Child Benefit, combining the
two, was passed into law in 1975 (though, because it was controversial,
was not implemented for two years after that). Child Benefit is flat-rate,
not age-related. The case for age relation is that children become more
expensive as they grow older. The case against is that poorer families
tend to be those with younger children, mainly because the woman in the
family is unable to work and it is simpler not to relate the benefit to age.
The basic arguments for Child Benefit are:

25

it is paid to the mother, who may have no other income;

it is not means-tested and take-up is very high (perhaps 99%);
it is simple to administer;
it avoids problems like the poverty trap and stigma;
it helps to protect the position of the working poor.
The arguments against are:
it is not well targeted: poorer families tend to be smaller and
younger, but Child Benefit gives most to larger families;
the redistribution is horizontalfrom people without children to
people with childrenrather than vertical, from rich to poor: Child
Benefit may redistribute from a poor single person to a better-off
family.
One of the most important objections to Child Benefit has recently been
removed. Until recently, Child Benefit was deducted directly from
means-tested benefits, leaving it without value to the poorest families.
The system has now been revised so that support for children is now
distinct from the rest of the benefit system and it now comes largely from
a combination of Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit.

National Insurance: Taxation in the United Kingdom

26

National Insurance (NI) is a system of taxes and related social security

benefits in the United Kingdom. It was first introduced by the National
Insurance Act of 1908, and expanded by the government of Clement
Attlee in 1946. The tax component of the system consists of taxes paid by
employees and employers on weekly earnings and other benefits-in-kind.
The self-employed are taxed based upon profits. Such taxes are said to be
National Insurance Contributions (NICs).
The benefit component of the system is a number of contributory
benefits. These are the ones where the claimants previous contribution
record determines the availability and amount of the benefit paid. The
benefits provided are weekly income benefits and some lump sum
benefits to participants upon death, retirement, unemployment, maternity
and disability.
History
The name national insurance was adopted as an expression of the
governments aspiration that the system should be qualitatively different
from conventional general taxation such as income tax. The proposed
differences that were enacted, or aspired to, included:
the revenue was expected to roughly equate to current spending on
contributory benefits;
no means-testing of benefitsthe amount of benefit paid in respect
of any claim by a claimant was the same whether the claimant was
rich or poor, depending only on the completeness of the claimants
contribution record;

26

a limit on the systems scope for redistributionabove a certain

level of earnings or profits no extra contributions were payable;
the payment of a contribution by an employer for each employee
comparable to that paid by the employee.
Initially, the most important contributory benefits were the State
Retirement Pension and Unemployment Benefit.
With the introduction of employer payroll tax deduction (Pay-As-YouEarn or PAYE), employees National Insurance contributions were
collected along with income tax. This replaced the old system of
purchasing a contribution certificate or stamp, but for many years some
older Britons continued to describe making NI contributions as paying
their stamp. As the system developed, the link between individual
contributions and benefits was weakened. The National Insurance Fund is
still nominally hypothecated, and national insurance payments cannot be
used to fund general government spending, although as much of the fund
is invested in government securities it is available for borrowing by the
government for spending on capital projects, like schools and hospitals.
National Insurance contributions are paid into the various classes of
National Insurance after deduction of the sums specifically allocated to
the National Health Service. However a small percentage is transferred
from the fund to the NHS from certain of the smaller sub-classes. Thus
the NHS is partially funded from NI contributions but not from the NI
Fund.
Recent developments of the system have meant that National Insurance
provides a significant part of the governments revenue (90 billion in
2006-2007, approximately 17% of total government receipts). At the

26

same time it has become more redistributive as its structure has changed
to remove the fixed upper contribution limits, albeit with a much lower
rate payable by employees on income above a certain level. It has been
argued that the link between the individuals contribution record and the
remaining contributory benefits will be weakened further.
NI has been criticised as a stealth tax and an income tax in everything
but name: in recent years governments have trumpeted the fact that
income tax rates have not changed, while they have increased revenue by
increasing the rates and scope of NI. At the same time the unfairness of a
tax that is levied on the wage income of all workers but not on dividend
or interest income has been criticised: at the extreme this leads to the
contrast between a low-paid worker who has to pay the tax on his income
and a wealthy owner of income-bearing assets who does not. There have
been proposals put forward by think-tanks to abolish employees National
Insurance altogether by rolling it up into income tax. These have yet to be
adopted as a policy by a major political party.
Contribution Classes
National Insurance contributions (NICs) fall into a number of classes.
Class 1, 2 and 3 NICs paid are credited to an individuals NI account,
which determines a persons eligibility for certain benefitsincluding the
state pension. Class 1A, 1B and 4 NIC do not count towards benefit
entitlements but must still be paid if due.
Class 1

26

Class 1 contributions are paid by employees and their employers. They

are deducted from their gross wages by the employer, with no action
required by the employee. The employers also match these contributions
(with the one exception below). There are three milestone figures which
determine the rate of NICs to be paid: Lower Earnings Limit (LEL),
Earnings Threshold (ET) and Upper Earnings Limit (UEL). In this
context earnings refers to an employees wage or salary. A set of
regulations is applied in this sense:
Below the LEL, no NICs are paid because no benefits can
accumulate on earnings below this limit;
On salaries above the LEL and below the ET, NICs are not paid, but
are credited by the government as if they were; this effectively
assists the working poor who do get benefits;
On salaries between the ET and the UEL (equivalent to 5,225 to
34,840 per annum), NICs are collected at the rate of 23.8% (11%
paid by the employee and 12.8% by the employer);
On the portion above the UEL, the total rate drops to 13.8% (1%
paid by employees and 12.8% by the employer).
Unlike income tax the limits for class 1 NICs for ordinary employees are
calculated on a periodic basis, usually weekly or monthly depending on
how the employee is paid. However those for company directors are
always calculated on an annual basis, to ensure that the correct level of
NICs are collected regardless of how often the director chooses to be
paid. In the 2007 budget, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon
Brown announced that in future the LEL and UEL would be aligned with
the income tax basic rate band.

26

Class 1A
Class 1A contributions are paid by employers on the value of company
cars and other benefits in kind of their employees and directors at rate of
12.8% of the value of the benefits in kind.
Class 1B
Class 1B contributions were introduced on 6 April 1999 and are payable
whenever an employer enters into a PAYE Settlement Agreement (a PSA)
for tax. Class 1B NICs are payable only by employers and payment does
not provide any benefit entitlement for individuals.
Class 2
Class 2 contributions are fixed weekly amounts paid by the selfemployed. They are due regardless of trading profits or losses, but people
on low earnings can apply for exception from paying and those on high
earnings with liability to either Class 1 or 4 can apply for deferment from
paying. While the amount is calculated to a weekly figure, they are
typically paid monthly or quarterly. For the most part, unlike Class 1,
they do not form part of a qualifying contribution record for
contributions-based Job Seekers Allowance.

Class 3

26

Class 3 contributions are voluntary NICs paid by people that wish to fill a
gap in their contributions record which has arisen either by not working
or by their earnings being too low. The main reason for paying Class 3
NICs is to ensure that a persons contribution record is preserved to
provide entitlement to the state pension. Generally a woman currently
needs 10 years of contributions and a man 11 years for a minimum state
pension. In certain cases (e.g. parents and careers) fewer years may be
required.
Class 4
Class 4 contributions are paid by self-employed people as a portion of
their profits, calculated with income tax at the end of the year, based on
figures supplied on the tax return. Below the earnings threshold no class 4
NICs are due. Above the earnings threshold and below the upper earnings
limit class 4 NICs are paid at a rate of 8% of trading profits. Above the
upper earnings limit class 4 NICs are paid at a rate of 1% of trading
profits. They do not form part of a qualifying contribution record for any
benefits, including the state retirement pension.
National Insurance Number
People born and resident in the UK are assigned an NI number (referred
to internally as a NINO), receive a plastic card of similar proportions to a
credit card with the number raised on the front shortly before their
sixteenth birthday, and are advised to keep the card safe (only one
replacement card may ever be issued over the lifetime of an individual).
However, allocation of this number might occur a long time before this
occasion (the date can usually be established from the prefix letters used),

26

and siblings may have consecutive numbersthis is dependent on the

payment of Child Benefit. Persons from abroad looking to work in the
UK, or those to whom a number was not initially allocated as children,
may apply for a number through the Department for Work and Pensions
(DWP). The prefixes used are typically different from those used in the
normal run. The format of the number is two letters, six digits, and one
optional letter. The example used is typically AB 12 34 56 C. It is usual to
pair off the digits.
As the UK does not, as yet, have a system of personal ID cards, and not
everyone has a passport, the NI number is, along with the NHS number,
one of only two systems which provide every adult in the country with a
code number. Consequently, NI numbers are sometimes used for
identification purposes in other contexts which have nothing to do with
their original National Insurance purpose. This is despite a clear claim on
the back of the NI card, and a smaller claim on the front, that it is not
proof of identity.
The National Insurance Recording System (NIRS)
National Insurance contributions for all UK residents and some nonresidents are recorded using the NIRS computer software package
(National Insurance Recording System, pronounced nurse). NIRS is
currently in its second generation and is known within the Civil Service
as NIRS/2 (nurse two). The original NIRS was a more archaic system
first used in 1975 without direct user access to its records. A civil servant
working within the Contributions Office (NICO) would have to request
paper printouts of an individuals account which could take up to two
weeks to arrive. New information to be added to the account would be

26

sent to specialised data entry operatives on paper to be input into NIRS.

NIRS/2 is a Microsoft Windows based system with several applications
under its umbrella. These include individual applications to access or
update an individual National Insurance account, to view employers
National Insurance schemes and a general work management application.
The National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the name commonly used to refer
to the four publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom,
collectively or individually, although only the health service in England
uses the name National Health Service without further qualification:
England National Health Service;
Scotland NHS Scotland;
Wales NHS Wales;
Northern Ireland Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland.
Forming the basis of healthcare in the United Kingdom, each system
operates independently, and is politically accountable to the relevant
devolved government of Scotland (Scottish Government), Wales (Welsh
Assembly Government) and Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland
Executive), and to the UK government for England. There is no
discrimination when a patient resident in one country of the United
Kingdom requires treatment in another. The consequent financial matters
and paperwork of such inter-working are dealt with between the
organisations involved and there is generally no personal involvement by

26

the patient comparable to that which might occur when a resident of one
European Union member country receives treatment in another.
History of the National Health Service
Before the National Health Service was created in 1948, patients were
generally required to pay for their health care. Free treatment was
sometimes available from teaching hospitals and charity hospitals, such
as the Royal Free Hospital. Some local authorities operated local
hospitals for local ratepayers (under a system originating with the Poor
Law). Systems of health insurance usually consisted of private schemes
such as Friendly Societies. Under the National Insurance Act of 1911,
introduced by David Lloyd George, a small amount was deducted from
weekly wages, to which contributions were added from the employer and
the government.
In return for the record of contributions, the workman was entitled to
medical care (as well as retirement and unemployment benefits) though
not necessarily to the drugs prescribed. To obtain medical care, he
registered with a doctor. Each doctor who participated in the scheme thus
had a panel of those who have made an insurance under the system, and
was paid a capitation grant out of the fund calculated upon the number.
(Lloyd Georges name survives in the Lloyd George envelopes in
which most primary care records in England are stored, although today
some working records in primary care are at least partially computerised).
This imperfect scheme only covered certain trades and occupations, and
was known as Lloyd Georges Ambulance Wagon. Moreover, due to
cuts during the 1930s, many were unable to obtain treatment.

26

In Scotland, the Highlands and Islands Medical Service provided state

funded healthcare to a population covering half of Scotlands landmass
from its launch in 1913 until the creation of NHS Scotland in 1948.
Though treatment was not free, fees were set at minimal levels and
people could still get treated even if they were unable to pay. The
publication of Dr. A. J. Cronins controversial 1937 novel, The Citadel,
drew much-needed attention to the inequities of health care, as did the
1938 film version.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Clement Attlees Labour
government created the NHS, based on the proposals of the Beveridge
Report, prepared in 1942. A White Paper (Government Report) was
published in 1943 and was followed by considerable debate and
resistance organised by the British Medical Association. In the final BMA
ballot in May 1948, GPs and hospital doctors in Scotland voted in favour
while their counterparts in England remained against the new service.
The structure of the NHS in England and Wales was established by the
National Health Service Act of 1946 and in Scotland by the National
Health Service (Scotland) Act of 1947, with the new arrangements
throughout the UK being launched on 5 July 1948. The founding
principles of the NHS called for its funding out of general taxation and
not through national insurance. Services would henceforth be provided by
the same doctors and the same hospitals, but:
services were provided free at the point of use;
services were financed from central taxation;
everyone was eligible for care (even people temporarily resident or
visiting the country).

27

The original structure of the NHS in England and Wales had three
aspects, known as the tripartite system:
1. Hospital Services14 Regional Hospital Boards were created in
England and Wales to administer the majority of hospital services.
Beneath these were 400 Hospital Management Committees which
administered hospitals. Teaching hospitals had different arrangements and
were organised under Boards of Governors.
2. Primary CareGPs were independent contractors (that is they were
not salaried employees) and would be paid for each person on their list.
Dentists, opticians and pharmacists also generally provided services as
independent

contractors.

Executive

Councils

were

formed

and

administered contracts and payments to the contractor.

3. Community ServicesMaternity and Child Welfare clinics, health
visitors, midwives, health education, vaccination and immunisation, and
ambulance services together with environmental health services were the
responsibility of local authorities. This was a continuation of the role
local government had held under the Poor Law.
By the 1950s, spending on the NHS was exceeding what had been
expected, leading to the introduction of a one-shilling charge for
prescriptions and a 1 charge for dental treatment, in 1952, an exception
to the NHS being free at the point of use. The 1950s also saw the
planning of hospital services, dealing in part with some of the gaps and
duplications that existed across England and Wales. The period also saw
growth in the number of medical staff and a more even distribution of
them with the development of hospital outpatient services. By 1956, the
NHS was stretched financially and doctors were disaffected resulting in a

27

Royal Commission on doctors pay being set up in February 1957. The

investigation and trial of alleged serial killer Dr. John Bodkin Adams
exposed some of the tensions in the system. Indeed, if he had been found
guilty (forin the eyes of doctorsaccidentally killing a patient while
providing treatment) and hanged, the whole NHS might have collapsed.
The Mental Health Act of 1959 also significantly altered legislation in
respect of mental illness and reduced the grounds on which someone
could be detained in a mental hospital.
The 1960s have been characterised as a period of growth. A more
equitable distribution of GPs was emerging as was the concept of the
primary health care team. The period also saw a growth in health centres.
More mental health patients were discharged back into the community
and Enoch Powell, who was Minister of Health in the early 1960s,
predicted that many of the large mental health institutions would close
within ten years. Prescription charges were abolished in 1965 and
reintroduced in 1968. Concern also continued to grow about the structure
of the NHS and weaknesses of the tripartite system. In 1969,
responsibility for the NHS in Wales was passed to the Secretary of State
for Wales from the Secretary of State for Health who was thereafter just
responsible for the NHS in England.
The NHS in England was reorganised in 1974 to bring together services
provided by hospitals and services provided by local authorities under the
umbrella of Regional Health Authorities, with a further restructuring in
1982. The 1970s also saw the end of the economic optimism which had
characterised the 1960s and increasing pressures were made to reduce the
amount of money spent on public services and to ensure increased
efficiency for the money spent. Through the 1970s and 1980s, it became

27

clear that the NHS would never get the resources necessary to provide
unlimited access to the latest medical treatments, especially in the context
of an ageing population. This led to the beginning of a major process of
reform, starting about 1980, which is still continuing nowadays.
The 1980s saw the introduction of modern management processes
(General Management) in the NHS to replace the previous system of
consensus management. This was outlined in the Griffiths Report of
1983. It recommended the appointment of general managers in the NHS
with whom responsibility should lie. The report also recommended that
clinicians be better involved in management. Financial pressures
continued to place strain on the NHS. In 1987, an additional 101 million
was provided by the government to the NHS.
In 1988 the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, announced a review
of the NHS. From this review and in 1989, two White Papers, Working
for Patients and Caring for People were produced. These outlined the
introduction of what was termed the internal market, which was to
shape the structure and organisation of health services for most of the
next decade. In spite of intensive opposition from the British Medical
Association, who wanted a pilot study or the reforms in one region, the
untried untested internal market was introduced. In 1990, the National
Health Service and Community Care Act (in England) defined this
internal market, whereby Health Authorities ceased to run hospitals but
purchased care from their own or other authorities hospitals. Certain
GPs became fund holders and were able to purchase care for their
patients. The providers became NHS trusts, which encouraged
competition but also increased local differences.

27

These innovations, especially the fund holder option, were condemned

at the time by the Labour Party. Opposition to what was claimed to be the
Conservative intention to privatise the NHS became a major feature of
Labours election campaigns. Labour came to power in 1997 with the
promise to remove the internal market and abolish fundholding.
However in his second term Blair renounced this direction. He pursued
measures to strengthen the internal market as part of his plan to
modernise the NHS.
The Blair Government, whilst leaving services free at point of use, has
encouraged outsourcing of medical services and support to the private
sector. Under the Private Finance Initiative, an increasing number of
hospitals have been built (or rebuilt) by private sector consortia. Hospitals
may have both medical services (such as surgicentres), and nonmedical services (such as catering) provided under long-term contracts by
the private sector. As a corollary to these initiatives, the NHS has been
required to take on pro-active socially directive policies, for example,
with respect to smoking and obesity. The NHS has also encountered
significant problems with the IT innovations accompanying the Blair
reforms. The programme to computerise all NHS patient records is also
experiencing great difficulties. Furthermore there are unresolved financial
and managerial issues on training NHS staff to introduce and maintain
these systems once they are operative.

The Medical Profession

Doctors

27

Doctors generally have the same very high status in Great Britain that
they have throughout the world. In matters of prestige, the medical
profession is dominated by the hospital consultants followed by the
specialist doctors who all command a greater standing than the general
practitioners. These specialists are allowed to work part-time for the
NHS and spend the rest of their time earning big fees from private
patients. Some have a surgery in Harley Street in London, conventionally
the sign that a doctor is one of the best. However, the difference in status
between specialists and ordinary GPs is not as marked as it is in most
other countries. At medical school, it is not automatically assumed that a
brilliant student will become a specialist. GPs are not in any way
regarded as second-class. The idea of the family doctor with personal
knowledge of the circumstances of his or her patients was established in
the days when only rich people could afford to pay for the services of a
doctor.
A general practitioner, or GP is a medical practitioner who provides
primary care and specialises in family medicine. A general practitioner
treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health
education for all ages and both sexes. In the United Kingdom, doctors
wishing to become GPs take at least 4 years training after medical school,
which is usually an undergraduate course of five to six years (or a
graduate course of four to six years) leading to the degrees of Bachelor of
Medicine (MB, from Medicinae Baccalaureus) and Bachelor of Surgery
(ChB, from Baccalaureus Chirurgiae, or BS).
Up until the year 2005, those wanting to become a General Practitioner of
medicine had to do a minimum of the following postgraduate training:

27

one year as a pre-registration house officer (PRHO) (formerly

called a house officer), in which the trainee would usually spend 6
months on a general surgical ward and 6 months on a general
medical ward in a hospital;

two years as a senior house officer (SHO)often on a General

Practice Vocational Training Scheme (GP-VTS) in which the
trainee would normally complete four 6-month jobs in hospital
specialties such as obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, geriatric
medicine, accident and emergency or psychiatry;

one year as a General Practice Registrar (General Training

Pathway).

This process has changed under the programme Modernising Medical

Careers. Medical practitioners graduating from 2005 onwards have to do
a minimum of 5 years postgraduate training:

two years of Foundation Training, in which the trainee will do a

rotation around either six 4-month jobs or eight 3-month jobs
these include at least 3 months in general medicine and 3 months in
general surgery, but will also include jobs in other areas;

two years as on a General Practice Vocational Training Scheme

(GP-VTS) in which the trainee would normally complete four 6month jobs in hospital specialties such as obstetrics and
gynaecology,

paediatrics,

geriatric

medicine,

accident

and

emergency or psychiatry;

one year as a General Practice Registrar.

At the end of the one year registrar post, the medical practitioner must
pass an examination in order to be allowed to practice independently as a

27

GP. This summative assessment consists of a video of two hours of

consultations with patients, an audit cycle completed during their registrar
year, a multiple choice questionnaire (MCQ), and a standardised
assessment of competencies by their trainer. These changes have led to
accusations of dumbing down from the British Medical Association.
Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners was
previously optional. However new trainee GPs from 2008 are
compulsorily required to complete the nMRCGP (with n for new).
They will not be allowed to practice without this postgraduate
qualification. After passing the exam or assessment, they are awarded the
specialist qualification of MRCGPMember of the Royal College of
General Practitioners. Previously qualified general practitioners (prior to
2008) are not required to hold the MRCGP, but it is considered desirable.
In addition, many hold qualifications such as the DCH (Diploma in Child
Health of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health) and/or the
DRCOG (Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists) and/or the DGH (Diploma in Geriatric Medicine of the
Royal College of Physicians). Some General Practitioners also hold the
MRCP (Member of the Royal College of Physicians) or other specialist
qualifications, but generally only if they had a hospital career, or a career
in another speciality, before training in General Practice.
There are many arrangements under which general practitioners can work
in the UK. While the main career aim is becoming a principal or partner
in a GP surgery, many become salaried or non-principal GPs, work in
hospitals in GP-led acute care units, or perform locum work. Whichever
of these roles they fill the vast majority of GPs receive most of their
income from the National Health Service (NHS). Principals and partners

27

in GP surgeries are self-employed, but they have contractual

arrangements with the NHS which give them considerable predictability
of income.
Visits to GP surgeries are free in all countries of the United Kingdom, but
charges for prescription-only medicine vary. Wales has already abolished
all charges, and Scotland has embarked on a phased reduction in charges
to be completed by 2011. In England, however, most adults of working
age who are not on benefits have to pay a standard charge for
prescription-only medicine of 7.10 per item from April 2008.
About Harley Street, London
Harley Street has always been an attractive address, and is one of the
most famous streets in London. It enjoys a long-standing reputation as a
centre of private medical excellence and the district around Harley Street
is more often referred to as Medical London because it has several private
hospitals within the vicinity and the largest concentration of medical
proficiency in the world. All the latest technology and cutting edge
medical expertise has been moved into the area, and not surprisingly
Harley Street is a highly desirable location from which to practice. The
area attracts a large ever growing number of top medical practitioners,
dentists, psychiatrists and plastic surgeons providing first class care, each
of whom require a licence from the Estate in order to practice. The Estate
has always been particular about the type of people allowed to practice
from Harley Street, and between the two world wars, for example, an
application from a resident to let out a room to a dancing teacher was
strongly rejected. Until after the Second World War, which was a real

27

catalyst for change, masseurs and psychologists were treated with

suspicion.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century the village of Marylebone
consisted of just a smattering of houses, but as London began to grow
during the Georgian period many attractive houses were developed and
by 1792-1799 the whole area from Oxford Street to the New Road
(Marylebone Road) was awash with beautiful, large Georgian styled
houses, known by their rectangular windows and parapets which give the
appearance of a flat roof. Cavendish Square, in particular, became a
magnet for the fashionable and wealthy. Harley Street is owned by the de
Walden family and managed by the Howard de Walden Estate.
In 1711 the grid of streets around Harley Street, known as The Estate,
was passed to Henrietta Cavendish Holles (the Duke of Newcastles
daughter) who married Edward Harley (the 2nd Earl of Oxford).
Between 1715 and 1720, Edward, with the assistance of architect John
Prince, decided to develop the streets around Cavendish Square for
residential purposes naming many of the streets after members of the
family. When Edward died the Estate passed to his daughter, Margaret
Cavendish Harley who married the second Duke of Portland, and the area
became known as The Portland Estate. The Dukes of Portland had
ownership for five generations until the fifth Duke died without issue in
1879 and the land passed to Lucy Joan Bentinck, widow of the 6 th Baron
Howard de Walden and thus it became the Howard de Walden Estate.
By 1860 many doctors had moved into Harley Street, choosing the area
because of the quality housing, the central location as well as the
accessibility to major train stations such as Kings Cross, St. Pancras and

27

Marylebone. As more and more doctors moved to the area they invited
colleagues to work with them from their prestigious homes and Harley
Street began to thrive as a medical centre. Since the nineteenth century
the number of doctors, hospitals and medical organisations in and around
Harley Street has greatly increased. Records show that there were around
20 doctors in 1860, 80 by 1900 and almost 200 by 1914. When the
National Health Service was established in 1948 there were around 1,500.
Among the many famous and talented doctors to have practiced in Harley
Street over the years was the great British surgeon Sir Henry Thompson
in the 1870s who was appointed surgeon-extraordinaire to the King of
Brussels, and Doctor Edward Bach who practiced from Harley Street in
the 1920s as a specialist in vaccines and bacteriology before moving to
the London Homeopathic Hospital and then developing the Bach Flower
Remedies.
Today, there are some 1,500 professional medical practitioners in and
around the Harley Street area, offering a broad range of services from
complementary medicine to cosmetic surgery and the range and quality of
services available continues to expand as new treatments and new
diagnostic techniques emerge. The Harley Street Clinic receives patients
from all over the world and has established a ground breaking cancer
centre, which is affiliated to the London Cancer Group and contains the
latest oncology technology and expert care for cancer patients. Harley
Street is at the forefront in medical science and technology advancements
and firmly on the map for medical excellence.
Nurses

28

A nurse is responsiblealong with other health care professionalsfor

the treatment, safety, and recovery of acutely or chronically ill or injured
people, health maintenance of the healthy, and treatment of lifethreatening emergencies in a wide range of health care settings. Nurses
may also be involved in medical and nursing research and perform a wide
range of non-clinical functions necessary to the delivery of health care.
They also provide care at birth and death. There is currently a shortage of
nurses in most developed countries.
Since the 1990s, UK nurses are educated to diploma, bachelors and even
undergraduate masters degree levels. There are also post-graduate
courses for graduates with a degree in a health related subject. They
undertake their training at universities and in placements in healthcare
services. The student will train in adult, child, mental health, or learning
disabilities branch. To become a nurse within the United Kingdom, one
must at the very minimum hold a Diploma in Nursing and have trained
for three years, or two years on an accelerated course. After training,
the opportunities are vast, with many different areas of nursing, from
general ward to teaching or management. Also the practise areas can be in
hospital, in the community or in both.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in the UK is the regulatory
body for nurses, midwives, and specialist practitioners. It maintains a
register that is split into three parts: Nursing, Midwifery, and Specialist
Community Public Health Nurses (which includes Health Visitors). In
addition to this, there are two levels of nurse: first-level nurses trained for
three or four years (Registered General NurseRGN, Registered Mental
NurseRMN, Registered Sick Childrens NurseRSCN, Registered
Nurse for the Mentally HandicappedRNMH, RNchild, RNadult,

28

RNmental health, RN Learning Disability), whereas second-level nurses

are the state enrolled nurses (SENs) who trained for two years. The SEN
training has been phased out, with many SENs retiring or converting to
level one through further study. Registered Nurses are able to undertake
advanced practice training, commonly at advanced degree level to
become specialist nurses in various fields, such as Emergency Nurse
Practitioner. These nurses will have obtained, in addition to the basic
registration with the NMC, an advanced recordable qualification. Many
nurses are members of trade unions, which represent them both
individually and as a profession. The two main unions are UNISON and
the Royal College of Nursing. There are approximately 689,000 nurses
and midwives on the NMCs register, including those not practicing
within the UK who have maintained their registration. Approximately
12% of registrants are male, and this is increasing.
The various nursing titles used in the UK include

State enrolled nurse (SEN): These nurses perform to a lower level

scope of practice, although to a similar level as staff nurses. Some
areas specifically exclude aspects of practice such as the
administration of medications. Enrolled nurses work under the
supervision of an RN.

Staff nurse/senior staff nurse: All newly qualified nurses begin at

this level and make up the majority of the registered nursing staff.
Senior staff nurses are more experienced and usually take charge
in the absence of senior staff.

Junior charge nurse/deputy ward manager: These nurses are

deputy to the ward manager/charge nurse and as such have more of
a managerial role.

28

Charge

nurse/ward

manager/sister:

Responsible

for

the

management of their ward/clinic/unit usually with budgetary

control.

Clinical nurse manager: Usually manages an area, for example,

accident and emergency.

Matron: Usually manages a directorate, such as medical or

surgical. Historically managed the hospital, although this role is
obsolete.

There are various other higher managerial and specialist nurse roles;
however these are less well defined on a national scale and vary from
country-to-country.

Education in Britain
Preliminaries

28

Because education is concerned not only with teaching basic skills but
also with passing on the culture and values of society, it often becomes a
burning political issue, particularly in times of rapid political or social
change and uncertainty. What is taught in the classroom, how it is taught
and how success and failure are measured are all influenced by political
considerations. The government of the day controls education in Britain
either directly through Acts of Parliament or indirectly through the
orchestration of public opinion. As Britain is a liberal democracy the
government also responds toor at least takes note ofthe will of the
people expressed mainly in the mass media.
A successful and acceptable education policy is particularly difficult to
enact. This was especially true in the latter half of the twentieth century.
The fact that everyone has experienced some form of education makes
everyone an expert, and a biased one at that. Convictions based on
individual experience and prejudice are not always a sound foundation on
which to build government policies. It is also difficult in the postmodern
world of shifting values for governments to formulate policies that will
ensure that children receive the kind of education that will fit them for
life.

History
Introduction

28

Education has always existed in Britain in some form. In the Middle

Ages, particularly from the fourteenth century onwards, there were all
kinds of schools to be found which gave their pupils an elementary
education. There were small informal schools run in parish churches by
parish clerks and schools attached to various religious foundations such
as cathedrals, chantries (chapels) and monasteries. The craft guilds
educated their apprentices and there were also guild schools in addition to
preparatory schools for grammar schools and grammar schools
themselves, such as the one in Stratford-upon-Avon which Shakespeare
attended. There were also private foundations such as Eton College
founded by Henry VI in 1440 and Seinte Marie College of Winchestre
established in 1382 by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, so
that pupils could have a proper grounding in Latin before they went on to
one of the colleges in Oxford.
Oxford, first mentioned as a centre of learning in 1163, was soon well
established. Cambridge became the second centre of learning when a
group broke away from Oxford to set up their own institution in 1229. By
the middle of the thirteenth century both were doing so well that they
considered themselves second only to Paris. At this point the first
collegesUniversity

College,

Oxford

in

1249

and

Peterhouse,

Cambridge in 1284were formally established. These and other Oxford

and Cambridge colleges were initially founded as seminaries for the
Church where the sons of poor men could receive an education that
would fit them for a life of service to the Church and the state. At this
time the kings of England relied on the church to provide clerks who,
because they could read and writeunlike most of the kings and nobility
could deal with the day-to-day administration of the state. By the

28

sixteenth century, however, they had become more like finishing schools
for the sons of the gentry reflecting a wider change in society as the
administration of the state moves out of the hands of the church into that
of the landed gentry. It is interesting to note that the link between Oxford
and Cambridge and the government of the country that was established so
early on remains to this day.
The Middle Ages
Most of the early schools were parish schools and were not so ambitious.
They offered elementary education to the children of ordinary parents
who wanted to get on in life. The humblest taught their pupils to read,
learn prayers and psalms, the Ten Commandments, the seven deadly sins
and seven sacraments. Some schools were less religiousa school in
Rotherham, Yorkshire founded in 1483 by the Archbishop of York, taught
its pupils accountancy as well as grammar because the youths in that part
of the country were more suited to worldly employment than to joining
the priesthood.
It seems that the Yorkshire stereotypeinterested in the practical things
of life including making moneyhas a long history. At the grammar
schools the pupils, drawn from the wealthier sections of town society,
were expected to be able to read and write before they were admitted.
They then went on to learn Latin grammar and compose Latin verse.
French had also originally been part of the curriculum but had died out
during the fourteenth century. Schooling was not free nor was it easy. The
holidays were short, the school days were long often beginning at six in
the morning and continuing until six in the evening with short breaks for
food, the classes were large with up to a hundred pupils being taught in

28

one room, and the masters believed whole-heartedly in corporal

punishment. The aristocracy in the Middle Ages were educated in hunting
and manners, rather than reading and writing. They were sent away from
their own homes to live with other landed families to acquire this
learning. Girls were not normally educated except that often they too
were sent away from home to learn how to behave and care for a
household. The Middle Ages were definitely not child-centred in their
approach to education and children often complained about the cruel
punishments they received.
An Italian visitor to England noted that the want of affection in the
English is strongly manifested towards their children. For after having
kept them at home till after they arrive at the age of seven or nine years at
the utmost, they put them out, both males and females, to hard service in
the houses of other people. And on enquiring the reason for the severity,
they answered that they did it in order that their children might learn
better manners. But I for my part, believe that they do it because they like
to enjoy all their comfort themselves (Hibbert qtd. in Education in
Britain 5). The idea of sending children away from home to be educated
existed long before boarding-schools became established institutions and
even today many parents feel that only by sending their children away
from home can they give them a proper education.

The Seventeenth Century

28

By the end of the seventeenth century several of the patterns that have
influenced education in this century have already become established.
The close link between education and religion is preserved with the
parishes being responsible for providing teaching in reading and religion.
The grammar schools were firmly established in the market towns, most
of them continuing to exist into the twentieth century. This is
supplemented from 1698 onwards by the Charity Schools set up by the
Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge in which prayers and
Bible reading were an integral part of the curriculum. The Puritans,
expelled from the Church of England, set up their own schools, the
Dissenting Academies, where the religious teaching reflected their own
beliefs.
A structure of education emerged with one tier educating the rich and
powerful and the other the respectable lower classes, reflecting the
traditional social structure. During the seventeenth century some of the
most famous private boarding-schools, known today as public schools,
were founded for the sons of the aristocracy who then went on to one of
the Oxford colleges. Lower down the social scale there are the Dame
schools, paid for by the parish, run usually by women, where children up
to the age of about 7 were taught simple reading and such crafts as
spinning and knitting.
The grammar schools, established by 1547 in every sizeable market town,
provided further education in writing, Latin and Greek and even
mathematics. A few scholars from these schools went on to Oxford and
Cambridge where they formed an underclass, separated from the
gentlemen even in the manner of dressscholars wore dark gowns
while gentlemen wore light clothes. Scholars in the two universities still

28

wear black gowns. There was a feature of relations between

undergraduates and those in authority at the universities which seems
very modern. The undergraduates in the seventeenth century took to
growing their hair long and some of those in authority became so
incensed that they would sneak up behind students while they were sitting
at table and cut off their haira premonition of the 1960s.
There was, of course, the other traditional divisionthat between boys
and girls. Sons should be brought up in good learning, girls in a
virtuous and godly life. Many people, not least women, shared the views
of James I that to make women learned and foxes tame had the same
effect; to make them more cunning. Girls were expected to stop once
they had acquired the ability to read and devote their talents to mastering
useful crafts or learning to please their future husbands. Those women
who did manage to become more educated were advised to hide their
knowledge. There were no places for girls in the grammar schools, the
public schools or the universities but they were not completely excluded.
By 1671 the Quakers had established 15 boarding-schools of which 2
were co-educational and two were exclusively for girls. There were also a
few private boarding schools for the daughters of the rich devoted mainly
to teaching the art of being a gentle wife.
The seventeenth century sees patterns established not only for which
people were taught and where they were taught but also what they were
taught. Reading begins with the Bible and, for boys, progressed to the
study of Greek and Latin texts. The study of mathematics was reserved
for the most able. Only in the Dissenting Academies were science,
English and modern languages given any attention. One of the public
schools, Merchant Taylors, whichas its name implieshad a

28

somewhat different clientele, taught music. Even at Oxford and

Cambridge the curriculum consisted only of Latin, Greek, rhetoric, logic,
grammar, arithmetic and music. Towards the end of the seventeenth
century this was expanded to include Hebrew, Arabic, ancient history and
geometry. A reluctance to embrace new ideas about the curriculum is a
recurring feature on the English educational scene.
The Eighteenth Century
The first part of the eighteenth century saw few changes in schooling.
Dame schools continued, charity schools were established, which by the
end of the century provided an education for a quarter of a million pupils
that stressed religion, moral teaching and vocational training. The
grammar schools, still teaching mostly Latin and Greek, with few
exceptions, declined. The public schools became the scenes of bullying
and savage corporal punishment and although, in the words of the
novelist Henry Fielding, they are the nurseries of all vice and
immorality, 72% of all ministers of state during the eighteenth century
attended such schools. According to a contemporary journal Before an
Eton boy is ready for University, he may have acquired a confirmed taste
for gluttony and drunkenness, an appetite for brutal sports and a passion
for female society of the most degrading kind (Education in Britain 12).
After school the sons of the ruling classes went on to the universities
whose reputations had also declined. The learning they offered centred on
the intrigues of the heathen gods; with whom Pan slept, whom Apollo
ravished stated The Edinburgh Review in 1810. Most undergraduates led
a very idle and undisciplined life. The most strictly enforced rule at
Oxford was that there should be no mixing with the townspeople.

29

Examinations, again principally at Oxford, were often oral in form and

regarded as a mere formality. John Scott, later a Lord Chancellor (head of
the English judiciary), described his examination in Hebrew and History
for his Bachelors degree in 1770 as follows:
EXAMINER: What is the Hebrew for the place of a Skull?
SCOTT: Golgotha.
EXAMINER: Who founded University College?
SCOTT: King Alfred.
EXAMINER: Very well, sir, you are competent for your degree.
(Education in Britain 13)

A contemporary account from Cambridge describes how there a degree

examination lasted for two and a half days.
Many sons of wealthy fathers were sent on the Grand Tour of Europe to
complete their education. While abroad they were supposed to improve
their command of foreign languages, absorb some culture and improve
their manners and taste. Many only improved their knowledge of wine,
women and gaming but gradually, as the Grand Tour becomes more
widespread during the nineteenth century, it does come to have a positive
influence. Those fathers who could not afford the Grand Tour and did not
want their sons to waste time and money at the university could, and did,
send them to the Dissenting Academies which were both cheap and
respectable. Many of these Academies provided lectures for the public on
such subjects as Mathematics (Manchester 1719) and Chemistry
(Scarborough 1733) and laid the foundations for the civic universities set
up in the nineteenth century.
The end of the eighteenth century is a period of revolutionary change in
British

life.

Advances

in

agriculture

and

the

beginnings

of

29

industrialisation alter the whole fabric of society including ideas about

who should receive education and through what channels. In 1780 Robert
Raikes, worried about the morals of the children who hung around the
streets on Sundays, opened his first Sunday School in Gloucester. He was
so successful that by 1795 nearly a quarter of a million children attended
them. At first Raikes insisted that all the children should be clean and
respectably dressed but many who went to the school could not afford to
be clean so he only insisted that they washed their hands and faces and
combed their hair. For the first time an attempt was made to teach the
children of the very poorest in society: it was the beginning of mass
education.
There were, however, many voices raised amongst those in positions of
power against the whole idea of educating the poor. Does it necessarily
follow that the lower classes will become more industrious, more
virtuous, more happy, by learning how to read? asked one opponent. A
Member of Parliament agreed Giving education to the labouring classes
of the poor would be prejudicial to their morals and happiness; it would
teach them to despise their lot in life, instead of making them good
servants in agriculture and other laborious employments. The Bishop of
London added his voice in 1803 saying It is safest for both the
Government and the religion of the country to let the lower classes
remain in that state of ignorance in which nature has originally placed
them (Hibbert qtd. in Education in Britain 16).

The Nineteenth Century

29

During the nineteenth century the provision of state education follows the
granting of the right to vote. As more groups in society are enfranchised,
schools and teaching are provided for the children of those groups. It was
an accepted idea that teaching these children not only the basics of
education but also passing on knowledge of the culture and pride in the
state preserved Britain from the outbreaks of social unrest and even
revolution that affected many of the countries of Europe in this century.
However, the battle for schools was no easier than the battle for the vote
but once the opposition to change had been overcome in the 1832
Parliamentary Reform Act the door was opened for further social
advances.
During the early decades of the nineteenth century two societiesthe
British and Foreign School Society supported by the Nonconformist
churches and the National Society for Promoting the Education of the
Poor in the Principles of the Established Church supported by the Church
of Englandhad built schools in the major centres of population and
many country areas. Both types of school emphasised religious and moral
values and were organised to run as cheaply as possible. Both used the
monitorial system in which the teacher teaches the monitors who then
pass on their knowledge to the pupils. In this way a school of 500
required only one teacher and would cost very little. The schools were
very much in line with the ideals of their day. They encouraged the spirit
of competition among the pupils with a rewards system for success and
they were essentially mechanical at a time when mechanisation was seen
as a revolutionary force for good.
The so-called Ragged Schools were not part of either of the two societies
but were supported by charity and provided education for the very

29

poorest children of the cities. They were, in fact, an extension of Raikess

Sunday schools. Many philanthropically minded industrialists set up their
own schools where their child labourers could receive some sort of
education. Others, like Mr. Gradgrind in Charles Dickenss Hard Times,
established their schools to ensure that their own individual views and
philosophies were passed on to the next generation. Mr. Gradgrinds own
children of course do not attend his school. They are educated at home by
tutorsas befits his social position.
These schools made a genuine effort to provide education for the poorer
classes but their insistence on the place of religion in education and the
unwillingness of their supporters to allow education to become purely
secular held up state education for many years. The breakthrough came in
1833, almost unnoticed at the time, with the Education Act of 1833 which
gave the first Government grant to schools. The move was seen as a
temporary measure to help the two societies to expand their efforts. The
money could only be paid through the two societies (the British and
Foreign School Society and the National Society for Promoting the
Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church) and
would only go to establish schools where half the necessary financing had
been raised by voluntary contributions. This is the beginning of the
church or voluntary group of schools which still exist today. It was also
the beginning of a principle which held true until 1988there would be
no direct government interference with the curriculum taught in the
schools or with the day-to-day running of them.

The Coming of State Elementary Schools

29

The schools established after 1833 were run by school boards and
managers similar to the way in which the 1988 Act proposed schools
should be run in the 1990s. The clamour for more education continued
and intensified after the extension of the right to vote in 1867 to
respectable working men, culminating in the Elementary Education Act
of 1870. This Act did not make elementary education free or compulsory
but it provided for the building of state schools under the direction of
locally elected school boards. It is interesting that women, who could not
vote in parliamentary elections or have a seat in the House of Commons
could both vote for and hold seats on these school boards.
The religious problem was solved by insisting that religious instruction
be given in all schools at the beginning or end of the school session
allowing parents to withdraw their children if they so wished. The Boards
could decide whether or not they would have religious instruction in their
schools but most followed the leadership of London and introduced
religious instruction that was non-sectarian and based on a study of the
text of the Bible. This type of religious instruction, which survived the
1988 Act, explains why knowledge of the Bible was something that so
many British people shared and why it comes into so many novels and so
much public rhetoric. The School Boards were allowed to levy a local
rate to pay for the building of schools and once the buildings were
available they could make school attendance compulsory (this happened
in 1880). The Churches were given six months to provide schools in areas
that lacked proper provision and improve educational standards in already
existing schools. At the end of this period the needs would be met by the
School Boards. Fees were charged in all schools but those who could not
afford to pay were allowed to go free. There were further Acts of
Parliament which finally made attendance up to the age of 14 compulsory

29

at the start of the twentieth century. Thus by the end of the nineteenth
century state-controlled elementary education is firmly established and
some of the basic principles that will govern state education in the next
century are in place.
Private Education
The state sector was not the only scene of educational reform. The
nineteenth century is the great age of the British public schools. The new
type of public school was initiated by Dr. Thomas Arnold when he
became headmaster of Rugby School in 1828. The new class, who had
made money from industrial development, wanted their sons to receive an
education that would fit them for their social position and mark them out
as a separate and privileged group of gentlemen. The new public
schools were thus socially exclusive and by what they taught they
emphasised the importance of discipline, the stiff upper lip, self-reliance
and correct behaviour. They used sport because it provided the necessary
physical toughening and encouraged the development of team spirit and
loyalty to the group.
The Curriculum
The curriculum continued at first to be dominated by the classics, as in
earlier centuries, but was gradually adapted to meet the requirements of
the class the schools served. As the demand for secondary education
spread, new grammar schools were set up with curricula modelled on
those of the public schools, with an inclination on the academic and the
classical but above all on social distinctions and gentility. The better-off
middle class soon realised that the right school led to the right job which

29

led to making good money. It did not really matter whether what was
taught in school was actually relevant to any particular job, because what
parents were buying was the key to social advantage. Education was the
process used by parents to get their children better jobs and the idea was
very firmly implanted that those who worked with their mouths or their
pens were infinitely superior to those who worked with their hands. What
society needed was an educated white-collar work force to fill all the
clerical jobs that industrialisation had created. But there were no schools
that could meet this need. At the turn of the twentieth century thousands
of well-educated German clerks were working in London offices carrying
on the work of commerce.
The Twentieth Century
The nineteenth century saw the establishment of elementary schools for
the mass of the people and grammar and public schools for the privileged
few. The twentieth century sees the growing demand for full democracy
hand in hand with the advance of technology. Wars bring with them a
questioning of established values and the four major reforms of this
century come after wars. The first in 1902 after the countrys near defeat
in the Boer War, the second in 1918 after World War I, the third in 1944
as World War II draws to a close and the fourth in 1988 after the Falkland
War and the Thatcherite war on accepted post-war values.
The 1902 Act established a national state education system with Local
Education Authorities, as part of the local government organization, in
charge of state schools, replacing the School Boards and effecting a
considerable economy in administration. These LEAs were allowed to
support other forms of education, not only elementary. So they were able

29

to finance secondary schools as well as give assistance to other bodies

such as the Workers Educational Association. The LEAs became the
basis of the national system, locally administered that prevailed in
Britain until 1988. Education was controlled centrally by the Secretary of
the Board of Education, a system of inspection, by His Majestys
Inspectors, was put in place and a school medical service was introduced
under the Liberal Government in power from 1906 onwards. The Free
Place System also came in 1907 whereby private secondary schools could
get financial help from the government if 25% of their yearly intake came
from the state elementary schools. These pupils had to pass a test in order
to ascertain whether they could benefit from the education the schools
offered. This was the beginning of the scholarship ladder to university,
which gradually changed the nature of the universities and the education
offered there.
There is another period of educational reform starting with the Fisher Act
of 1918, which increased the power of the LEAs, made schooling
compulsory up to the age of 14, abolished all fees in elementary schools
and reorganised the government grants to schools. Now finally Britain
has a free and compulsory system of state education. In the following
years government financing of nursery schools through the LEAs is made
possible, the Burnham Committee, set up in 1921, works out the scales
and conditions of employment of teachers, which remained in place until
the teachers strike in the 1980s. The nursery schools had been started
during the war when the fathers were fighting at the front and the mother
had gone out to work to sustain the war effort. This left the children
unsupervised and revealed the value of nursery provision. Not all LEAs
took advantage of their power to support nursery education, however, and

29

its provision by the state in England has always been minimal and
remains so to this day.
The Education Act of 1944
The Education Act of 1944 was passed before the Second World War had
actually ended and was to some extent a statement of the countrys belief
in its future. It established many of those aspects of English schools
which are familiar to foreignersseparate primary and secondary
schools, local autonomy under the guidance of the central government,
social and games facilities such as playing fields, camps and the
provision of school meals at a very low cost. More importantly it
established a pattern of different types of schools providing different
types of education for different types of pupils. It was principally an act
dealing with secondary education based on two main ideasthat all
children should have an equal opportunity to participate in secondary
education and that the education they received should be suited to their
age, aptitude and ability.
In practice, though not necessarily in intent, this meant a division of
children into different schools according to their academic ability and
resulted in the tripartite system:
Grammar Schools continued to provide an academic education;
Secondary Modern Schools were set up to provide a more
vocational training;

29

Secondary Technical Schools were meant to provide the kind of

technical education that a modern industrial society would need its
citizens to have.
From the beginning the secondary moderns were seen as second rate and
very few secondary technical schools were ever built. The selection of
pupils for the various schools was made on the basis of an examination
under local control. The transition from primary to secondary at eleven
was determined by the fact that the original school leaving age had been
14 and it was felt that a secondary education course should last at least
three years. In Scotland secondary education began at 12 while in the
private sector secondary education has always started at 13. The eleven
plus, as this examination came to be known, was never universally
accepted as providing an equal opportunity for all children to gain access
to the education they would most benefit from. It created a lot of stress
among pupils and their families, those who did not get a grammar school
place were regarded as failures and the proportion of grammar school
places varied greatly from place to place. It was up to the Local
Education Authorities, numbering 146 for England and Wales, to decide
how many of each kind of school they would provide so it was much
easier to get a grammar school place in some areas than in others.
The LEA could also decide what weight it would put on the various parts
of the eleven plus test and often those who were selected for grammar
schools were middle-class children of average or above average ability
and working-class children of high ability. Once in grammar school,
however, these working-class children found that the road to higher
education was opened up to them and that through higher education they
could gain access to positions of power and leadership in the country

30

which had never before been open to them. Many people who have
influential positions in British society today and are in their fifties and
sixties climbed this educational ladder. The grammar school boy rivalled
the wearer of the old school tie (public school graduate) in many, but
not all, British institutions.
From the very beginning there were questions about the validity of
dividing pupils into separate schools and in the 1960s the Comprehensive
School became increasingly popular. This was usually a large school
which provided for all abilities from the age of 11 up to 16 or 18. The
Labour Party always approved of these schools as they fitted their ideas
of social equality better than the tripartite system. No new education act
was needed as they were seen as simply another way of meeting the
requirements of the 1944 Act regarding equality of opportunity and a
suitable education for all. The type of system that a Local Education
Authority adopted was a choice made locally and there were so many
variations that the word system can hardly be used accurately to
describe the provision of state secondary education.
The Great Debate
There were many struggles over various aspects of education in the 1960s
and 1970s. Not just the type of school but the methods of teaching
became political issues. The Great Debate of the 70s centred around
progressive ideas of education arising from the works of educational
philosophers such as the American John Dewey, with the emphasis on
child-centred learning through discovery rather than simply being fed
facts versus the more traditional approach which stressed formal learning,

30

the importance of basic skills and passing on cultural values and

discipline.
The two approaches represented opposing political outlooks and resulted
in two very different types of schools. The progressive school often had
chairs and tables instead of desks in rows; the timetables were often not
divided into set periods but reflected the more flexible structure required
for project work or learning based on themes; the atmosphere in such
schools was much more relaxed, discipline was not so rigid, there was
often more noise and movement and corporal punishment was not
tolerated. The use of corporal punishment was banned in all state schools,
but not private schools, in 1986. The more formal schools often had
uniforms, stricter timetables directed to examination successes, more
stress on competition and achieving excellence. They tended to be quieter
and generally more orderly. Most primary schools embraced the
progressive way while most secondary schools remained with the
traditional.
The Thatcher Years
When the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher
was voted into power in 1979 their stated objective was to change Britain
not least the state education system. The new Government saw
themselves as radical thinkers who would change peoples ideas about
many of the institutions of British life. Margaret Thatcher herself had
been the Minister of Education in the Edward Heath Government (197074) and is principally remembered for having discontinued the provision
of free milk to school children in 1971earning herself the title of
Thatcherthe Milk Snatcher. If one is to succeed in changing ideas,

30

education must play a central role, so schools move to the centre of the
political arena.
The changes in state education since 1979 must be seen in the wider
context of Conservative policy. The power of the trades unions and local
government was to be reduced, market forces and the free play of
competition were to be introduced wherever possible, mostly through the
privatisation of services, and public spending was to be reduced as much
as possible to bring inflation down. One of the key ideas of the new
government was that the individual was more important than the social
groupan idea reflected in Thatchers (in)famous words There is no
such thing as societyonly individual men and women, and families.
The control exercised by the state was to be rolled back rather like
rolling back a heavy blanket which had stifled individual attempts to
break loose and rise to new heights. In terms of education this meant
giving more power and choice to parents, individual schools and market
forces at the expense of LEAs, the teachers and particularly the teachers
unions. The importance of the market meant that greater emphasis was to
be placed on competition and success, on reward for effort and not so
much on feather-bedding (attenuating) failure.
Education was seen as yet another commodity. Parents would choose
schools as they chose other consumer goods, according to the quality of
the product, its attractiveness etc. So that parents could know which
school was good all schools would produce information about
themselves, preferably printed on glossy paper with lots of pictures and
impressive examination results. Quality control is an important aspect of
marketing so the quality of pupils had to be checked by means of national
tests and the results published so that the quality of the school could be

30

assessed. This could not be achieved in state schools under the provisions
of the 1944 Education Act. Between 1980 and 1988 a whole series of
education Acts came into force, which radically changed the relationship
between central and local government and redefined the powers and
responsibilities of the local education authority, the head teacher and the
governing body. These changes were not reversed with the election of the
Labour Government in 1997.
The Education Reform Act of 1988
Under the new system parents became much more directly involved in
the education of their children. They were given the chance to choose
which school their child would attend. They could become governors and,
together with the head teacher and the rest of the governing body, control
the financing and staffing of the school. Together with other parents, if
they formed a majority, they could remove the school from the LEA
completely and make it directly accountable to central governmentthis
is called opting out. To help parents to exercise these choices much
more information was to be made available to them. Schools are now
required to produce brochures about their work, test and examination
results have to be published and the school is to have an open and
welcoming policy towards parents. The days when parents were only
expected to go to the school on Open Day or when summoned to the head
teachers office to hear serious complaints about their offspring are gone.
These changes were maintained even after the change of government in
1997.
For the first time, from 1988 onwards, there is a National Curriculum,
which lays down exactly what is to be taught in school and at what level

30

from the age of 5 to 16. Pupils are to be tested at the end of each of four
key stages and the results (for each schoolnot for each individual
pupil) are to be published. In this way there will be a measure of the
success of each state school available to parents and other interested
groups in the form of league tablesan expression borrowed from
football. At the same time as all these changes were being introduced in
schools, Britain was moving from a period of temporary boom to
prolonged recession. This meant cuts in public spending in education as
in all other public services. Education has never been over-funded and
even in the 1980s money was in short supply. Given the choice of paying
staff for what the LEAs considered necessary services in education or
repairing the school building, they normally chose the former. According
to a survey carried out by the Building Employers Confederation in the
mid-1980s 20% of all schools in England and Wales were overcrowded,
one third had leaking roofs and 90% of all secondary schools had
inadequate workshops for arts, crafts, metalwork and engineering.
This last shortage was very serious as the 1988 Education Act made the
teaching of art and technology compulsory from aged 5 to 16. By 1992
the situation had deteriorated to the point where half of Englands school
children were taught in buildings in urgent need of repair and two thirds
of primary schools relied on parents to provide books used in teaching.
Buildings erected in the 1960s and 1970s have proved less substantial
than those erected in the 1870s. Since 1997 the situation has improved a
great deal but compared with other Western countries many British
schools may seem shabby and poorly equipped.
In line with its general political beliefs, the Governments of the 80s
wanted to encourage privatisation wherever possible. They also saw the

30

LEAs as branches of what they perceived as Labour-dominated and

unrepresentative local government. They were convinced that the local
councils were working against their radical ideas and wanted to remove
as much of their power as possible. Hence, under subsequent Education
Acts, the LEAs lost power to the individual schools and their boards of
governors on the one hand and the central government on the other.
However not many schools have taken the opportunity offered to opt
out (only around 2000 had done so by 1996) and become grant
maintained. It appears that most schools, and parents, did not share the
Conservative Governments mistrust of local authorities.
Labour, since 1997, has continued the idea of limiting local authority
control over schools. The vocabulary they usethe rhetorichas
changed but not the ideas. The Government encourages the involvement
of local commercial interests in education. Privatisation has moved into
the school world with the provision of school meals and other services
being put out to tender. Under the 1988 Act, however, private enterprise
entered schooling in another way. The Act allowed for the setting up of a
new type of state schoolCity Technology Colleges, or City Colleges.
These were to be set up in urban areas to cater for local pupils of all
abilities form the age of 11 to 16. What makes them different is that they
concentrate on the teaching of technology and that they are funded by
sponsorship from industry and grants from central government. The hope
was that these schools would stimulate inner city children and encourage
closer links between school and work.
The recession of the early 90s, however, meant that industry did not have
much cash to spare for such a long-term and uncertain investment, and
many industrialists felt that they had already paid enough to the state in

30

the form of taxes and that the provision of education certainly did not fall
within their field of responsibility. They welcomed closer links between
school and work but not if they cost too much in terms of time and money
and detracted from their real functionproviding goods and services
for a profit. Some schools have been established and appear to be very
popular and successful but it will take a long time for their impact to
become more than marginal.
Privatisation took another step forward when the inspection of schools,
previously carried out by Her Majestys Inspectors of Schools, a central
government body which had on occasion been outspokenly critical of
government policy, was placed in the hands of independent teams of
inspectors, chosen by a tendering system, under the control of OFSTED
(Office for Standards in Education). It was not to be expected that major
changes to such a fundamental thing as a state education system could be
achieved without friction and the new Acts did generate a great deal of
tension. Education is often a major political issue and as such is subject to
constant change and re-evaluation. What is a burning issue today
becomes a generally accepted and uncontroversial position tomorrow.
Much of what was controversial has now become normal practice but a
great deal of bitterness and conflict was generated. OFSTED inspections
particularly caused a great deal of strain among teachers and even now
are the subject of serious debate.
Many teachers felt that the government had undermined their professional
status and had seriously damaged the state system of education to further
its political philosophy. Teaching almost lost the status of a profession
and became merely one of many skilled occupations and certainly not one
of the highest paid or most prestigious. In 1979 teachers salaries were

30

37% higher than the average white-collar wage but by 1990 they had
fallen below it. Those teachers who belonged to a unionthere are five
teachers unionsalso found themselves confronting the governments
policy of curbing the power of the trades unions. There was a very long
period of industrial action between 1984 and 1987 which resulted in new
laws governing teachers pay and conditions, under which teachers lost
the right to negotiate with the government about salary levels. In addition
teachers were to work a stated number of hours, 1255 each year
according to a contract, all teachers were to be appraised and increased
incentive allowances were to be awarded to good teachers.
There was a feeling that too much stress was placed on those
achievements which are easily measurable at the expense of subjects
which are important for the development of the pupils personalities or
ability to function in a social settingwhich are not so easy to test and
measure. Standard Assessment Tests at the ages of 7, 11 and 14 took a lot
of preparation and administration time. Many parents were unhappy with
the idea of testing 7-year-olds. The designing, organization and marking
of tests seemed to become a major industry with a life of its own. There
was also a feeling that the overall aim was to make the state system as
much like the private system as possible in its methods, aims and
objectives. At the same time education has been opened up for discussion
and debate. Never before has so much information been available, in the
visual media and in print, about exactly what goes on in schools.
Wales
Education in Wales is organized in the same way as in England with the
addition that the study of Welsh is part of the national curriculum in state

30

schools. There is also a Welsh focus given to other subjects such as

history and geography. Very few schools in Wales have opted out of LEA
control and there are only two sixth-form colleges. Thus most sixthformers are educated in local authority schools. There does not seem to
have been the same confrontation between professionals and politicians
in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland as there has been in England.
Scotland
The state system of education in Scotland has always been different in
organisation from that in England. It was one way in which Scottish
independence has been preserved. Scotland was not enthusiastic about
Thatcherism and there was less dissatisfaction with the schools. It has the
smallest overall pupil/teacher ratios and the highest proportion of 16year-olds continuing their educationover three-quarters in 1990/91,
much higher than elsewhere in the United Kingdom. The national
curriculum does not apply to Scotland and parents have the legal right to
withdraw their children from testing at the age of 8 and 12. So far no
school has opted out of local education authority control. Teachers, and
others, in England particularly, see in Scotland a more balanced and
successful system functioning with much less strain and stress than in
their own part of the UK. Since Scotland became more independent with
the devolution of certain government powers from London to the Scottish
Parliament they have continued with their own educational ideas.
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland the integration of the Catholic and Protestant
communities has been the central idea behind educational reform. The

30

province has kept the system which selects pupils at secondary level with
an examination at eleven plus, which may explain why it has the best
examination results at 18 and a relatively high proportion of pupils who
leave school without any qualifications at all. The Province has its own
common curriculum designed to promote tolerance and understanding
between the religious groups. It includes six compulsory cross-curricular
themes designed to teach children the differences between Protestants and
Catholics and try to overcome divisions. Two of these themes are
education for mutual understanding and cultural heritage. The schools in
the Province are controlled by area education boards which are funded by
central government. Sixty per cent of the members of these boards are
nominated by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
The Private Sector
Private education in public schools still plays a very important part in
British society. While it is true that only a small proportion of children,
around 7%, actually attend these schools their influence permeates all the
institutions which exercise power in the country. It can and is argued that
parents must have the right and freedom to choose the education they
want for their children, and pay for it if necessary. But in Britain today
parents who buy a place in a private school are buying a ticket to success.
There are problems connected with this. Firstly the private schools are
exclusivethey exclude those who cannot afford to pay fees and those
who do not conform to their requirements, academically, socially or
otherwise. These ex-pupils then go on to high-level jobs (most of them)
involving making decisions affecting the whole of society while at the
same time remaining an exclusive group, part of, but at the same time,
separate from the rest of that society. This allows them, for example, as

31

senior executives in the midst of a severe recession, when pay rises for
those lower down the ladder are severely restricted, to award themselves
rises of 23%. Such people can have little sense of belonging to the same
society or of having obligations to their employees. Secondly it is
arguable whether it is best for society that parental income should decide
who is to be educated for leadership. Thirdly the private sector schools
are academic. They define their schooling in terms of examination
successespurely in these terms 177 of the top 200 schools are private.
The Public Examination System
The British education system relies heavily on examinationsboth
public and within individual schools. Examinations are seen as the fairest
way of selecting candidates for universities, jobs and rewards generally.
When the government decided that admission to the civil service should
be by public examination (1870) rather than, as it had been earlier, by
influence or payment, it was seen as an important move towards a more
democratic society. When pupils had to be selected for limited numbers
of places in grammar schools the obvious way to do it was through an
examinationin that case the eleven plus exam.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Until 1987 there were two school-leaving examinations for 16-year-olds,
the General Certificate of Education Ordinary-level (GCE O-level) for
those who attended grammar schools or were more academic. Others took
the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE). From 1988 onwards these
two examinations were merged into the General Certificate of Secondary
Education (GCSE) usually taken after 5 years of secondary education.

311

The GCSE is based on the national curriculum and has differentiated

assessment i.e. different papers or questions for different ranges of ability
and grade-related criteria i.e. grades are awarded on absolute rather than
relative performance. There is a seven point grading scale from A, the
highest grade, to G. There is also an A* (A-star) grade for outstanding
papers. In Wales the examination at 16 is called the Certificate of
Education and closely resembles the GCSE.
Those pupils who want to continue their education beyond the age of 16
can either go to a further education college or stay on in the sixth form of
the secondary school. In either place they will take Advanced-level (Alevel) examinations after two-year courses in three or four subjects. This
examination is used to select students for university places. It is graded
on a seven-point scale from A to E with N as a narrow failure and U as
unclassified. It was felt in the 1980s that 16-18-year-olds had too narrow
an education so a new examination was introduced, the Advanced
Supplementary level (AS-level), corresponding to about half an A-level
course and graded A to E.
Scotland
Scotland has its own system of examinations. After four years of
secondary education, at around the age of 16, pupils take the Scottish
Certificate of Education. This is an examination for all types of ability
academic and more practical and is marked according to national
standards of performance. Most pupils take seven or eight Standard grade
examinations. The Higher grade of the Scottish Certificate of Education
is taken one year after Standard grade, when pupils are about 17, and
usually in four subjects. In their sixth year of secondary education pupils

31

can take a Certificate of Sixth Year Studies to deepen their existing

knowledge or a vocational National certificatesimilar to the GNVQs
(General National Vocational Qualification) in England and Wales. New
courses are currently being developed.
Schools
There are around 29,000 state schools in Britain that is schools
maintained from public funds, 2,000 schools for pupils with special needs
and 2,400 fee-paying independent schools. There are about 9.5 million
pupils, of whom about 6-7 % are in independent schools. The schoolleaving age is 16 and about 71% continue to study after that. Many
secondary schools require their pupils to wear school uniforms. Corporal
punishment was abolished in state schools in 1986.

Schools in England and Wales

Ordinary
Specially Funded State Independent Schools
State Schools Schools
Nursery
3-5 years
3-5 years
Primary

Infants
5-7 years

3 -5 years

Voluntary Schools mostly Junior

religious schools - Church of
England or Roman Catholic 5-7 years

Juniors

Preparatory

7-11 years

7-13 years
Primary Schools
4-11 years

Secondary

Tri-partite system
Secondary Modern
Schools 11-16

Voluntary Schools
Grant-maintained schools

Public Schools
(about 550)
13-18 years

Secondary Technical

City Technology Colleges

Independent

31
Schools
11-16/18

(15 in 1997)

Grammar Schools

Schools
11- 18 years

11-16/18
Comprehensive System
Lower, Middle and High
Schools
OR High Schools and
Sixth-form Colleges

The Ordinary State Schools are controlled by the Local Education

Authorities and the exact arrangement of schools can vary from authority
to authority. There was a lack of state pre-school provision but the Labour
Government did something about that.
The Voluntary Schools are funded partly by the religious groups and
partly by the LEAs. Muslims want their schools to be included in this
group but so far only Christian schools can be voluntary schools.
The City Technology Colleges are a new idea paid for by central
government and private sector sponsors. The LEAs are not involved. The
schools teach the national curriculum but with emphasis on mathematics,
technology and science.
The Grant-Maintained Schools have opted out of LEA control and
get their money direct from central government. About 18% of secondary
schools in England and 5% in Wales have GM status. GM schools are run
by a Governing Body consisting of representatives of parents, teachers
and members of the local community. These schools choose their pupils
themselves.

31

The Independent Schools range from small kindergartens up to large

day or boarding schools and from experimental schools to the most
traditional institutions. They receive no money from the state but are
inspected to see that they meet certain minimum state requirements. They
get their money from fees which can be as little as 300 and as much as
4000 a term. The so-called public schools are those which belong to the
Headmasters Conference, the Governing Bodies Association or the
Governing Bodies of Girls Schools Association. The Labour Party has
been traditionally opposed to private education and, when in opposition,
wanted to phase it out. However, now they have been in government and
had a leader who was privately educated they seemed to be having second
thoughts. Many people are also opposed to the idea that the state should
have a monopoly on education and choice is seen as a prerogative of a
democratic society.
Scotland
Most schools (3,704 in 1996) are publicly maintained schools run by
boards consisting of elected parents and staff members and co-opted
members. Only two schools in Scotland opted out of local authority
control and will soon be returned to their original status. There are 115
independent schools in Scotland.
Northern Ireland
There are four types of publicly funded schools:

31

Controlled schools (660)owned by the education and library

boards, financed completely from public funds;
Voluntary maintained schools (550)mostly owned by the
Roman Catholic Church but funded wholly or partly from the state;
Voluntary Grammar Schools (53)which may be either Roman
Catholic controlled or non-denominational are funded from the
Department of Education for Northern Ireland;
Integrated Schools (32 taking about 2% of the school population)
with financing from central government (Department of
Education Northern IrelandDENI).
As part of the peace process there has been a concerted effort to introduce
more mixed faith schools.
Teachers
Teachers in state schools must have Qualified Teacher Status. They can
get this either by doing a four-year Bachelor of Education (BEd) honours
degree or by doing a three-year degree course followed by a one-year
Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course. Most teachertraining has been moved out of universities and colleges to the schools.
This was partly a result of the Conservative governments suspicion of
the teaching profession and the feeling that the universities were
undermining the policies they were trying to put into practice. Groups of
schools can now apply for funds to run their own teacher-training
courses. The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) is one of the quangos
(Quasi Non-Governmental Organisation), which has acquired a great deal
of power and is an example of how such power has moved from diverse

31

institutions (universities, colleges) to one unit tightly controlled by

central government. In England and Wales teachers are also now formally
appraised to assist professional development, strengthen the management
of schools and improve the quality of education. Many teachers
experienced the situation in the schools in the 1980s and 1990s as
stressful and a great number took early retirement. In the past few years
things have improved but there is still a problem recruiting teachers. No
one who has a criminal record can become a teacher in a state school.
From August 2002 everyone who works in a school must have proof that
they do not have such a record. Those who teach in independent schools
do not need to have qualified teacher status.
Further Education

England and Wales

Further education is the provision of education outside school for people
over the age of 16 and is funded by central government by the Further
Education Funding Council. Much of the education provided is
vocational and is closely linked with business and commerce in the area.
Many of the students study on part-time courses or day-release or block

31

release. Day-release means that they are freed from their jobs for part of
a day or sometimes several days a week to studyso they study and
work at the same time. Block-release is when people are freed from their
jobs completely for a period of time to enable them to study. The
qualifications obtained are NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications)
and other examinations concerned with practical and professional
competence.
There are about 480 further education institutions in England and Wales
with 743,000 full-time and sandwich-course students and about 850,000
part-time day students on further education courses. Apart from ordinary
vocational courses there are special FE colleges which offer training in
such things as the performing arts. One of these, the Northern School of
Contemporary Dance has taken over a Jewish synagogue and adapted it
to its requirements.
Scotland
The further education colleges in Scotland have their own boards of
management and are funded at the moment by the Scottish Office. The
qualifications, which are similar to those in England and Wales, are
awarded by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. Some of the courses are
modular and work-based and range from immediately post-16 courses up
to postgraduate or post-experience levels. A Record of Education and
Training for each student has been introduced to provide a single
certificate to show what courses or modules have been completed. There
are 45 further education institutions in Scotland with 31,000 full-time and
sandwich-course students and about 195,000 students on non-advanced
vocational courses.

31

Northern Ireland
The colleges of further education have become self-governing (as in the
rest of the UK) and funding comes directly from the Department for
Education Northern Ireland. The courses are of the same type as in
England and Wales and the qualifications are administered by the same
examining boards. There are 17 institutions of further education with
21,000 full-time students and almost 52,000 part-time students on nonadvanced courses.
Higher Education
Higher education consists of degree courses, or their equivalent, usually
given at a university. There are at present 88 universities in the UK
including one private university (Buckingham) and one devoted entirely
to distance learning (the Open University). Until the nineteenth century
there were only six universities, Oxford, Cambridge and the four ancient
Scottish universitiesSt Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
London University was the first new university to be founded, in 1836,
and following the pattern of Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) it was
organized in colleges. Today it is one of the largest in the UK with over
30 colleges scattered all over London and the Home Counties. Like
schools, universities in the UK are ranked according to a set of criteria
involving publishing, research, graduate and undergraduate courses. The
funding they receive depends on their ranking. Newspapers have also
published ranking lists to help you pick your way through the higher
education maze.

31

Expansion of the Universities

In the nineteenth century many of the newly rich industrial cities wanted
to mark their civic pride by building universities. The universities came to
be known as Redbricka derogatory term referring to the fact that these
new institutions were built of red brick rather than stonelike the
Oxbridge colleges. There followed another period of expansion in the
1960s when seven more universities were established. Several of them
were built in historic market towns and named after counties e.g. the
University of Essex at Colchester. They sounded like characters out of a
Shakespeare play and so came to be known as the Shakespearean Seven.
The 1960s also saw the establishment of Colleges of Advanced
Technology, which later became Polytechnics and, from 1992 onwards,
universities on the same footing as the other universities. As a result of
this change many cities in Britain now have two or even three
universities.
The universities saw further changes under the Conservative governments
of the 1980s and early 1990s. Overall the number of students increased
and there are now about 1,150,000 full-time students and 600,000 parttime students including those studying distance-learning courses with the
Open University. However, there was no corresponding increase in
funding, in fact some universities saw their budgets cut by more than a
third. At the same time the government increased its control over the
universities by changing the methods of funding so that money could be
directed to those subjects, such as technology, which the government
thought were important and away from less productive subjects such as
classics. The 1988 Education Act created the Universities Funding

32

Council, a government appointed quango, with the power to attach terms

and conditions to the provision of funds.
Students
Prospective students who want to apply for a university place to do a first
degree course have to do so through the University and Colleges
Admission Services in the spring before they want to start their studies.
UCAS sends the forms on to the universities they have applied for in
descending order. The universities themselves choose which students they
will have according to their own criteria. If a candidate is accepted by his
or her first choice the process stops. If not, UCAS send the form on to the
candidates second choice, and so on. What the candidate is offered by
the university, sometimes after an interview, is a provisional place.
Hence the candidate will be offered a place provided that he or she gets
two grade As and a grade B in the A-level examinations. Not everyone
gets the grades they need in order to take up their places and, just after the
A-level results come out, there is a special service to help would-be
students find places and university departments find students. Most first
degree students used to receive some sort of grant from the LEAs. The
exact amount depended on the parents or spouses incomein other
words, it was means tested. In 1998 all student grants were abolished by
the Labour Government and replaced by student loans, administered by
banks with the interest rate linked to inflation. Recently there has been a
move to bring back a system of grants as the loan system discouraged
working-class people from applying for university places. This situation
was not helped by the fact that the universities started to charge tuition
fees in 1998. This was very unpopular.

32

Student life at a British university is a little different from other countries.

Most students are younger as generally people go straight from school at
18 to university, although recently it has become fashionable to take a
year out to travel or work before starting university studies. There also
tends to be less teachingwhich is expensiveand more reading and
studying on your own. Many universities have close links with industry
and the Government is encouraging universities to cooperate closely with
industry on research. Today there are more than 50 science parks set up
by higher education institutions together with industrial scientists and
technologists where the development and commercial application of
advanced technology are promoted. Nevertheless, there are so far no arts
parks. When students pass their final examinations and are awarded their
degree they graduate. Usually there is a big ceremony in early summer
each year where the new graduates wear academic dress and receive
their degreean impressive certificatefrom the hands of the vicechancellor in front of their admiring families.

Religion in Britain

32

Religion in England through Time

The major religion in England is Christianity with the Church of England,
the official state church, holding a special constitutional position in the
country, that of established church. After Christianity, religions with the
most adherents are Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism, Buddhism, the
Bah Faith, Rastafarianism and Neopaganism. There are also
organisations which promote irreligion, humanism, and secularism. In the
past, various other religions (usually pagan) have been predominant in
the country, particularly Celtic polytheism, Anglo-Saxon paganism and
Norse paganism. These faiths have all been predominant in the regions
that later made up England, though they were all made extinct through
Christianisation.
Celtic Polytheism
Celtic polytheism, sometimes known as Celtic paganism, refers to the
religious beliefs and practises of the ancient Celtic peoples of Western
Europe prior to Christianisation. It was, as the name suggests,
polytheistic, believing in a number of different deities, and also animistic,
believing in spirits existing in natural objects such as trees and rocks.
Religious beliefs and practises of the Celts varied throughout the different
Celtic lands, which included Ireland, Britain, Celtiberia (Northern Spain),
Gaul, areas along the Danube River, and Galatia (in Asia Minor, in the
Ankara region); however there were also beliefs shared by all.
Celtic religious practices bear the marks of Romanisation following the
Roman Empires conquest of certain Celtic lands such as Gaul (5851
BC) and Britain (AD 43), although the depth and significance of

32

Romanisation is a subject of scholarly disagreement. Celtic polytheism

declined in the Roman Empire period, especially after the outlawing of
one form of it, Druidism, by the emperor Claudius in AD 54. It persisted
somewhat longer in Britain and Ireland, where it gradually disappeared
during Christianisation, over the fifth and sixth centuries. During the Iron
Age, Celtic polytheism was the predominant religion in the area now
known as England.
Roman Polytheism
Roman polytheism was introduced to England when the Roman Empire
invaded and occupied the area. The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who
were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in
the year 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by
the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey in the Irish Sea). However,
under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities,
such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like
Mars Rigonemetos (King of the Sacred Groves) at Nettleham.
It is difficult to determine precisely to what an extent earlier native beliefs
survived. Certain northern European ritual traits remain in archaeological
records, such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the
head and of water sources such as springs. However, the differences in
the votive offerings (expressing a wish, desire or vow) made at Bath
before and after the Roman conquest suggest there was only partial
continuity. Worship of the Emperor is widely recorded, especially at
military sites. The founding of a temple to Claudius at Camulodunum
(today Colchester, Essex) was one of the impositions that led to the revolt
led by Boudica (also spelled Boudicca, formerly known as Boadicea),

32

queen of the Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia, against the
occupying forces of the Roman Empire.
Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end
of the occupation. The Temple of Mithras (the ancient Persian god of
light and guardian against evil, often identified with the sun) is one
example of the popularity of mystery religions amongst the rich urban
classes. In the Dark Ages, immigrants from the European continent
arrived, bringing Anglo-Saxon paganism, a subset of Germanic paganism
with them. Later, after most of the Anglo-Saxon peoples had converted to
Christianity, Vikings from Scandinavia arrived, bringing with them Norse
paganism.
Christianity
Christianity was first introduced through the Romans. English mythology
links the introduction of Christianity to England to the Glastonbury
legend of Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph was believed to travel to Britain
and the myth of the staff that he set in the ground at Glastonbury, which
broke into leaf and flower as the Glastonbury Thorn is a common miracle
in hagiography. Many sources tell of King Lucius, later Saint Lucius,
becoming the first native Christian in Britain after he invited Pope
Eleuterus in a letter to send missionaries to Britain in order to
Christianise the people. However, both Lucius Britannius rex and his
letter to the pope are now generally considered as unhistorical.
Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in
the third and fourth centuries. The Romano-British population after the
withdrawal of the Roman legions was mostly Christian.

32

The arrival of the Anglo-Saxons introduced Anglo-Saxon polytheism to

what is now England. Christianity was re-introduced into England
through missionaries from Scotland and from Continental Europe. This is
the era of St. Augustine (the first Archbishop of Canterbury) and the
Celtic Christian missionaries in the north (notably St. Aidan and St.
Cuthbert). The Synod of Whitby in 664 ultimately led to the English
Church being fully part of Roman Catholicism. Early English Christian
documents surviving from this time include the seventh-century
illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels and the historical accounts written by the
Venerable Bede.
Norman nobles and bishops had influence before the Norman Conquest
of 1066, and Norman influences affected late Anglo-Saxon architecture.
Edward the Confessor was brought up in Normandy and in 1042 brought
masons to work on Westminster Abbey, the first Romanesque building in
England. Pope Innocent III placed the kingdom of England under an
interdict for seven years between 1208 and 1215 after King John refused
to accept the popes appointee as Archbishop of Canterbury. Saint Alban
is venerated by some as the first Christian martyr in England. Saint
George is generally recognised as the patron saint of England and the flag
of England consists of the cross of St. George.
Anglicanism
In 1536, the Church in England split from Rome over the issue of the
divorce of King Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon. The split led to the
emergence of a separate ecclesiastical authority. Later the influence of the
Reformation resulted in the Church of England adopting its distinctive
reformed Catholic position known as Anglicanism. The first Act of

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Supremacy granted King Henry VIII of England Royal Supremacy, which

is still the legal authority of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The
term Royal Supremacy is specifically used to describe the legal
sovereignty of the civil laws over the laws of the Church in England.
The First Act of Supremacy 1534
The Act of Supremacy of November 1534 was an Act of the Parliament
of England under King Henry VIII declaring that he was the only
supreme head on earth of the Church in England and that the English
crown shall enjoy all honours, dignities, preeminences, jurisdictions,
privileges, authorities, immunities, profits, and commodities to the said
dignity. Henry was declared Defender of the Faith (Fidei Defensor)
for his pamphlet accusing Martin Luther of heresy, and was now
confirmed as head of the Church in England through this legislation. This
made official the English Reformation that had been brewing since 1527,
and caused a long-lasting distrust between England and the Roman
Catholic Church. The main purpose of this act was so that Henry could
get an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, but Pope
Clement VII still refused to grant the annulment. The Treasons Act was
later issued saying that to disavow the Act of Supremacy and to deprive
the King of his dignity, title, or name was to be considered treason.
This act was repealed in 1554 by Henrys daughter, Queen Mary I.

The Six Articles (1539)

In 1538 three German theologiansFrancis Burkhardt, vice-chancellor of
Saxony; George von Boyneburg, doctor of law; and Friedrich Myconius,

32

superintendent of the church of Gothawere sent to London and held

conferences with the Anglican bishops and clergy in the archbishops
palace at Lambeth for several months. The Germans presented, as a basis
of agreement, a number of Articles based on the Lutheran Confession of
Augsburg. Bishops Tunstall, Stokesley and others were not won over by
these Protestant arguments and did everything they could to avoid
agreement. They were willing to separate from Rome, but their plan was
to unite with the Greek Church and not with the evangelical Protestants
on the continent. The bishops also refused to eliminate what the Germans
called the Abuses (e.g., private Masses, celibacy of the clergy,
invocation of saints) allowed by the reformed English Church. Stokesley
considered these customs to be essential because the Greek Church, as the
Eastern Orthodox Church was called at that time, practised them. In
opposition, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer favoured a union with the
Germans. The king, unwilling to break with Catholic practices, dissolved
the conference.
Henry had felt uneasy about the appearance of the Lutheran doctors and
their theology within his kingdom. On 28 April 1539 Parliament met for
the first time in three years. On 5 May, the House of Lords created a
committee with the customary religious balance to examine and
determine doctrine. 11 days later, the Duke of Norfolk noted that the
committee had not agreed on anything and proposed that the Lords
examine six doctrinal questions which eventually became the basis of the
Six Articles. The articles reaffirmed Catholic doctrine on key issues:
1. Transubstantiation (the doctrine holding that the bread and wine of
the Eucharist are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, although
their appearances remain the same);

32

2. The reasonableness of withholding of the cup from the laity during

communion;
3. Clerical celibacy;
4. Observance of vows of chastity;
5. Permission for private masses;
6. The importance of auricular confession (spoken into the ear).
Penalties under the act ranged from imprisonment and fine to death.
However, its severity was reduced by an act of 1540, which retained the
death penalty only for denial of transubstantiation, and a further act
limited its arbitrariness. The Catholic emphasis of the doctrine celebrated
in the articles is not matched by the ecclesiastical reforms that Henry
undertook in the following years, such as the enforcement of the necessity
of the English Bible and the insistence upon the abolition of all shrines,
both in 1541. As the Act of the Six Articles neared passage in Parliament,
Archbishop Cranmer moved his wife and children out of England to
safety. Up to now, the family was kept quietly hidden, most likely in Ford
Palace in Kent. The Act passed Parliament at the end of June and it forced
such clergymen as Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Shaxton to resign their
dioceses given their outspoken opposition to the measure. After Henrys
death, the articles were repealed by his son, Edward VI.
The Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the common title of a number of prayer
books of the Church of England and used throughout the Anglican
Communion. The first book, published in 1549, in the reign of Edward
VI, was a product of the English Reformation following the breach with
Rome. Prayer books, unlike books of prayers, contain the words of

32

structured (or liturgical) services of worship. The work of 1549 was the
first prayer book to contain the forms of service for daily and Sunday
worship in English and to do so within a single volume. It included
morning prayer, evening prayer, the Litany, and Holy Communion. The
book also included the other occasional services in full: the orders for
baptism, confirmation, marriage, prayers to be said with the sick and a
funeral service. It set out in full the Epistle and Gospel readings for the
Sunday Communion Service. Set Old Testament and New Testament
readings for daily prayer were specified in tabular format as were the set
Psalms and canticles, mostly biblical, that were provided to be sung
between the readings.
The 1549 book was rapidly succeeded by a reformed revision in 1552
under the same editorial hand, that of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of
Canterbury. It never came into use because, on the death of Edward VI,
his half-sister Mary I restored Roman Catholic worship. On her death, a
compromise version, combining elements of the 1549 and the 1552
editions, was published in 1559. Following the tumultuous events leading
to and including the English Civil War, another major revision was
published in 1662. That edition has remained the official prayer book of
the Church of England, although in the twenty-first century, an alternative
book called Common Worship has largely displaced the Book of
Common Prayer at the main Sunday worship service of most English
parish churches.
The Book of Common Prayer appears in many variants in churches inside
and outside of the Anglican Communion in over 50 different countries
and in over 150 different languages. Again in many parts of the world,
more contemporary books have replaced it in regular weekly worship.

33

Traditional Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian prayer books have

borrowed from the Book of Common Prayer, and the marriage and burial
rites have found their way into those of other denominations and into the
English language. Like the Authorized King James Bible, and the works
of Shakespeare many words and phrases from the Book of Common
Prayer have entered popular culture.
The Marian Persecutions
The Marian Persecutions refer to the persecutions of Religious
Reformers, Protestants, and other dissenters for their beliefs during the
reign of Mary I of England. During the earlier reign of Edward VI of
England, the English Book of Common Prayer was issued, which became
a pillar of the reformed Church of England. Common people who had
taken up the opportunity to read the Holy Scriptures in English
translations during that period became liable to arrest during the reign of
Mary, who re-admitted the Roman Catholic Church with its papal
authority, and set out to enforce its principles upon her subjects. While
other Tudor monarchs were also responsible for the persecution and
execution of religious heretics, Mary is viewed as controversial given the
high number of judicial executions for heresy carried out during a reign
that lasted only five years.
According to John Foxes Book of Martyrs (1563), the perceived excesses
of this period led to the later epithet Bloody Mary being given to the
queen. Bishop Bonner, the Bishop of London, was also nicknamed
Bloody Bonner for his involvement in the persecution. The total
number claimed to have suffered for their faith during the reign of Mary
was approximately 270. These executions were mostly carried out in

33

public places by burning at the stake and were witnessed by large

numbers of the populace, in whom they were intended to strike fear.
However according to Foxes account, within the decade following the
Marian persecutions, instead of frightening the population into reverting
to Catholicism, they rather helped to light the fire of the Reformed Faith.
The Elizabethan Religious Settlement
The Elizabethan Religious Settlement was Elizabeth Is response to the
religious divisions created over the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and
Mary I. This response, described as The Revolution of 1559, was set
out in two Acts of the Parliament of England. The Act of Supremacy of
1559 re-established the Church of Englands independence from Rome,
with Parliament conferring on Elizabeth the title Supreme Governor of
the Church of England, while the Act of Uniformity of 1559 set out the
form the English church would now take, including establishing the Book
of Common Prayer.
The Civil War
During the reigns of the Stuart kings, James I and Charles I, the battle
lines were to become more defined, leading ultimately to the English
Civil War, the first on English soil to engulf parts of the civilian
population. The war was only partly about religion, but the abolition of
prayer book and episcopacy by a Puritan Parliament was an element in
the causes of the conflict. The legacy of these tumultuous events can be
recognised throughout the Commonwealth (1649-1660) and the
Restoration which followed it and beyond. Anglicans were to become the
core of the restored Church of England, but at the price of further

33

division. At the Restoration in 1660 Anglicans were to be but part of the

religious scene.
The Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Conspiracy of 1605, or the Powder Treason or
Gunpowder Plot, as it was known at the time, was a failed assassination
attempt by a group of provincial English Catholics against King James I
of England and VI of Scotland. The plot intended to kill the king, his
family, and most of the Protestant aristocracy in a single attack by
blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening on 5
November 1605. The conspirators led by Guy Fawkes had also planned to
abduct the royal children, not present in Parliament, and incite a popular
revolt in the Midlands.
The discovery of the Gunpowder Plot aroused a wave of national relief at
the delivery of the king and his sons and inspired in the ensuing
parliament a mood of loyalty and goodwill which Salisbury astutely
exploited to extract higher subsidies for the king than any but one granted
in Elizabeths reign. In his speech to both houses on 9 November, James
revealed the two emerging preoccupations of his monarchy: the divine
right of kings and the Catholic question. He insisted that the plot had
been the work of a few Catholics and not of the English Catholics as a
whole. And he reminded the assembly to rejoice at his survival, since
kings were divinely appointed and he owed his escape to a miracle.
The Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was appointed by the Long
Parliament to restructure the Church of England. The Assembly met for

33

six years (1643-1649), and in the process produced the documents which
are the major Confessional Standards of the Presbyterian faith, including
the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger Catechism,
the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and the Directory of Public Worship.
In 1643 the Assembly produced and forwarded to Parliament The
Directory for the Publick Worship of God, The Form of Presbyterial
Church Government, a creedal statement, The Westminster Confession
of Faith, a Larger Catechism and a Shorter Catechism. The House of
Commons insisted that the Assembly include scriptural proof texts with
the Confession and the two catechisms. The divines also examined and
approved the use of a metrical version of the Psalter in general worship.
The completed work of the Westminster Assembly was eventually
adopted with revisions in England, but was revoked during the
Restoration in 1660. All of the documents were embraced by the Church
of Scotland. Further, they formed the cornerstone of the Presbyterian
Church and other reformed churches as they established themselves
throughout Europe and America. Extensive fresh research on the
Westminster Assembly is being conducted by the Westminster assembly
project, based in Cambridge, England.

Religion in the United Kingdom

Background

33

The Treaty of Union that led to the formation of the United Kingdom
(1707) ensured that there would be a protestant succession as well as a
link between church and state that still remains. Christianity is the major
religion, followed by Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and then Judaism in
terms of number of adherents. Though each country that makes up the
UK has a long tradition of Christianity that pre-dates the UK itself, in
practice all have relatively low levels of religious observance and today
are secular societies.
Several different sets of figures exist which aim to categorise the
religious affiliations, beliefs and practices of UK residents. Differences in
the wording and context of the questions can give substantially different
results. The 2001 census found that 76.8% of the UK population had a
religion, with Christianity being the most prevalent (72% of respondents
described their religion as such), while the British Social Attitudes Survey
produced by the National Centre for Social Research in the same year
reported that 58% considered themselves to belong to a religion. An
Ipsos MORI poll in 2003 reported that 43% considered themselves to be
a member of an organised religion (18% were a practicing member of
an organised religion) and an ICM survey in 2006 found that 33%
considered themselves to be a religious person. A Eurobarometer
opinion poll in 2005 reported that 38% believed there is a God, and a
further 40% believe there is some sort of spirit or life force.
Many other religions have also established a presence in the UK, mainly
through immigration, though also by attracting converts. According to the
2001 UK census, which was the first to ask about the religion of
respondents, after Christianity and those who stated no religion, the
religions with the most adherents are Islam and Hinduism. Other faiths

33

include Sikhism, Judaism, Buddhism, the Bah Faith, Rastafarianism

and Neopaganism. There are also organizations which promote
rationalism, humanism, and secularism.
Christianity
The National Churches
The Protestant Reformation established different religious practices in the
different countries of what became the United Kingdom.
The Established National Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in
England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and
the oldest among the communions thirty-eight independent national
churches. The Church of England considers itself to be both Catholic and
reformed. It regards itself as in continuity with the pre-Reformation state
Catholic Church, but has been a distinct Anglican church since the
settlement under Elizabeth I, with some disruption during the
seventeenth-century Commonwealth period. The British Monarch is
formally Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and its spiritual
leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is regarded by convention as
the head of the worldwide communion of Anglican Churches, (the
Anglican Communion). In practice the Church of England is governed by
the General Synod, under the authority of Parliament.
The National Church of Scotland

33

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name,

The Kirk, is the national church of Scotland. It is a Presbyterian church,
decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation. It is recognised in law (by
the Church of Scotland Act 1921) as the national church in Scotland, but
is not an Established church and is independent of state control in
spiritual matters. It is a Reformed church, with a Presbyterian system of
ecclesiastical polity (form of government). Although the British Monarch
is an ordinary member of the Church of Scotland, the monarch is
represented at the General Assembly by the Lord High Commissioner.
The Scottish Reformation was more influenced by Calvinism than in
England, with the adoption of the Westminster Confession of Faith. There
have been divisions within Presbyterianism such as the Disruption of
1843 in Scotland when 450 ministers of the Church broke away, over the
issue of the Churchs relationship with the State, to form the Free Church
of Scotland. In 1900 the vast majority of the Free Church of Scotland
united with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland to form the
United Free Church of Scotland, which re-united with the Church of
Scotland in 1929. The remaining members of the former Free Church
founded a new Free Church of Scotland, which they claimed to be the
legitimate Free Church in 1900. The indigenous Scottish Episcopal
Church, which is part of the Anglican Communion, is a relatively small
denomination and not established.
The National Church of Wales
The Church in Wales, (Welsh: Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru), is a member
Church of the Anglican Communion, consisting of six dioceses in Wales.
The Welsh Church Act 1914 provided for the separation of the dioceses

33

of the Church of England located in Wales known collectively as the

Church in Wales from the rest of the Church, and for the simultaneous
disestablishment of the Church. The Act came into operation in 1920. As
in Scotland the Church of Wales is not an Established church. The
Archbishop of Wales holds that post as well as being bishop of one of the
six dioceses.
Beside the Roman Catholic Church (Welsh: Eglwys Gatholig Rufeining)
and the Church in Wales which both have less than 5% of the population
as members, the largest religious societies are the Presbyterian Church of
Wales (Welsh: Eglwys Bresbyteraidd Cymru) with 34,819 (2004)
members and 1% of the population as members and the Union of Welsh
Independents (Welsh: Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg) as well as the
Baptist Union of Wales (Welsh: Undeb Bedyddwyr Cymru) both with
about 1% of the population as members.
The National Church of Northern Ireland
The Anglican Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the
Anglican Communion, operating across both Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland. Like other Anglican churches, it considers itself to be
both Catholic and Reformed. The Church of Ireland was disestablished in
1871 by the Irish Church Disestablishment Act. The Republic of Ireland
later seceded from the UK. Although the Protestant population of
Northern Ireland is larger numerically than the Catholic population, the
Roman Catholic Church forms the largest single denomination. The
largest Protestant denominations are the Presbyterian Church in Ireland,
the Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church. The 2001 UK census
showed 40.3% Roman Catholic, 20.7% Presbyterian Church, with the

33

Church of Ireland having 15.3% and the Methodist Church 3.5%. 13.8%
gave no religion, and other religions were 0.3%.
Structure of the Church of England
Despite the complexities of the structure, at its heart, the Church of
England views the local parish church as the basic unit and heartbeat of
its life. The British monarch, at present Queen Elizabeth II, has the
constitutional title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The
Canons of the Church of England state, We acknowledge that the
Queens most excellent Majesty, acting according to the laws of the
realm, is the highest power under God in this kingdom, and has supreme
authority over all persons in all causes, as well ecclesiastical as civil. In
practice this power is often exercised through Parliament and the Prime
Minister.
The Church is structured as follows (from the lowest level upwards):

The Parish is the most local level, often consisting of one church
building and a community, although nowadays many parishes are
joining forces in a variety of ways for financial reasons. Larger
parishes often have one or more chapels in addition to the parish
church. The parish will be looked after by a parish priest who for
various historical or legal reasons may bear any of the following
titles: Vicar, Rector, Priest-in-Charge, Team Rector or Team Vicar.
The first, second, and fourth of these may also be known as the
Incumbent (the present holder of the office). The running of the
parish is the joint responsibility of the incumbent and the Parochial

33

Church Council (PCC), which consists of the parish clergy and

elected representatives from the congregation.

There are also a number of local churches which do not have a

parish. In urban areas there are a number of Proprietary Chapels
(mostly built in the nineteenth century to cope with urbanisation
and growth in population). Also in more recent years there are
increasingly Church plants and Fresh expressions of Church,
whereby new congregations are planted in a variety of locations
(such as schools or pubs) in order to spread the Gospel of Christ in
a fresh and non-traditional manner.

The Deanery (e.g. Lewisham, or Runnymede) is the area for

which a rural dean is responsible. It will consist of a number of
parishes in a particular district. The rural dean will usually be the
incumbent of one of the constituent parishes. The parishes each
elect lay (that is non-ordained) representatives to the Deanery
Synod. Deanery Synod members each have a vote in the election of
representatives to the Diocesan Synod.

The Archdeaconry (e.g. Dorking). This is the area under the

jurisdiction of an archdeacon. It will consist of a number of
deaneries.

The Diocese (e.g. Diocese of Durham, Diocese of Guildford,

Diocese of St. Albans). This is the area under the jurisdiction of a
diocesan bishop, e.g. the Bishops of Durham, Guildford and St.
Albans, and will have a cathedral. There may also be one or more
assisting bishops, usually called Suffragan Bishops, within the
diocese who assist the diocesan bishop in his ministry. In some
very large dioceses a legal measure has been enacted to create
Episcopal Areas, in which case the diocesan bishop will run one
such Area himself, and will appoint an Area Bishop to run each

34

of the other Areas as mini-dioceses. In such cases, the diocesan

bishop legally delegates many of his powers to the area bishops.
Dioceses with Episcopal Areas include London, Southwark,
Chichester, and Lichfield. The bishops will work with an elected
body of lay and ordained representatives, known as the Diocesan
Synod, to run the diocese. A diocese is subdivided into a small
number of archdeaconries.

The Province (e.g. York and Canterburythese are the only two
in the Church of England). This is the area under the jurisdiction of
an archbishop, i.e. the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.
Decision making within the province is the responsibility of the
General Synod. A province is subdivided into many dioceses.

The Primacy (e.g. The Church of England). This is the area under
the jurisdiction of a primate, i.e. the Archbishop of Canterbury. A
primacy may consist of one or several provinces.

All rectors and vicars are appointed by patrons, who may be private
individuals, corporate bodies such as cathedrals, colleges or trusts, or by
the bishop or even appointed directly by the Crown. No clergy can be
instituted and inducted (installed) into a parish without swearing the Oath
of Allegiance to Her Majesty, and taking the Oath of Canonical
Obedience in all things lawful and honest to the bishop. Usually they
are instituted to the benefice (church office endowed with fixed capital
assets that provide a living) by the bishop and then inducted by the
archdeacon into the actual possession of the benefice propertychurch
and parsonage. Curates are appointed by rectors and vicars, but if priestsin-charge they are appointed by the bishop after consultations with the
patron. Cathedral clergy (normally a dean and a varying number of
residentiary canons who constitute the cathedral chapter, i.e. the assembly

34

of canons) are appointed either by the Crown, the bishop, or by the dean
and chapter themselves. Clergy officiate in a diocese either because they
hold office as beneficed clergy, or are licensed by the bishop when
appointed (e.g. curates), or simply with permission.
Primates and Bishops
The most senior bishop of the Church of England is the Archbishop of
Canterbury, who is the archbishop and primate of the southern province
of England, the Province of Canterbury. He also has the status of Primate
of All England and Metropolitan. He is also the focus of unity for the
worldwide Anglican Communion of independent national or regional
churches. The second most senior bishop is the Archbishop of York, who
is the archbishop and primate of the northern province of England, the
Province of York. For historical reasons he is referred to as the Primate of
England. The bishops of London, Durham and Winchester are ranked in
the next three positions. The process of appointing diocesan bishops is
complex, and is handled by a body called the Crown Nominations
Committee, which submits names to the Prime Minister (acting on behalf
of the Crown) for consideration.

Representative Bodies
The Church of England has a legislative body, the General Synod. The
Synod can create two types of legislation, Measures and Canons.
Measures have to be approved but cannot be amended by the UK

34

Parliament before receiving the Royal Assent and becoming part of the
law of England. Canons require Royal Licence and Royal Assent, but
form the law of the Church, rather than the law of the land. Another
assembly is the Convocation of the English Clergy (older than the
General Synod and its predecessor the Church Assembly). There are also
Diocesan Synods and Deanery Synods.
The House of Lords
Of the forty-four diocesan archbishops and bishops in the Church of
England, only twenty-six are permitted to sit in the House of Lords. The
Archbishops of Canterbury and York automatically have a seat, as do the
Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester. The remaining twenty-one
seats are filled in order of seniority by their consecration. It may take a
diocesan Bishop a number of years before they qualify to take a seat.
Until then, they are not a Lord Bishop, but simply a Bishop. The Bishops
of Sodor and Man (on the Isle of Man) and Gibraltar (in Europe) are not
eligible to sit in the House of Lords.
Financial Situation
The Church of England, although an established church, does not receive
any direct government support. Donations comprise its largest source of
income, though it also relies heavily on the income from its various
historic endowments. As of 2005, the Church of England had estimated
total outgoings of around 900 million.
Historically, individual parishes both raised and spent the vast majority of
the Churchs funding, meaning that clergy pay depended on the wealth of

34

the parish, and parish advowsons (the right to appoint clergy to particular
parishes) could become extremely valuable gifts. Individual dioceses also
held considerable assets: the Diocese of Durham possessed such vast
wealth and temporal power that its Bishop became known as the PrinceBishop. Since the mid-nineteenth century, however, the Church has
made various moves to equalise the situation, and clergy within each
diocese now receive standard stipends paid from diocesan funds.
Meanwhile, the Church moved the majority of its income-generating
assets (which in the past included a great deal of land, but today mostly
take the form of financial stocks and bonds) out of the hands of individual
clergy and bishops to the care of a body called the Church
Commissioners, which uses these funds to pay a range of non-parish
expenses, including clergy pensions, and the expenses of cathedrals and
bishops houses. These funds amount to around 3.9 billion, and generate
income of around 164 million each year (as of 2003), around a fifth of
the Churchs overall income.
The Church Commissioners give some of this money as grants to local
parishes, but the majority of the financial burden of church upkeep and
the work of local parishes still rests with the individual parish and
diocese, which meet their requirements from donations. Direct donations
to the church (not including legacies) come to around 460 million per
year, while parish and diocese reserve funds generate another 100
million. Funds raised in individual parishes account for almost all of this
money, and the majority of it remains in the parish which raises it,
meaning that the resources available to parishes still vary enormously,
according to the level of donations they can raise.

34

Most parishes give a portion of their money, however, to the diocese as a

quota or parish share. While this is not a compulsory payment,
dioceses strongly encourage and rely on it being paid. It is usually only
withheld by parishes either if they are unable to find the funds or as a
specific act of protest. As well as paying central diocesan expenses such
as the running of diocesan offices, these diocesan funds also provide
clergy pay and housing expenses (which total around 260 million per
year across all dioceses), meaning that clergy living conditions no longer
depend on parish-specific fundraising.
Although asset-rich, the Church of England has to look after and maintain
its thousands of churches nationwidethe lions share of Englands built
heritage. As current congregation numbers stand at relatively low levels
and as maintenance bills increase as the buildings grow older, many of
these churches cannot maintain economic self-sufficiency. But their
historical and architectural importance makes it difficult to sell them. In
recent years, cathedrals and other famous churches have met some of
their maintenance costs with grants from organisations such as English
Heritage. But the church congregation and local fundraisers must foot the
bill entirely in the case of most small parish churches. The government,
however, does provide some assistance in the form of tax breaks, for
example a 100% VAT refund for renovations to religious buildings.
In addition to consecrated buildings, the Church also controls numerous
auxiliary buildings attached to or associated with churches, including a
good deal of clergy housing. As well as vicarages and rectories, this
housing includes residences (often called palaces) for each of the
Churchs 114 bishops. In some cases, this name seems entirely apt.
Buildings such as Archbishop of Canterburys Lambeth Palace in London

34

and Old Palace at Canterbury have truly palatial dimensions, while the
Bishop of Durhams Auckland Castle has 50 rooms, a banqueting hall and
30 acres (120,000 m) of parkland. However, many bishops have found
the older palaces inappropriate for todays lifestyles, and some bishops
palaces are ordinary four bedroomed houses. Many dioceses which
have retained large palaces now employ part of the space as
administrative offices, while the bishops and their families live in a small
apartment within the palace. And in recent years some dioceses have
managed to put their palaces excess space and grandeur to profitable use
as conference centres. All three of the more grand bishops palaces
mentioned aboveLambeth Palace, Canterbury Old Palace and Auckland
Castleserve as offices for church administration, conference venues,
and only in a lesser degree the personal residence of a bishop. The size of
the bishops households has shrunk dramatically and their budgets for
entertaining and staff form a tiny fraction of their pre-twentieth-century
levels.
Roman Catholicism
The Roman Catholic Church organises separately for England and Wales,
Scotland and Ireland. Its formal history in England and Wales traces from
the 597 Augustinian mission and Augustine became the first Archbishop
of Canterbury in 598. The early years of the UK were difficult for
adherents of the Roman Catholic Church, although the persecution was
not violent as they had experienced in the then recent past, for instance
under the Popery Act 1698, that affected English and Welsh Catholics.
The civil rights of believers in Roman Catholicism were severely
curtailed, and there was no longer, as once in Stuart times, any Catholic
presence at court, in public life, in the military or professions. Many of

34

the Catholic nobles and gentry who had preserved on their lands among
their tenants small pockets of Catholicism had followed James II into
exile, and others at last conformed to Anglicanism, meaning that only
very few such Catholic communities survived.
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century most restrictions on
Catholic participation in public life were relaxed under acts such as the
Papists Act of 1778, Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1791 and Catholic
Relief Act of 1829. This process of Catholic Emancipation met violent
opposition in the Gordon Riots of 1780 in London (Lord George Gordon
and his Protestant Association against the Papists Act 1778). In the 1840s
and 1850s, especially during the Great Irish Famine, while the bulk of the
large outflow of emigration from Ireland was headed to the United States,
thousands of poor Irish people also moved to Great Britain and
established communities in cities and towns up and down the country
such as London, Liverpool, and Glasgow, thus giving Catholicism a huge
numerical boost. The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales reestablished a hierarchy in 1850, and the hierarchy was re-established in
Scotland in 1878.
Roman Catholic worship and liturgy has also influenced some parts of the
Anglican Church since the nineteenth century, such as in AngloCatholicism and the Oxford Movement. The Oxford Movement or
Tractarianism was an affiliation of High Church Anglicans, most of
whom were members of the University of Oxford, who sought to
demonstrate that the Church of England was a direct descendant of the
Church established by the Apostles. It was also known as the Tractarian
Movement after its series of publications Tracts for the Times (1833
1841).

34

Some sectarianism still remains, particularly in Northern Ireland and parts

of Scotland, especially Glasgow. However Roman Catholicism has found
more acceptance as part of the mainstream of British religious life. Basil
Cardinal Hume, Archbishop of Westminster from 1976 until his death in
1999, presided over a period which saw Catholicism become more
accepted in British society than it had been for 400 years, culminating in
the first visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Westminster Cathedral in 1995. He
had previously read the Epistle at the installation ceremony of Archbishop
Robert Runcie of Canterbury in 1980. It was also during his tenure in
Westminster that Pope John Paul II made a ground breaking visit to the
UK. The second largest church in Scotland in terms of membership is the
Roman Catholic Church.
Hierarchy
The Catholic Bishops in England and Wales come together in the
Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. Their elected
President is currently the Archbishop of Westminster. The Catholic
bishops in Scotland come together in the Bishops Conference of
Scotland. Their president is currently the Archbishop of St. Andrews and
Edinburgh. The Catholic bishops in Northern Ireland come together along
with bishops from the rest of Ireland as part of the Irish Bishops
Conference.

England and Wales

Province
Dioceses
Province of Birmingham Archdiocese of
Birmingham
Diocese of Clifton

Cathedral
Saint Chads Cathedral
Clifton Cathedral

34
Diocese of Shrewsbury Shrewsbury Cathedral
Archdiocese of Cardiff Saint Davids Cathedral
Diocese of Menevia
Saint Josephs Cathedral
Province of Cardiff
Cathedral Church of Our Lady of
Diocese of Wrexham
Sorrows
Diocese of Hallam
Cathedral Church of St Marie
Diocese of Hexham and
St. Marys Cathedral
Newcastle
Diocese of Lancaster
Lancaster Cathedral
Diocese of Leeds
Leeds Cathedral
Province of Liverpool
Archdiocese of
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
Liverpool
Diocese of
Middlesbrough Cathedral
Middlesbrough
Diocese of Salford
Salford Cathedral
Diocese of Arundel and
Arundel Cathedral
Brighton
Diocese of Plymouth
Plymouth Cathedral
Province of Southwark
Cathedral of St. John the
Diocese of Portsmouth
Evangelist
Archdiocese of
St. Georges Cathedral Southwark
Southwark
Diocese of Brentwood Brentwood Cathedral
Diocese of East Anglia Cathedral of St John the Baptist
Diocese of Northampton Northampton Cathedral
Province of Westminster
Diocese of Nottingham Nottingham Cathedral
Archdiocese of
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster
Ukrainian Greek
Apostolic Exarchate for Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of
Catholic (Eastern-rite) Ukrainians
the Holy Family in Exile
Cathedral Church of St. Michael
Bishopric of the Forces Bishopric of the Forces
and St. George
Scotland
Province
Province of Glasgow

Dioceses
Archdiocese of Glasgow
Diocese of Motherwell
Diocese of Paisley
Archdiocese of Saint
Andrews and Edinburgh
Diocese of Aberdeen

Province of Saint Andrews

and Edinburgh
Diocese of Argyll and the
Isles
Diocese of Dunkeld
Diocese of Galloway

Cathedral
St. Andrews Cathedral
Cathedral of Our Lady of
Good Aid
St. Mirins Cathedral
St. Marys Cathedral
Cathedral of Saint Mary of
the Assumption
St. Columbas Cathedral
St. Andrews Cathedral
St. Margarets Cathedral

34

Pentecostals
Pentecostal churches are continuing to grow and, in terms of church
attendance, are now third after the Church of England and the Roman
Catholic Church in England. The three main denominations of
Pentecostal churches are:
Assemblies of God in the United Kingdompart of the World
Assemblies of God Fellowship with over 600 churches in the UK;
Apostolic Churchcommenced in the early part of the twentieth
century in South Wales;
Elim Pentecostal Churchhas over 500 churches in the UK.
There is also a growing number of independent, charismatic churches that
encourage pentecostal practices at part of their worship.
Methodism
The Methodist movement traces its origin to the evangelical awakening in
eighteenth century Great Britain. Many parts of the British Isles
developed a strong tradition of Methodism from the eighteenth century
onwards. The Methodist movement was started in England by a group of
men including John Wesley, an Anglican clergyman and his younger
brother Charles as a movement within the Church of England, but
developed as a separate denomination after John Wesleys death.
Traditionally, Methodism proved particularly popular in Wales with the
Welsh Methodist revival in the eighteenth century and the 1904-1905

35

Welsh Revival and in Cornwall. Both Wales and Cornwall, alone among
the Celtic regions, were noted for their non-conformism. It was also very
strong in the old mill towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire and the new
industrial urban working class.
Schisms within the original Methodist church, and independent revivals,
led to the formation of a number of separate denominations calling
themselves Methodist. The largest of these were the Primitive Methodist
Church, the Bible Christian Church and the United Methodist Church
(not connected with the American denomination of the same name, but a
union of three smaller denominations). The original church became
known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church to distinguish it from these
bodies. The three major streams of British Methodism united in 1932 to
form the current Methodist Church of Great Britain, which is the fourth
largest Christian denomination in the UK with around 330,000 members
and 6,000 churches. It also includes congregations in the Channel Islands,
the Isle of Man, Malta and Gibraltar as part of the church. In Scotland the
congregations are more limited and in Northern Ireland, where
Methodism is also the fourth largest denomination, the church is
organised within the Methodist Church in Ireland. The Wesleyan Reform
Union and the Independent Methodist Connexion still remain separate
from the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
In the 1960s, the Methodist Church of Great Britain made ecumenical
overtures to the Church of England, aimed at church unity. Formally,
these failed when they were rejected by the Church of Englands General
Synod in 1972. However, conversations and co-operation continued,
leading on 1 November 2003 to the signing of a covenant between the
two churches. The Methodist Church in Ireland is the fourth largest

35

denomination in Northern Ireland. In 2002 The Methodist Church in

Ireland signed a covenant for greater cooperation and potential ultimate
unity with the Church of Ireland.
Orthodox Churches
Orthodoxy has more recently been introduced to the UK by Cypriot,
Russian, and other immigrants covering Eastern Orthodox and Oriental
Orthodox. There are various Russian Orthodox groups in the UK. Most of
their parishes fall under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Sourozh and the
Episcopal Vicariate of Great Britain and Ireland. The Archdiocese of
Thyateira and Great Britain, based in London, is a diocese of the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and was created in 1932. The
first recorded organised Greek Orthodox community in England was
established in 1670 by a group of 100 Greek refugees from Mani. As
well as the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches, there are also the
Armenian Apostolic Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church all in London as well as the Belarusian
Autocephalous Orthodox Church in Manchester. There are also the
Monophysites, or Non-ChalcedoniansArmenians, Copts and Ethiopians
(Abyssinians), and Syrian and Malabarese Jacobiteswho are,
nevertheless, viewed by the Orthodox Church as heretical groups.

Other Christian Denominations

Other traditions of Christianity have a long history in the UK. There has
been a strain of Nonconformism or Dissent traceable back to Lollardry,

35

a sect following John Wycliffe, in the mid-fourteenth century. The

English Dissenters were Christians who opposed States interference in
religious matters that broke away from the Church of England in the
sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Today these include
Baptists, Presbyterians, The Congregational Church, Mennonites,
Quakers, Unitarians, and The Countess of Huntingdons Connexion.
The first Baptist church met in Spitalfields, London in 1612. In the
seventeenth century Baptists refused to conform and be members of the
Church of England, arguing that Christ, and not the Monarch was head of
the church and were persecuted for their beliefs. The Baptist Union of
Great Britain (which actually covers England and Wales) was formed
when the General Baptists and Particular Baptists came together in 1891.
It is the largest national association of Baptist churches in the UK with
about 2,150 churches, thirteen regional associations and six Baptist
colleges.
The Baptist Union of Scotland was founded in 1869, when 51 churches
joined together to form the Union. By the end of the nineteenth century
this had risen to 118 churches. It currently has 173 churches. The Baptist
Union of Wales was formed in 1866. They have 447 churches with some
of them holding dual membership with the Baptist Union of Great
Britain. The Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland has over 100
churches on the island but mostly in Northern Ireland. There are also
smaller groupsthe Association of Grace Baptist Churches, the Gospel
Standard Baptists, the Grace Baptist Assembly and the Old Baptist
Union.

35

Presbyterianism is a family of Christian denominations within the

Reformed branch of Protestant Western Christianity. A form of
Calvinism, Presbyterianism evolved primarily in Scotland before the Act
of Union in 1707. Most of the few Presbyteries found in England can
trace a Scottish connection. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland
was formed in 1893 and claims to be the spiritual descendant of the
Scottish Reformation. The Free Church of Scotland, which claims to be
the legitimate Free Church in Scotland was founded in 1900. In England
Presbyterianism was founded in secret in 1572. The Evangelical
Presbyterian Church in England and Wales was founded in the late 1980s
and declared themselves to be a Presbytery in 1996. They currently have
ten churches. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the largest Protestant
denomination and second largest church in Northern Ireland. The Free
Presbyterian Church of Ulster was founded on 17 March 1951 by the
cleric and politician, Ian Paisley. It has about 60 churches in Northern
Ireland. The Presbyterian Church of Wales seceded from the Church of
England in 1811 and formally formed itself into a separate body in 1823.
The

Non-Subscribing

Presbyterian

Church

of

Ireland

has

31

congregations in Northern Ireland, with the first Presbytery being formed

in Antrim in 1725.
There are about 600 Congregational churches in the UK. In England
there are three main groups, the Congregational Federation, the
Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, and about 100
Congregational churches that are loosely federated with other
congregations in the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, or
are unaffiliated. In Scotland the churches are mostly members of the
Congregational Federation and in Wales, which traditionally has a larger
number of Congregationalists, most are members of The Union of Welsh

35

Independents. There is also one Mennonite congregation in the UK, the

Wood Green Mennonite Church in London.
Quakerism was founded in the UK in the seventeenth century. The
Britain Yearly Meeting is the umbrella body for the Religious Society of
Friends in England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Isles and the Isle of
Man. There are 25,000 worshippers with about 400 local meetings.
Northern Ireland comes under the umbrella of the Ireland Yearly Meeting.
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches is the
umbrella organization for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal
religious congregations in the UK. The Unitarian Christian Association
was formed in 1991. The Countess of Huntingdons Connexion is a
small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783, which today has
23 congregations in England.
Other Denominations
Among other denominations are:
Christadelphiansthere are about 18,000 adherents in the UK;
The United Reformed Church (URC) is the result of a union
between

the

Presbyterian

Church

of

England

and

the

Congregational Church in England and Wales in 1972 and

subsequent unions with the Re-formed Association of Churches of
Christ in 1981 and the Congregational Union of Scotland in 2000;
the URC has about 1,900 congregations;
The Salvation Army was founded in the East End of London in
1865;

35

The Seventh-Day Adventist ChurchThe Trans-European

Division of Seventh-day Adventists of the church has its
headquarters in the UK; The British Union Conference is subdivided into five conferences covering the whole of the UK;
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons)
claims more than 180,000 members in the UK;
Jehovahs Witnesseshave about 130,000 members in the UK.
The UK provided a place of refuge for Huguenots fleeing religious
persecution in France. There are several Nordic churches in London
which provide Lutheran Christian worship.
Saints
Traditionally, saints have often been venerated locally, nationally and
internationally. This is often reflected in British toponymy. However,
following the Reformation, the cult of saints has been observed to a much
lesser degree than historically. The patron saints of Britain are:
Saint George for England;
Saint Andrew for Scotland;
Saint David for Wales;
Saint Patrick for Ireland.
Saint Alban was, according to tradition, the first Christian martyr in
Britain. Other martyrs, such as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales,
have also been canonised. Pilgrimages were an important religious, social
and economic activity in pre-Reformation Britain. The shrine of Thomas

35

Becket attracted particularly large numbers of pilgrims, as recounted in

Chaucers Canterbury Tales. Some local pilgrimages have been revived,
as for example, the shrines of Walsingham.
Islam
Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom, with a total of
about 1.6 million Muslims (or 2.8% of the total population). The first
large group of Muslims in England arrived about 300 years ago. They
were sailors recruited in India to work for the East India Company, and so
it is not surprising that the first Muslim communities were found in port
towns. Ships cooks came too, many of them from Sylhet in what is now
Bangladesh. There are records of Sylhetis working in London restaurants
as early as 1873. The first Muslim community which permanently settled
in Britain consisted of Yemeni sailors who arrived in ports such as
Swansea, Liverpool and South Shields shortly after 1900. Later some of
them migrated to inland cities like Birmingham and Sheffield. Mosques
also appeared in British seaports at this time. The first mosque in Britain
is recorded as having been at 2 Glyn Rhondda Street, Cardiff, in 1860.
From the 1950s, with large immigration to Britain from the former
colonies, large Muslim populations developed in many British towns and
cities. The vast majority of British Muslim population, 98%, follow Sunni
Islam. A large number of British Muslims are of South Asian descent,
following many different movements within Islam. The Muslim Council
of Britain is an umbrella organisation for many local, regional and
specialist Islamic organisations in the United Kingdom.
Judaism

35

The majority of Jewish immigration to Scotland appears to have occurred

post-industrialisation, and post-1707. The Jew Bill, enacted in 1753,
permitted the naturalisation of foreign Jews, but was repealed the next
year. The first graduate from the University of Glasgow who was openly
known to be Jewish was in 1787. Unlike their English contemporaries,
Scottish students were not required to take a religious oath. The Jewish
community has historically suffered expulsions, official restrictions and
discrimination, and outbreaks of communal violence. However, in the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries, British society was considered more
tolerant of Jews than most other European nations, especially the ones
from Germany and Eastern Europe.
In 1841 Isaac Lyon Goldsmid was made baronet, the first Jew to receive a
hereditary title. The first Jewish Lord Mayor of the City of London, Sir
David Salomons, was elected in 1855, followed by the 1858
emancipation of the Jews. On 26 July 1858, Lionel de Rothschild was
finally allowed to sit in the British House of Commons when the law
restricting the oath of office to Christians was changed. Benjamin
Disraeli, a baptised Christian of Jewish parentage, was already an MP. In
1874, Disraeli became Prime Minister having earlier been Chancellor of
the Exchequer. In 1884 Nathan Mayer Rothschild, 1 st Baron Rothschild
became the first Jewish member of the British House of Lords. Again
Disraeli was already a member.
The Jewish population of the UK peaked in the late 1940s at around
400,000, but has since declined through emigration and intermarriage to
around 250,000. Some community leaders have expressed concern that
the Jewish community could disappear by the end of the twenty-first
century if current trends continue. However, a report in August 2007 by

35

University of Manchester historian Dr. Yaakov Wise stated that 75% of

all births in the Jewish community were to ultra-orthodox, Haredi parents
(the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism), and that
the increase of ultra-orthodox Jewry allied with the declining overall
Jewish population has led to a significant rise in the proportion of British
Jews who are ultra-orthodox. The figures were based on census data and
also on the regular monitoring of Jewish births by academics in both
Manchester and Leeds. A ten-month inquiry into anti-Semitism in Britain
was delivered by three members of Parliament to Downing Street on 7
September 2006, and criticized boycotts of academics working in Israel
and using criticism of Israel as a pretext for spreading hatred against
British Jews.
Other Faiths
More recently, immigration has led to the introduction of other religions
of which most adherents are found amongst ethnic minorities. New
Christian movements are also represented among communities of
immigrant origin. Religious diversity has led Charles, Prince of Wales, to
muse publicly on the desirability of being Defender of Faith rather than
Defender of the Faith. British Imperial interests in Asia led to contacts
with religions of Eastern origin. Scholarly study of these religions in the
nineteenth century, especially Hinduism and Buddhism, also led to
conversions in the United Kingdom. British members of the Theosophical
Society spread interest in Asian religion.
Early Hindus in the UK were mostly students during the nineteenth
century. There have been four waves of migration of Hindus into the UK.
Before Indias Independence in 1947, Hindu migration to the United

35

Kingdom was small and largely temporary. The second wave of Hindu
migration occurred in the 1950s and 1960s with people coming chiefly
from the Punjab. The third wave of immigration came in the 1970s after
the expulsion of Gujarati Hindus from Uganda. The UK is also host to a
large immigrant community of Sri Lankan Hindus who are mostly
Tamils. The last wave of migration of Hindus to the UK has been taking
place since the 1990s with refugees from Sri Lanka and professionals
from India. While the majority of Hindus in the UK are from Indian and
Sri Lankan ethnic groups, communities are found across all the major
ethnic groups in the UK. According to the 2001 census there were 19,000
Hindus who did not come under any of the Asian categories including
over 7,000 from the white population and 3,000 each under Black,
Chinese and other groups.
The first recorded Sikh settler in the UK was Maharaja Duleep Singh,
dethroned and exiled in 1849 at the age of 14, after the Anglo-Sikh wars.
The first Sikh Gurdwara (temple) was established in 1911, in Putney,
London. The first Sikh migration came in the 1950s, mostly of men from
the Punjab seeking work in industries such as foundries and textiles.
These new arrivals mostly settled in London, Birmingham and West
Yorkshire. Thousands of Sikhs from East Africa followed.
The earliest Buddhist influence on Britain came through its imperial
connections with South East Asia, and as a result the early connections
were with the Theravada traditions (small, conservative branch of
Buddhism) of Burma, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. The tradition of study
resulted in the foundation of the Pali Text Society, which undertook the
task of translating the Pali Canon of Buddhist texts into English.
Buddhism as a path of practice was pioneered by the Theosophists,

36

Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott, and in 1880 they became the first
Westerners to receive the refuges and precepts, the ceremony by which
one traditionally becomes a Buddhist.
In 1924 Londons Buddhist Society was founded, and in 1926 the
Theravadin London Buddhist Vihara. The rate of growth was slow but
steady through the century, and the 1950s saw the development of interest
in Zen Buddhism. In 1967 Kagyu Samy Ling Monastery and Tibetan
Centre, now the largest Tibetan centre in Western Europe, was founded in
Scotland. The first home-grown Buddhist movement was also founded in
1967, the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order.
An estimated 40,000 to 250,000 Britons (0.1% to 0.4%) adhere to various
forms

of

Neopaganism,

including

Neo-Druidism,

Germanic

neopaganism, Wicca and New Age faiths. The Bah Faith in the
United Kingdom follows a tradition which started in 1845 and is present
in all the countries of the British Isles like England, Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland. Between 1951 and 1993, Bahs from the United
Kingdom settled in 138 countries. There are about 5000 Bahs of the
UK. The United Kingdom also has a large and growing non-religious
population with 13,626,000 (23.2% of the UK population) either claiming
no religion or not answering the question on religion at the 2001 census.

Religion and Education

36

Religion is still heavily involved in education in the UK. 7,000 (30%) of

the 24,000 state funded schools in the UK are faith schools. The vast
majority, 6,955 (99%), are Christian and 6,400 (92%) of these are
primary schools. These Christian state funded schools are mainly either
of Anglican or Roman Catholic denomination. There are also 36 Jewish,
7 Muslim and 2 Sikh faith schools. In England and Wales, faith schools
follow the same national curriculum as state schools with the added ethos
of the host religion. In Scotland, the majority of schools are nondenominational, but by legislation separate Roman Catholic schools, with
an element of control by the Roman Catholic Church, are provided by the
state system. Northern Ireland has a highly segregated education system,
with 95% of pupils attending either a maintained (Catholic) school or a
controlled school (mostly Protestant). However, controlled schools are
open to children of all faiths and none, mirroring the stance taken by
many Church of England schools.
Until 1944 there was no requirement for state schools in England and
Wales to provide religious education or worship, although most did so.
The Education Act of 1944 introduced a requirement for a daily act of
collective worship and for religious education but did not define what
was allowable under these terms. The act contained provisions to allow
parents to withdraw their children from these activities and for teachers to
refuse to participate. The Education Reform Act of 1988 introduced a
further requirement that the majority of collective worship be wholly or
mainly of a broadly Christian character. In recent years schools have
increasingly failed to comply with the collective worship rules. Religious
studies are still an obligatory subject in the curriculum, but tend to aim at
providing an understanding of the main faiths of the world than at
instilling a strictly Christian viewpoint.

36

Religion and Modern Politics

The strength of Nonconformism among workers in the newlyindustrialised towns of the Industrial Revolution gave rise, in large
measure, to the development of Christian socialism in the United
Kingdom. The Labour Party arose from a nonconformist background,
whereas the Church of England has sometimes been nicknamed the
Conservative Party at prayer. As religious disabilities were relaxed in the
nineteenth century, politics was opened up to people of different faiths or
none.
Lionel de Rothschild was the first Jew to take a seat in the House of
Commons (1858) and in 1884 Baron Rothschild became the first Jewish
member of the House of Lords. A Parsi was an MP between 1892-1895, a
Sikh was elected to the House of Commons in 1992, the first Muslim MP
was elected in 1997. Henry Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley, a
convert to Islam, was the first Muslim member of the House of Lords
(from 1869). The first Muslim appointed to the House of Lords was Nazir
Ahmed, Baron Ahmed in 1998. The first female Muslim so appointed,
also in 1998, was Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin.
However, the Church of England still maintains a constitutional position
in the legislature. The Prime Minister, regardless of his or her personal
beliefs, plays a key role in the appointment of Church of England bishops
(although in July 2007, Gordon Brown proposed reforms of the Prime
Ministers ability to affect Church of England appointments). The direct
influence of the Anglican Communion has been on the decline for many
years but the Church of England retains a representation in Parliament

36

and the right to draft legislative measures (usually related to religious

administration), through the General Synod, that can be passed into law,
but not amended by Parliament. The churches of the Anglican
Communion in the rest of the UK were disestablished in the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries. The debate over the role of the churches in the
constitution was perennial in British politics.
Religion and the Media
The BBC programme Songs of Praise is aired on Sunday evening and has
an average weekly audience of 2.5 million. Midnight mass and other such
events are usually broadcast. As a public broadcaster, the BBC produces
such programming partly because of remit (assigned) obligations.
Accordingly, BBC Three and BBC Four air occasional programming
from atheist or Muslim perspectives. Other channels offer documentaries
on, or from the perspective of non-belief. The British media often
portrays a cultural scepticism towards religion. British comedy in
particular has a history of satire and parody on the subject. Religious
mockery, or open disbelief in any religion, is not regarded as a taboo in
the British media, as it could be considered to be in the other nations, for
example the USA.
Secularism and Tolerance
Despite Christian tradition, the number of churchgoers fell over the last
half of the twentieth century and continues to do so in this century.
Society in the United Kingdom is markedly more secular than in the past.
According to the British Humanist Association 36% of the population is
humanist, and may, by the same token, be considered outright atheist and

36

the combined number of atheists and agnostics in the UK make up 44%

of the population according to some surveys. The National Secular
Society is among bodies aiming to reduce the influence of religion.
According to the 2001 census, however, 71.6% of population declared
themselves to be Christian, a further 2.7% as Muslim and 1% as Hindu.
Only 15.5% said they had no religion and 7.3% did not reply to the
question. The problem with interpreting these results is that they do not
reveal the intensity of religious belief or non-belief.
Ecumenical rapprochement has gradually developed between Christian
denominations. However, some religious tensions still exist. In the early
twenty-first century proposals to update the blasphemy law in the United
Kingdom were discussed. The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
made it an offence to incite hatred against a person on the grounds of
their religion. The common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous
libel were finally abolished with the coming into effect of the Criminal
Justice and Immigration Act of 2008 on 8 July. There being no strict
separation of church and state in the United Kingdom, public officials
may in general display religious symbols in the course of their duties
for example turbans. School uniform codes are generally drawn up
flexibly enough to accommodate religious dress. Chaplains are provided
in the armed forces and in prisons.

Statistics
Religions in United Kingdom, 2001

36
Percent
%
42,079,000
71.6
9,104,000
15.5
1,591,000
2.7
559,000
1.0
336,000
0.6
267,000
0.5
152,000
0.3
179,000
0.3
45,163,000
76.8
4,289,000
7.3

Religion/Denomination Current religion

Christian
No religion
Muslim
Hindu
Sikh
Jewish
Buddhist
Other Religion
All religions
Not Answered
No religion +
Not Answered
Base

13,626,000

23.2

58,789,000

100

Denominations in Great Britain, 2006

Percent
Religion/Denomination
%
Church of England
22.2
Roman Catholic
9.0
Presbyterian/Church of Scotland
2.4
Methodist
1.8
Other Protestant
2.3
Christian (no denomination)
9.6
Other Christian
0.3
Muslim
3.3
Hindu
1.4
Jewish
0.5
Sikh
0.3
Other Religion
0.6
No religion
45.8
Refused / NA
0.6

Selected Bibliography

36

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Black, Jeremy. A History of the British Isles. Houndmills: Palgrave
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Cannon, John, ed. The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford:
OUP, 1997.
Cook, Chris and John Stevenson. Britain since 1945. London: Longman,
1996.
Farrell, Mark. British Life and Institutions. Stuttgart: Klett, 2000.
Grant, Alexander and Keith J. Stringer, eds. Uniting the Kingdom?The
Making of British History. New York: Routledge, 1995.
Great Britain: The Complete Guide to England, Scotland and Wales.
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Harris, Jose. Civil Society in British History:Ideas, Identities, Institutions.
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British

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Action.

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Foreign

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Irwin, John L. Modern Britain: An Introduction. London: Unwin Hyman,
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Johnson, Paul, ed. 20th Century Britain: Economic, Social and Cultural
Change. Singapore: Longman, 1994.
Laderman, Linda. Britains Clothing and Textile Industry. London:
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Lloyd, T.O. The British Empire1558-1995. Oxford: OUP, 1996.
McCord, Norman. British History 1815-1906. Oxford: OUP, 1991.
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Jeremy.

Britains

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Nation, Michael. A Dictionary of Modern Britain. London: Penguin,
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36

Nicholson, Michael. Parliamentary Elections in Britain. London: Foreign

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ODriscoll, James. Britain: The Country and Its People. Oxford: OUP,
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Oakland, John. A Dictionary of British Institutions: A Students
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Oakland, John. British Civilisation: An Introduction. London: Routledge,
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Oakland, John. British Civilization:A Students Dictionary. London:
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Oakland, John. Contemporary Britain: A Survey with Texts. London:
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Robbins, Keith. Great Britain: Identities, Institutions and the Idea of
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Sports Marketing Surveys Ltd. Britains Sport and Fitness Industry.
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Storry, Mike and Peter Childs. British Cultural Identities. London:
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Thackeray, Frank W. And John E. Fielding, eds. Events that Changed
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The Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Britain. Oxford: Helicon, 1999.
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Ward, Paul. Britishness since 1870. London: Routledge, 2004.