The British government is the executive: the prime minister, the ministers who run departments, and the permanent civil service that carries out policy. Unlike the American system, it is not separate from the legislature — it is drawn from it and survives only with its support.
The fusion of powers
Almost every minister is a sitting MP or peer. The prime minister sits in the Commons, answers questions there weekly, and votes in divisions like any other member. There is no separation of powers in the American sense, and the government falls the moment it loses a confidence vote.
The practical effect is that a government with a working majority can pass almost anything it wants. British governments are considerably less constrained than American administrations, which is why change of direction here can be very fast.
The Cabinet
Around 20 to 25 senior ministers meeting weekly, chaired by the prime minister. The great offices of state are:
- Prime Minister
- Chancellor of the Exchequer — finance, equivalent to the Treasury Secretary
- Foreign Secretary — foreign affairs
- Home Secretary — policing, immigration and security, with no direct US equivalent
Collective responsibility is the binding convention: once Cabinet decides, every minister must publicly support the decision or resign. Ministers who cannot do so resign, and resignation letters are a major genre of British political drama.
The civil service
Around 500,000 permanent, politically neutral officials who serve whichever party is in power. Unlike the United States, there is no wholesale replacement of senior officials when the government changes — the same permanent secretaries who ran a department for one party run it for the next.
The neutrality is genuine and enforced, and it produces continuity that visiting American observers often find remarkable. The satirical series Yes, Minister made a national joke of the resulting tension between transient ministers and permanent officials, and civil servants regard it as documentary.
Devolution
Since 1999, substantial powers have been transferred to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd in Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly — health, education, transport, the environment, and varying tax powers. Defence, foreign policy, immigration and most economic policy remain reserved to Westminster.
England alone has no devolved parliament, which produces the long-running “West Lothian question”: Scottish MPs at Westminster can vote on English health policy while English MPs cannot vote on Scottish health policy.
No written constitution
Britain is one of very few countries without one. The rules are found in statutes, common law, historic documents such as Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights, and — crucially — in conventions: unwritten rules that are not legally enforceable and are followed because everyone accepts them.
The system relies on restraint. It works well when participants respect the conventions, and its weaknesses become visible very quickly when they do not.