A BRIEF HISTORY OF ENGLISH GOVERNMENT

By Tim Lambert

Saxon Government

The Saxons laid The foundations of English government. They divided England into shires. (The
Normans called them counties). Each shire was divided into areas called hundreds. (Originally a
hundred was one hundred families or one hundred hides, the amount of land needed to support a
family). Hundreds were abolished in 1867. Each shire was ruled by a noble called an Earldorman
(elder man).

The Saxons also had a council called the Witangemot or Witan made up of great nobles and senior
clergymen. The Witan had considerable power.

Life in Saxon times

English Government in the Middle Ages

The Normans replaced the Earldorman with the Sheriff (shire reeve). From the late 14th century
appointed magistrates called Justices of the Peace became increasingly important in local
government.

In the Middle Ages the king ruled by divine right. In other words people believed that God had
chosen him to be king and rebellion against him was a sin. However that did not stop rebellions!
Kings had limited power in the Middle Ages and rebellion was easy. A great deal depended on the
personality of the king. If he was a strong character he could control the barons. If he were weak or
indecisive the barons would often rebel. Warrior kings who fought successful wars were the most
powerful as they were popular with the nobility.

In those days the church was rich and powerful and the king needed its support. When he conquered
England William I replaced senior Saxon clergymen with men loyal to himself.
William the Conqueror was a ruthless man. However a writer of the time did say this about him; 'he
kept good law'. The eleventh century was a lawless age when a strong ruler who kept order was
admired.

King John (1199-1216) alienated many of his subjects. They claimed that he ruled like a tyrant
ignoring feudal law. He was accused to extorting money from people, selling offices, increasing taxes
and creating new ones whenever he wished. Matters came to a head after John tried to recapture his
lost lands in France in 1214 but failed. The baron's patience was exhausted. Finally in 1215 civil war
broke out. In June 1215 John was forced to accept a charter known as Magna Carta at Runneymede.
The charter was meant to stop the abuses. It stated that the traditional rights and privileges of the
church must be upheld. It also protected the rights and privileges of the aristocracy. Merchants who
lived in towns were also mentioned. However ordinary people were overlooked.

However Magna Carta did uphold an important principle. English kings could not rule arbitrarily. They
had to obey English laws and English customs the same as other men. Furthermore Magna Carta laid
down that no free man could be arrested, imprisoned or dispossessed without the lawful judgment
of his peers or without due process of law.

Henry III began to rule in 1227 and he soon alienated the barons by ignoring their traditional rights
and privileges. Worse, in 1254 the pope was fighting in Sicily. Henry III offered to fund the pope's
wars if the pope agreed to let his son, Edmund, become king of Sicily. The pope agreed but Henry
failed to provide the promised money.

In 1258 he turned to his barons for help. They were infuriated by his scheming and refused to do
anything unless Henry agreed to a new charter known as the provisions of Oxford.

At first Henry reluctantly agreed but in 1260 he renounced the provisions. Civil war resulted and in
1264 rebels led by Simon de Monfort defeated and captured the king at the battle of Lewes. They
also captured his eldest son Edward. Simon de Monfort called a parliament made up of
representatives from each county and each borough. It was the first English parliament.

However Edward escaped and in 1265 he defeated the barons at the battle of Evesham in
Worcestershire.

Edward I called the model parliament in 1290. As well as lords it contained 2 knights from each shire
and 2 representatives of each borough.
In 1337 Edward claimed the throne of France. War began in 1338. To finance his wars the king had to
raise taxes and to do that he needed parliament's co-operation. As a result parliament became more
powerful during his reign. In 1340 the Commons and the Lords began meeting separately.

In the Middle Ages most towns were given a charter by the king or the lord of the manor. It was a
document granting the townspeople certain rights. Usually it made the town independent and gave
the people the right to form their own local government.

Life in the Middle Ages

English Government in the 16th and 17th Century

In the 16th century the parish became the basis of local government. The leading figure was an
appointed magistrate called the Justice of the Peace.

In the 16th century the power of the monarchy increased. During the Middle Ages the barons held
castles, which were very difficult to capture so it was easy for them to rebel. Cannons changed all
that. (Guns were invented in the 14th century and they gradually became more efficient).

Henry VII also strengthened government by creating the Court of Star Chamber (so called because it
met in a room with stars painted on the ceiling). The court dealt with 'unlawful maintenance, giving
of licences, signs and tokens, great riots, unlawful assemblies'. The Court of Star Chamber was
abolished in 1641.

The 17th century was dominated by the struggle between king and parliament. The question was:
'Who was the ultimate authority in the land?'.

King James I (1603-1625) believed in the divine right of kings. In other words God had chosen him to
rule. James was willing to work with parliament but he believed ultimate authority rested with him.
Like his father Charles I (1625-1649) was firm believer in the divine right of kings. From the start he
quarrelled with parliament.

Matters came to a head in 1642 when Charles raised his standard and a civil war began. The first civil
war ended in 1646 and Charles was captured. However Charles managed to start another civil war in
1648.

In January 1649 Charles was put on trial for treason. He was found guilty on 27 January 1649 and he
was beheaded outside Whitehall on 30 January 1649.

On 17 March 1649 parliament passed an act abolishing monarchy and the House of Lords. However it
proved very difficult to find something to put in their place. Finally Cromwell died on 3 September
1658.

Oliver Cromwell appointed his son Richard his successor. However Richard resigned in May 1659.
Finally in February 1660 General Monck marched to London. Monck recalled the surviving members
of the Long Parliament, which first met in 1640.

The Long Parliament voted to disband and hold fresh elections for a new parliament. This one
became known as the Convention parliament.

The Convention Parliament declared that the government of England should be King, Lords and
Commons. In 1660 Charles II became king.

James II followed him in 1685 and he promptly alienated the people by appointing Catholics to
powerful and important positions.

Worse in June 1688 James had a son. The people of England were willing to tolerate James as long as
he did not have a Catholic heir. However his son would certainly be brought up a Catholic and would,
of course, succeed his father.
Seven powerful nobles then stepped in. They invited the Dutchman William of Orange, husband of
James's Protestant daughter Mary, to come to England with an army and promised to support him.
William landed in Devon in November and in December James II fled to France.

Parliament declared that the throne was vacant. William and Mary were declared joint monarchs.
(Although Mary died in 1694).

The Bill of Rights (1689) said that no Catholic could become king or queen. No king could marry a
Catholic. Furthermore the king could not suspend laws or levy loans or taxes without parliament's
consent.

Afterwards parliament was definitely the ultimate authority in England.

English Government in the 18th Century

The Act of Union of 1707 joined England and Scotland. They now had a common currency and
Scottish MPs sat in the Westminster parliament.

Two kings George I (1714-1272) and George II (1727-1760) spent a great deal of time in Hanover
(Germany) so government was often left in the hands of the king's ministers, the Cabinet. In 1721
Horace Walpole (1676-1745) became First Lord of the Admiralty and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Because he was the chief minister people began calling him the Prime Minister. After he resigned in
1742 the practice of having a chief or prime minister continued.

However things changed little during the 18th century. Britain was an oligarchy with power in the
hands of the wealthy landowners and rich merchants.

George III 91760-1820) tried to control government more directly than his predecessors. However he
lost support after the North American colonies were lost and later he went mad.

English Government in the 19th Century

In 1806 Thomas Hansard began producing reports of parliamentary debates in a journal published by
William Cobbett called Parliamentary Debates. Hansard bought out Cobbett in 1811 and continued to
publish the debates.

In the early 19th century there were two types of constituency, country areas and towns or
boroughs. In the countryside only the landowners could vote. In boroughs the franchise varied but
was usually limited. However the constituencies had not been changed for centuries and they no
longer reflected the distribution of the population. Industrial towns like Birmingham and Manchester
did not have MPs of their own. On the other hand some settlements had died out but they were still
represented in parliament! In 'rotten' or 'pocket' boroughs there might be only one or two voters!

In the early 19th century there were increasing demands for reforms. Most people wanted
constituencies distributed more fairly and they also wanted the franchise extended but Wellington's
party, the Tories, resisted.

However in 1830 the Whigs formed a government and they tried to introduced reform. The House of
Commons eventually voted for a reform bill but the House of Lords rejected it. The King, William IV,
warned that he would create more peers, who favoured the bill unless the Lords agreed to accept it.
Eventually the House of Lords backed down and passed the Great Reform Bill. It received the royal
assent on 7 June 1832.

The franchise was only extended slightly but much more importantly the new industrial towns were
now represented in parliament. Before 1832 Britain was ruled by an oligarchy of landowners. After
1832 the urban middle class had an increasing say.

Further reform eventually followed. In 1867 most workers in the towns were given the vote and in
1872 the Ballot Act introduced voting by secret ballot. In 1884 farm labourers were given the vote.

Meanwhile in 1835 the Municipal Corporations Act reformed town governments. A uniform system
of town government was formed. In 1888 another act created county councils.

English Government in the 20th Century

In 1918 in Britain women over 30 were allowed to vote. In 1928 they were allowed to vote at the age
of 21 (the same as men). In 1919 Nancy Astor became the first female MP and in 1929 Margaret
Bondfield became the first female cabinet minister. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first
female Prime Minister.

Meanwhile in 1909 the House of Lords rejected Lloyd George's budget. In response the Liberals
passed the Parliament Act, which stated the House of Lords, could not interfere with financial bills.
The Lords could no longer veto any bills but only delay them for two years. In 1949 that was reduced
to one year. In 1999 most hereditary peers in the House of Lords lost their seats.

In 1974 some British counties were reorganised. In the 1990s many English cities became unitary
authorities.

BRITANNICA

http://www.britannica.com/bps/edit/1fa6ab69-bb8e-4953-81cd-273de9a10c1b

Parliament, ( from Old French: parlement; Latin: parliamentum) the original legislative assembly of
England, Scotland, or Ireland and successively of Great Britain and the United Kingdom; legislatures
in some countries that were once British colonies are also known as parliaments. The British
Parliament, often referred to as the “Mother of Parliaments,” consists of the sovereign, the House of
Lords, and the House of Commons. Originally meaning a talk, the word was used in the 13th century
to describe after-dinner discussions between monks in their cloisters. In 1239 the English Benedictine
monk Matthew Paris of the Abbey of St. Albans applied the term to a council meeting between
prelates, earls, and barons, and it was also used in 1245 to refer to the meeting called by Pope
Innocent IV in Lyon, France, which resulted in the excommunication and deposition of the Holy
Roman Emperor, Frederick II.

Historical development

Modern parliaments trace their history to the 13th 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 new taxation, not their advice. Later in the 13th 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 King’s 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 king’s council in parliament”), judicial problems might be
settled that had proved beyond the scope of the ordinary law courts dating from the 12th 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 father’s 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 14th
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 15th 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 achieved in the 14th century separated it in practice from Parliament, and the
decline of Parliament’s 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; 1470–71), the assent of both the House of Lords—a body now based largely on heredity—
and 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 15th to 17th 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.

In the 17th century Parliament became a revolutionary body and the centre of resistance to the king
during the English Civil Wars (1642–51). 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 17th 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, 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 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 Act of 1911
and 1949. The former act, which resulted from the Lords’ rejection of the “People’s 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 party’s 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 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.