At the head of the United Kingdom is the King, or, as at present, the Queen. But her power is very symbolic. Everything is done in Queen’s name. But her power is not absolute; it is limited in many various ways. It is said that the Queen reigns but does not rule. She personally does not decide what action the state shall take. The he- reditary principle still operates and the Crown is passed on to the sovereign’s eldest son (or daughter if there are no sons).

The Queen has a central role in state affairs, not only through her ceremonial functions, such as opening Parliament, but also because she meets the Prime Minister every week and receives copies of all Cabinet papers.

Functions of the Queen:

1. -    opening and closing Parliament;
2. -    approving the appointment of the Prime Minister;

The country is divided into 659 voting areas or … which each … one MP to serve in the … MPs have to represent all of their …, regardless of whether they voted for them. In addition MPs have a duty to their political party, to themselves and their own beliefs and to the nation as a whole. Once or twice a week people in a constituency have the chance to meet their… when they can talk about their prob­lems, large or small. People may come to their MP with … or money problems or perhaps someone has a relative in hospital and finds it difficult to get there on public transport. An MP spends time at…, and during holidays, meeting people in local factories, clubs, schools, etc.

The working hours of the House of Commons are very unusual. Most MPs start their day early in the… and may not get home until… or later.

It is important for MPs to keep up with the …- so the first thing they do in the morning is to look at the newspapers to know what has been happening overnight both in this country and … MPs often do this over breakfast.

The first thing an MP does after arriving at the House of Com­mons is to collect his … MPs receive huge amounts of mail every day; so reading and answering … takes a large amount of time.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, many MPs will be sitting on Committees.

At 2.30 p.m. each day, the … walks in procession to the Chamber of the House of Commons to begin the day’s …. The first hour of the afternoon from 2.30 to 3.30 p.m. is Question Time at which most MPs like to be present because they have a chance to ask the …

about what it is doing or not doing – and why. They especially like to be present on Tuesdays and Thursdays for Questions to the Prime Minister. From tea time until about 10.00 p.m. there are …  in the Chamber in which MPs may try to speak, especially if the subjects are of interest to their constituents.