Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Little Old Ladies And The UK Electoral Process
Rain fell overnight and the early morning sun brought a layer of mist over Leith Links. It looked like something out of a ghost movie.
On the bus, I plugged in my earphones and turned on the radio. Rat in the Kitchen was playing - my favourite UB40 track. The song ended and out of the corner of my eye I noticed the little old lady sitting to my right waving wildly in my direction. I assumed she was trying to get the attention of someone in the street behind me, so I ignored her. Then it occurred to me we were sitting on the top deck of the bus and it would have to be a pretty tall person for her to be waving at.
I looked at her. She gestured for me to take my earphones out, which I did.
"Sorry," I said and laughed. "I thought you were waving at someone else."
"No, sonny," she shouted rather loudly. "Can you tell me where this is?"
She handed me a business card for a hearing aid centre situated on the South Bridge; a fair walk for a little old lady at the best of times.
"I'm not sure exactly where it is," I said. "But you need to cross the bridge at the Balmoral Hotel and keep walking for about half a mile. That’s the road which leads to the South Bridge."
"Eh?" she said, and waved her hand at her ear to emphasise her hearing aid wasn't working.
"I don’t know exactly where it is," I said again. "Cross the bridge at the Balmoral Hotel and keep walking. You'll find it about half a mile up the road."
She waved her arms again and screwed up her face with frustration.
"I - DON'T - KNOW - WHERE - IT - IS," I shouted. "CROSS - THE - BRIDGE - AT - THE - BALMORAL - HOTEL - AND - KEEP - WALKING - FOR - HALF - A - MILE. THAT - WILL - TAKE - YOU - TO - THE - SOUTH - BRIDGE."
"Oh right," she said and smiled. "Thank you, sonny."
She turned round on her seat to face the front of the bus. It was at this point I noticed the other people sitting nearer the front laughing at my attempts to help the wee woman on her way.
Needless to say, I've given her a name and she now lives in my wee red notebook until such time she makes into one of my stories.
I came across this site, http://poetrysuperhighway.com/pshffa.html, in a poetry newsletter I subscribe to. It is inviting e-books containing poetry to be submitted, which will be made available online for people to download for a set period of time. I collected some of my better poems, designed a cover and I'll send it in to see what happens.
I subbed The Blind Man Of Cathkin Street to The Edge Magazine. There's something much more exciting about postal submissions over e-mail. It's got a more traditional feel and is less immediate. According to the website I should expect a response within three weeks, but more than likely one.
Devon Ellington asked for a run-down of the election process in the UK, which I am more than happy to provide.
Calling an Election
On Tuesday, the 2005 General Election was called by the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Only he can do this, but first he must ask The Queen to dissolve parliament. This is done by a Royal Proclamation because ultimately, the Government is one level below The Monarchy. Hence why it is called Her Majesty's Government.
Parliament is then dissolved and writs issued to this effect. When parliament is dissolved, Members of Parliament (MPs) become ex-Members. During the period of an election they are not even allowed to enter the Palace of Westminster or use any of its facilities, though they are still paid up until polling day. The Government continues in office until the results of the election are known.
The election timetable runs for eighteen days starting with the dissolution of the old parliament and the issue of writs on day 0 and ends on day 17, polling day.
Elections are traditionally held on Thursdays but this is only a custom, not a requirement.
Constituencies
For electoral purposes, Britain is divided into parliamentary constituencies. Each returns one MP to the House of Commons. There are 659 constituencies as of the 1997 general election. Constituencies range considerably in area and in the number of electors. In general, the intention is to ensure that constituency electorates are kept roughly equal. However, this is not always possible, particularly for the more sparsely populated areas where it would be difficult for an MP effectively to represent a very large area. The average size of constituency electorate over the UK as a whole is around 68,000.
The Houses
The UK Parliament is based on a two-chamber system. The House of Lords and the House of Commons sit separately, and are constituted on different principles. However, the legislative process involves both Houses.
House of Commons
The House of Commons currently has 659 MPs, each representing an individual constituency. Of the 659 seats, 529 are for England, 40 for Wales, 72 for Scotland and 18 for Northern Ireland.
House of Lords
The House of Lords considers legislation, debates issues of importance and provides a forum for government ministers to be questioned. The Committees of the House consider a wide range of issues and produce reports on them. The House of Lords also includes the Law Lords, which is the highest court in the United Kingdom.
Electoral Commission
An Electoral Commission was established in November 2000 as an independent body to oversee new controls on donations to and campaign spending by political parties and others. It also has a remit to keep under review electoral law and practice and to promote public awareness of the electoral process.
Eligibility
British citizens are entitled to vote at elections providing that they are aged 18 or over and are not subject to any legal incapacity to vote. Citizens of other Commonwealth countries and the Irish Republic may also vote at parliamentary elections if they are resident in Britain, aged 18 or over and are not subject to any legal incapacity to vote.
Electoral law does not prohibit The Queen, or other members of Royal Family from voting. In practice it is considered unconstitutional for the Sovereign or heir apparent to vote in an election. Other members of Royal Family do not vote because of their closeness to the Sovereign.
Voting System
General elections are elections of the whole House of Commons at one time: one Member of Parliament for each constituency in the United Kingdom. Each MP is elected from the various candidates through secret ballot by a simple majority system in which each elector can cast one vote. The candidates may be from one of the three major political parties, from a minor party or from any other organisation that has been registered with the Electoral Commission. If a candidate does not represent a registered party or group he/she may stand as an 'Independent'.
Most voting takes place in polling stations, but any citizen eligible to vote in Great Britain can apply on demand to vote by post. British citizens living abroad are also entitled to a postal vote, as long as they have been living abroad for less than 15 years.
General elections are held at intervals of up to five years. The Government can, and often does, decide to hold one at an earlier date. In times of national emergency, such as war, general elections can be postponed, but this is very rare.
After the Vote
Once the votes are counted, the Prime Minister will select his/her Cabinet and Parliament will be opened by way of the State Opening of Parliament. The State Opening also takes place in October or November on the first day of the new parliamentary session.
The Queen's Speech is then delivered by the Queen from the Throne in the House of Lords. The speech is given in the presence of members of both Houses, the Commons being summoned to hear the speech by an official known as 'Black Rod'. 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. Although the speech is made by the Queen, the content of the speech is entirely drawn up by the Government and approved by the Cabinet.
On the bus, I plugged in my earphones and turned on the radio. Rat in the Kitchen was playing - my favourite UB40 track. The song ended and out of the corner of my eye I noticed the little old lady sitting to my right waving wildly in my direction. I assumed she was trying to get the attention of someone in the street behind me, so I ignored her. Then it occurred to me we were sitting on the top deck of the bus and it would have to be a pretty tall person for her to be waving at.
I looked at her. She gestured for me to take my earphones out, which I did.
"Sorry," I said and laughed. "I thought you were waving at someone else."
"No, sonny," she shouted rather loudly. "Can you tell me where this is?"
She handed me a business card for a hearing aid centre situated on the South Bridge; a fair walk for a little old lady at the best of times.
"I'm not sure exactly where it is," I said. "But you need to cross the bridge at the Balmoral Hotel and keep walking for about half a mile. That’s the road which leads to the South Bridge."
"Eh?" she said, and waved her hand at her ear to emphasise her hearing aid wasn't working.
"I don’t know exactly where it is," I said again. "Cross the bridge at the Balmoral Hotel and keep walking. You'll find it about half a mile up the road."
She waved her arms again and screwed up her face with frustration.
"I - DON'T - KNOW - WHERE - IT - IS," I shouted. "CROSS - THE - BRIDGE - AT - THE - BALMORAL - HOTEL - AND - KEEP - WALKING - FOR - HALF - A - MILE. THAT - WILL - TAKE - YOU - TO - THE - SOUTH - BRIDGE."
"Oh right," she said and smiled. "Thank you, sonny."
She turned round on her seat to face the front of the bus. It was at this point I noticed the other people sitting nearer the front laughing at my attempts to help the wee woman on her way.
Needless to say, I've given her a name and she now lives in my wee red notebook until such time she makes into one of my stories.
I came across this site, http://poetrysuperhighway.com/pshffa.html, in a poetry newsletter I subscribe to. It is inviting e-books containing poetry to be submitted, which will be made available online for people to download for a set period of time. I collected some of my better poems, designed a cover and I'll send it in to see what happens.
I subbed The Blind Man Of Cathkin Street to The Edge Magazine. There's something much more exciting about postal submissions over e-mail. It's got a more traditional feel and is less immediate. According to the website I should expect a response within three weeks, but more than likely one.
Devon Ellington asked for a run-down of the election process in the UK, which I am more than happy to provide.
Calling an Election
On Tuesday, the 2005 General Election was called by the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Only he can do this, but first he must ask The Queen to dissolve parliament. This is done by a Royal Proclamation because ultimately, the Government is one level below The Monarchy. Hence why it is called Her Majesty's Government.
Parliament is then dissolved and writs issued to this effect. When parliament is dissolved, Members of Parliament (MPs) become ex-Members. During the period of an election they are not even allowed to enter the Palace of Westminster or use any of its facilities, though they are still paid up until polling day. The Government continues in office until the results of the election are known.
The election timetable runs for eighteen days starting with the dissolution of the old parliament and the issue of writs on day 0 and ends on day 17, polling day.
Elections are traditionally held on Thursdays but this is only a custom, not a requirement.
Constituencies
For electoral purposes, Britain is divided into parliamentary constituencies. Each returns one MP to the House of Commons. There are 659 constituencies as of the 1997 general election. Constituencies range considerably in area and in the number of electors. In general, the intention is to ensure that constituency electorates are kept roughly equal. However, this is not always possible, particularly for the more sparsely populated areas where it would be difficult for an MP effectively to represent a very large area. The average size of constituency electorate over the UK as a whole is around 68,000.
The Houses
The UK Parliament is based on a two-chamber system. The House of Lords and the House of Commons sit separately, and are constituted on different principles. However, the legislative process involves both Houses.
House of Commons
The House of Commons currently has 659 MPs, each representing an individual constituency. Of the 659 seats, 529 are for England, 40 for Wales, 72 for Scotland and 18 for Northern Ireland.
House of Lords
The House of Lords considers legislation, debates issues of importance and provides a forum for government ministers to be questioned. The Committees of the House consider a wide range of issues and produce reports on them. The House of Lords also includes the Law Lords, which is the highest court in the United Kingdom.
Electoral Commission
An Electoral Commission was established in November 2000 as an independent body to oversee new controls on donations to and campaign spending by political parties and others. It also has a remit to keep under review electoral law and practice and to promote public awareness of the electoral process.
Eligibility
British citizens are entitled to vote at elections providing that they are aged 18 or over and are not subject to any legal incapacity to vote. Citizens of other Commonwealth countries and the Irish Republic may also vote at parliamentary elections if they are resident in Britain, aged 18 or over and are not subject to any legal incapacity to vote.
Electoral law does not prohibit The Queen, or other members of Royal Family from voting. In practice it is considered unconstitutional for the Sovereign or heir apparent to vote in an election. Other members of Royal Family do not vote because of their closeness to the Sovereign.
Voting System
General elections are elections of the whole House of Commons at one time: one Member of Parliament for each constituency in the United Kingdom. Each MP is elected from the various candidates through secret ballot by a simple majority system in which each elector can cast one vote. The candidates may be from one of the three major political parties, from a minor party or from any other organisation that has been registered with the Electoral Commission. If a candidate does not represent a registered party or group he/she may stand as an 'Independent'.
Most voting takes place in polling stations, but any citizen eligible to vote in Great Britain can apply on demand to vote by post. British citizens living abroad are also entitled to a postal vote, as long as they have been living abroad for less than 15 years.
General elections are held at intervals of up to five years. The Government can, and often does, decide to hold one at an earlier date. In times of national emergency, such as war, general elections can be postponed, but this is very rare.
After the Vote
Once the votes are counted, the Prime Minister will select his/her Cabinet and Parliament will be opened by way of the State Opening of Parliament. The State Opening also takes place in October or November on the first day of the new parliamentary session.
The Queen's Speech is then delivered by the Queen from the Throne in the House of Lords. The speech is given in the presence of members of both Houses, the Commons being summoned to hear the speech by an official known as 'Black Rod'. 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. Although the speech is made by the Queen, the content of the speech is entirely drawn up by the Government and approved by the Cabinet.
Colin 12:39 pm