on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the second and her loyal subjects
we're going to you the students of Georgetown day school
british political history convinced
yeah
the Uniting of the United Kingdom
the British Isles are 3,000 miles east of America
you'll find them happily floating in the Atlantic a safe distance of 21 miles
from France
the making of the modern British state can be traced all the way back to 1066
back then the axis of evil was the moment take the moment and of course the
normals take lots job
the leader of the Normans and chief bad guy was William of Normandy he invaded
Britain in 1066 conquered everything in sight and impose these rules throughout
the Isles as the centuries past the descendants of wicked Willie took
diplomatic steps to unite all parts of the British Isles into one nation as a
result in the 16th century various acts of union led to us english people being
stopped permanently with the Welsh in the 18th century
we got stuck permanently with the Scots and in the 19th century
we also got stuck with the Irish but as the Irish turned out to be a bit of a
problem
we didn't want to be stuck with them permanently so in 1922
we got rid of most violent and just kept the most northern six counties in other
words northern island to ourselves
so that's how we became us the united kingdom of great britain and northern
ireland the land of the English well
Scots and Irish was some of the Irish anyway from magna carter - Emily pan
cast
Britain is a parliamentary democracy and the roots of our parliamentary democracy
got all the way back to Magna Carta now it's widely believed the Magna Carta was
a distant relative of American president jimmy carter not true
the Magna Carta was an English charter issued in 1215 for the first time ever
it gave rights to feudal landowners and curtail the power of the monarchy
hmm in the centuries that followed the landowners gradually secured more and
more rights to themselves including the rights event make from the lawmaking
body called parliament in 1832 the Reform Act expanded voting rights to
include not just the landowners but also some of the middle class that left one
group of individuals still totally disenfranchised and you guessed it
that was women women should be about when we could be learned about but
thanks to the efforts of the first ever women's libber in history
the one and only Emily Pankhurst woman were finally given the vote in 1928
Brits will always remember magna carter and Emily pan cast
they helped to define modern British democracy
government of the people for the people by the people
british style
in Britain our government is called her majesty's government but the truth of
the matter is it's not her majesty's government at all in fact the poor woman
doesn't have a say in anything
my husband and on like to wish the British people to understand how British
government actually works
you have to understand how our Parliament works there are two houses of
parliament
there's the upper house which is called the house of lords
no need to worry about that it's full of boring old farts who inherited or
appointed to their positions in the Lord's like mrs. Thatcher's son mark for
example
that's why the Lord's have a little saying anything whatsoever
the real parent Britain lies in the lower house which is known as the house
of commons
there are six hundred and fifty members of the House of Commons otherwise known
as MPs and their elected by the British people
elections are held at a maximum of every five years and come election day
Britain's in 646 areas of the country
go to vote for their favorite political person
so who are the main political parties well there's the Conservative Party
they're a little right wing there's the liberal democrat party
they're a bit more left-wing than the Conservatives and then there's the
Labour Party
they're a bit more left-wing than the liberal democrat party after election
day the leader of the party with the biggest number of elected mps becomes
the prime minister
he puts his cabinet together and he and they start the government
it's as simple as that
great britain's the political ones anyway
there have been many great britain's over the years but there are three that
any self-respecting comparative politics students should know about
first there's Winston Churchill he became british prime minister in 1940
and was one of the most inspirational leaders in the history searchable is
famous for his to think of victory salute
after the end of the second world war and also for actually given the two
finger salute so Hitler and Mussolini cure in the world
unfortunately the British public gave Churchill their own to finger salute by
voting him and his Conservative Party out of office in 1945 next this Margaret
Thatcher she became the first-ever woman Prime Minister and 13 consecutive
elections in 1979 in 1983 and in 1987
Margaret Thatcher is most famous in Britain for reducing the role of
government in the lives of people setting off and privatizing many of
Britain state-owned acids and encouraging business
outside Britain mrs. Thatcher was known for her tough stance on foreign policy
and so nick name of the iron lady and the cuddling up to American president
ronald reagan at every opportunity
and finally there's Tony Blair tony blair became prime minister in 1997 and
apart from his bad British teeth
what we remembered the two things you did it firstly he created new labor a
party in a government that would maintain the British welfare state but
would also encourage and promote business and secondly he cuddled up to
American president george bush sure every opportunity
including over the Iraq war bucum as Britain's love animals
it won't surprise you to know that Winston Churchill was known as the
British bulldog
Margaret that she was known as a tiller him and Tony Blair was and is known as
george bush's poodle
british government in terms of Georgetown day school
finally just to underscore your understanding of British politics
here's how British government relates to the other venerable institution
Georgetown day school here at gds now Prime Minister is Peter branch
he runs the place
Chancellor of the Exchequer is Kate Lindsay she controls the money at home
secretary is Kevin bar
he runs home affairs of the high school
foreign secretary is Barbara Bergman she controls all our foreign and therefore
college relations
Secretary of Defense is Elaine skull she protects GDS from any student who really
shouldn't be here
and as for the Queen well that's - I can breathe she's GDS through and through a
great ambassador for the school but she has absolutely no say in anything
whatsoever
on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the second and her Louis subjects we
thank you for watching and God save anyone who has to set the AP comparative
politics
yeah