What is Parliament?
The nutshell
Parliament is where the UK's laws are made and checked. It has two parts, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The main job of Parliament is to make laws and to check the work of the government.
Every fact on this page comes from official guides to Parliament and non-partisan explainers. Each source tag — like Parl — opens where a fact comes from.
The basics
What Parliament is
Parliament is where the laws of the UK are made and checked. It has two parts, called Houses — the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The monarch is also part of Parliament, a set-up known as the Crown in Parliament.IfG
Who is in Parliament
The House of Commons is made up of 650 MPs. Each MP is elected to represent one area, called a constituency.HoC The House of Lords is the second chamber. Members of the House of Lords are not called MPs.
What Parliament does
Parliament has more than one job. The main jobs are making and changing laws, checking the work of the government, and debating the big issues of the day.Parl Parliament also checks and approves the money the government wants to raise and spend.Parl
Parliament and the government are not the same
Parliament and the government are not the same thing, according to GOV.UK. The government runs the country. Parliament looks at what the government is doing, passes new laws, and sets taxes.GOV A new law, called a bill, becomes law only after the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the King have all agreed to it.GOV
- Two Houses means every new law is checked twice, first in the House of Commons and then in the House of Lords
- Because each MP represents one constituency, every area of the UK has a voice in the House of Commons
- Parliament can question ministers and debate government plans in public, which helps keep the government in check
- Members of the House of Lords are appointed, not elected by voters
- A government with a large majority in the House of Commons can be difficult for Parliament to challenge
- Parliament passes the laws, but the government decides most of what a new law contains
The deep end6 min
The three parts of Parliament
UK Parliament is made up of three parts — the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the monarch. The Institute for Government explains that the monarch sits within Parliament alongside the two Houses, a long-standing set-up formally called the Crown in Parliament.IfG Most of the day-to-day work happens in the two Houses.
What Parliament is for
UK Parliament sets out four main jobs — making and changing laws, checking and challenging the work of the government, debating the big issues of the day, and checking and approving government spending and taxes.Parl The job of checking the government is called scrutiny, and it happens through questions to ministers, debates, and the work of committees.Parl
How a bill becomes law
A new law starts as a bill, which is a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing one. According to GOV.UK, a bill becomes law only after the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the King have all agreed to it.GOVA bill approved in this way is called an Act of Parliament.GOV
Parliament is not the government
Parliament and the government are often mixed up, but the two are separate, GOV.UK states.GOV The government is the group of ministers, led by the Prime Minister, that runs the country and proposes most new laws. Parliament is the wider body that debates new laws, decides whether to pass each one, and checks the work of the government.ParlThe House of Commons has 650 elected MPs who carry out much of that work.HoC