Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom |
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Welsh: Llywodraeth Ei Mawrhydi Scottish Gaelic: Mòrachd Riaghaltas |
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Logo of Her Majesty's Government
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Overview | |
State | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
Leader | Prime Minister |
Appointed by | Secretaries of State and other Ministers of the Crown are appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, if or when, and as long as, the monarch is or can be satisfied that the Prime Minister can or is able to command the confidence of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. |
Main organ | Cabinet |
Responsible to | Parliament |
Headquarters |
10 Downing Street London |
Website | www |
Her Majesty's Government (HMG; Welsh: Llywodraeth Ei Mawrhydi), commonly referred to as the UK government or British government, is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining ministers. The prime minister and the other most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet. The government ministers all sit in Parliament, and are accountable to it. The government is dependent on Parliament to make primary legislation, and since the Fixed-terms Parliaments Act 2011, general elections are held every five years to elect a new House of Commons, unless there is a successful vote of no confidence in the government or a two-thirds vote for a snap election (as was the case in 2017) in the House of Commons, in which case an election may be held sooner. After an election, the monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II) selects as prime minister the leader of the party most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons, usually by possessing a majority of MPs.