Chapter 5: Government, Law & Your Role — Set 1

MPs are elected — each constituency elects one MP using first-past-the-post.

Juries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have 12 members; in Scotland a jury has 15 members.

They are MSPs — Members of the Scottish Parliament, which sits at Holyrood in Edinburgh.

The Prime Minister appoints around 20 senior ministers to form the Cabinet.

The Assembly sits in the Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast; its members are MLAs.

The police protect life and property and detect crime, and they operate independently of government.

First past the post means the candidate with the most votes in the constituency wins the seat.

Employees pay income tax through PAYE (Pay As You Earn), where the employer deducts tax from their pay before they receive it. Self-employed people do pay tax, and they are responsible for arranging to pay it themselves — neither their customers nor their bank pays it for them.

The Convention protects human rights and freedoms; the Council of Europe is separate from the European Union.

The official handbook gives the minimum age for taking part in the National Lottery as 16. (The age was raised to 18 in 2021, after the handbook was published — but 16 is the figure the test is based on.)

Taking part includes voting, helping with elections, standing for office, volunteering and serving on juries when summoned.

The monarch is head of state; the Prime Minister leads the government.

Most Lords are life peers, appointed for life rather than elected. The Lords reviews and suggests changes to laws passed by the Commons.

The Speaker is an MP who chairs Commons debates impartially, keeping order and making sure the rules of debate are followed.

MPs are elected in a general election, which is held at least every five years.

A by-election fills a single constituency seat that has become vacant between general elections.

A bill becomes law once it has been agreed by Parliament and given Royal Assent by the monarch.

The monarch invites the leader of the party that can command a majority in the Commons to become Prime Minister and form a government.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer leads the Treasury and is responsible for the economy, taxation and public spending.

The Home Secretary heads the Home Office, which covers policing, crime and immigration matters.

The largest opposition party forms a Shadow Cabinet, whose members scrutinise and challenge the work of each government department.

A coalition forms when parties agree to share power, typically after an election leaves no party with an overall majority in the Commons.

Civil servants are appointed on merit, serve governments of any party and must remain politically neutral in their work.

The Scottish Parliament makes laws on devolved matters such as health services in Scotland, and it sets the rates and bands of income tax paid by Scottish taxpayers. Defence and the UK's currency remain the responsibility of the UK Parliament.