|
Executive branch
>
Head of government
|
President of the General Council Pierre DESERT (since 26 March 2004); President of the Regional Council Antoine KARAM (since 22 March 1992)
|
Prime Minister David CAMERON (since 11 May 2010)
|
|
|
Flag description
|
the flag of France is used
|
blue field with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); properly known as the Union Flag, but commonly called the Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including other Commonwealth countries and their constituent states or provinces, and British overseas territories
|
|
|
Judicial branch
|
Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel (highest local court based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana)
|
Supreme Court of the UK (established in October 2009 taking over appellate jurisdiction formerly vested in the House of Lords is the final court of appeal); Senior Courts of England and Wales (comprising the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland); Scotland's Court of Session and High Court of the Justiciary
|
|
|
Legal system
|
French legal system
|
common law system; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998
|
|
|
Legislative branch
|
unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
|
bicameral Parliament consists of House of Lords
|
|
|
Legislative branch
>
A note
|
one seat was elected to the <a href=/kp/French><a href=/country/fr>French</a></a> <a href=/encyclopedia/United-States-Senate>Senate</a> on 27 September 1998 (next to be held <a href=/kp/NA><a href=/encyclopedia/natural-abundance>NA</a></a> September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - <a href=/kp/NA>NA</a>%; <a href=/kp/seats+by+party+-+NA>seats by party - NA</a>; 2 seats were elected to the <a href=/kp/French><a href=/country/fr>French</a></a> <a href=/encyclopedia/National-Assembly-of-the-Republic-of-China>National Assembly</a> on 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held <a href=/kp/NA><a href=/encyclopedia/natural-abundance>NA</a></a> 2007); results - percent of vote by party - <a href=/kp/NA>NA</a>%; seats by party - UMP/RPR 1, Walwari Committee 1
|
in 1998 elections were held for a <a href=/kp/Northern>Northern</a> <a href=/country/ei><a href=/country/ei>Ireland</a></a> <a href=/encyclopedia/Parliament-(band)>Parliament</a> (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties, the transfer of power from London to <a href=/kp/Northern>Northern</a> <a href=/country/ei><a href=/country/ei>Ireland</a></a> came only at the end of 1999 and was twice rescinded before reinstatement in November 2001); in 1999 there were elections for a new <a href=/encyclopedia/Scotland><a href=/encyclopedia/Scotland>Scottish</a></a> <a href=/encyclopedia/Parliament-(band)>Parliament</a> and a new <a href=/encyclopedia/Wales>Welsh</a> Assembly
|
|
|
Legislative branch
>
Election results
|
General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PSG 5, various left-wing parties 5, independents 7, other 2; Regional Council - (second election results) percent of vote by party - PS 37.24%, UMP 31.58%, FDG/Walwari 31.18%; seats by party - PS 17, UMP 7, FDG/Walwari 7
|
House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Conservative 36.1%, Labor 29%, Liberal Democrats 23%, other 11.9%; seats by party - Conservative 305, Labor 258, Liberal Democrat 57, other 30
|
|
|
Legislative branch
>
Elections
|
General Council - last held in March 2000 (next to be held March 2006); Regional Council - last held 21 and 28 March 2004 (next to be held in 2010)
|
House of Lords - no elections (note - in 1999, as provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who would remain there; elections are held only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise); House of Commons - last held on 6 May 2010 (next to be held by June 2015)
|
|
|
Legislative branch
>
Note
|
one seat was elected to the French Senate on 27 September 1998 (next to be held September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; 2 seats were elected to the French National Assembly on 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held in 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP/RPR 1, Walwari Committee 1
|
in 1998 elections were held for a Northern Ireland Assembly (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties, the transfer of power from London to Northern Ireland came only at the end of 1999 and has been suspended four times, the latest occurring in October 2002 and lasting until 8 May 2007); in 1999, the UK held the first elections for a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly, the most recent of which were held in May 2007
|
|
|
National holiday
|
Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
|
the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday
|
|
|
Political parties and leaders
|
Guyana Democratic Forces or FDG [Georges OTHILY]; Guyanese Democratic Action or ADG [Andre LECANTE]; Guyanese Socialist Party or PSG [Marie-Claude VERDAN]; Popular National Guyanese Party or PNPG [Jose DORCY]; Socialist Party or PS [Alix LABBE]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Georges HABRAN-MERY]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP (includes RPR) [Remi Louis DUBOC]; Walwari Committee (aligned with the PRG in France) [Christine TAUBIRA-DELANON]
|
Conservative [David CAMERON]<br />Democratic Unionist Party or DUP (Northern Ireland) [Peter ROBINSON]<br />Labor Party [Ed MILIBAND]<br />Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) [Nick CLEGG]<br />Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Leanne WOOD]<br />Scottish National Party or SNP [Alex SALMOND]<br />Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]<br />Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Alasdair MCDONNELL]<br />Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Mike NESBITT]<br />United Kingdom Independent Party or UKIP [Nigel FARAGE]
|
|
|
Transnational Issues
>
Disputes
>
International
|
Suriname claims area between Riviere Litani and Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa) in French Guiana
|
in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement between the UK and Spain; the Government of Gibraltar insisted on equal participation in talks between the two countries; Spain disapproved of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory); in 2001, the former inhabitants of the archipelago, evicted 1967 - 1973, were granted U.K. citizenship and the right of return, followed by Orders in Council in 2004 that banned rehabitation, a High Court ruling reversed the ban, a Court of Appeal refusal to hear the case, and a Law Lords' decision in 2008 denied the right of return; in addition, the United Kingdom created the world's largest marine protection area around the Chagos islands prohibiting the extraction of any natural resources therein; UK rejects sovereignty talks requested by Argentina, which still claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm
|
|
