Government > Leaders Stats: compare key data on Jordan & United Kingdom

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STAT	Jordan	United Kingdom	HISTORY
Head of state	King Abdullah II	Queen Elizabeth II
Head of state > Profile	<p>King Abdullah II, Jordan&#039;s monarch since 1999, has extensive powers: he appoints governments, approves legislation and is able to dissolve parliament. </p><p>Over the past few years, he has been facing growing demands for political reform, and following the popular uprising in Tunisia which led to the flight of the president in January 2011, King Abdullah dismissed his government and appointed the first in a series of prime ministers to oversee the introduction of political change. </p> <p>Previously he had backed a 10-year programme for political, social and economic reform and supported a plan for elected local councils. Conservative legislators were apprehensive about the proposals. </p> <p>Balancing diplomatic interests with domestic demands has been tricky for King Abdullah. The country&#039;s peace agreement with Israel and its close ties with the US are unpopular with many Jordanians. </p> <p>In the wake of the November 2005 suicide bombings in Amman, the king declared that security and stability were top priorities and called for a strategy to deal with the &quot;changed circumstances&quot;. </p> <p>Abdullah is the eldest son of the late King Hussein and his British-born second wife, Toni. The couple divorced in 1972. Born in 1962 and educated in Britain and the US, he was named as crown prince shortly after his birth. The king transferred the title to his own brother, Hassan, in 1965, only to return it to Abdullah in 1999. </p> <p>He is married to a Palestinian - an asset since most Jordanians are of Palestinian origin - and enjoys car racing, water sports and collecting antique weapons. He is a career soldier and once led Jordan&#039;s special forces. </p>	<p>Elizabeth II became queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1952 upon the death of her father, George VI.</p> <p>She is the second longest serving head of state, after the Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was crowned in 1946.</p> <p>She is also head of state of 16 independent countries including Canada and Australia.</p> <p>As a constitutional monarch, her role in the legislative process is largely ceremonial.</p>
Head of state > Summary	King Abdullah took over from his father, the late King Hussein	Queen Elizabeth is head of state of 16 countries
Prime minister	Abdullah Ensour	David Cameron
Prime minister > Profile	<p>Reformist Abdullah Ensour was sworn in as head of a new government on 30 March, only months after offering his resignation following parliamentary elections in January 2013.</p> <p>Mr Ensour, a former minister and vocal advocate of democratic reform, was re-nominated by the king following extensive consultation with parliament. Previously, MPs played no role in the process.</p> <p>However, the main opposition Islamic Action Front said the exercise was largely cosmetic.</p> <p>Observers said the new cabinet&#039;s main task will be to cut government spending in order to deal with Jordan&#039;s growing budget deficit and financial crisis.</p> <p>In a first cost-cutting effort, the cabinet was shrunk to its smallest size in four decades.</p> <p>Pro-government candidates swept to victory in the January poll, which was billed as key to pushing forward King Abdullah&#039;s reform programme but was boycotted by the Islamic Action Front.</p> <p>Mr Ensour said the election was a stepping stone on the path of &quot;more vigorous, serious&quot; reforms. </p> <p>The Islamic Action Front and other smaller parties boycotted the poll to protest an election law they saw as biased in favour of the king&#039;s supporters. </p> <p>King Abdullah surprised observers when he first appointed Mr Ensour as prime minister in October 2012, shortly after dissolving parliament.</p> <p>Mr Ensour, an independent MP, had good connections both to the Royal Court and to opposition groups, including the Islamic Action Front and the powerful trade unions. </p>	<p>David Cameron became prime minister at the head of a coalition government on 11 May 2010, returning his centre-right Conservative Party to power after 13 years of rule by the centre-left Labour Party.</p> <p>Mr Cameron formed a partnership with the third party, the traditionally social liberal Liberal Democrats, after an inconclusive parliamentary election from which the Conservatives emerged with the largest number of seats, but without an absolute majority.</p> <p>It is the first formal coalition government in 70 years to govern the UK, where the electoral system usually guarantees a majority for the largest party.</p> <p>The partnership has proved fractious, with Mr Cameron at times seen as struggling to maintain discipline. Several constitutional reform projects - including plans for an elected upper house of parliament and changes to voting for the lower house - have fallen by the wayside as a result of deep differences between the two parties.</p> <p>Deep cuts</span> <p>On coming to power, the new PM was confronted by a daunting economic situation, with the UK only slowly emerging from a deep recession caused by the 2008 global financial collapse, and facing a rapidly mounting budget deficit.</p> <p>Mr Cameron promised that cutting the deficit would be his top priority. In October 2010, Mr Cameron&#039;s government announced a programme of deep cuts in government spending - the UK&#039;s largest in generations.</p> <p>In late 2013, improved growth estimates and employment figures suggested the economic gloom may be lifting, but concerns remained about the sustainability of the recovery, as well continuing pressure on household finances.</p> <p>All of this came against the background of the continuing crisis in the eurozone, and Mr Cameron has faced pressure from the right of his party to distance Britain further from any deeper European Union integration. </p> <p>The prime minister sought to ease this tension in 2013 by proposing a referendum on whether to leave the European Union after the next election, although this faces opposition from both the Liberal Democrats and Labour.</p> <p>Born the son of a wealthy stockbroker in 1966 in London, Mr Cameron was educated at Eton College - Britain&#039;s top private school - and Oxford University. Aged 43 on coming to power, he was the youngest prime minister since 1812.</p>
Prime minister > Summary	Abdullah Ensour has vowed to speed up economic and political reform	David Cameron heads a coalition government

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