<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The United Kingdom is a unitary state with devolution, that is governed within the framework of a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the head of state while the prime minister of the United Kingdom, currently Theresa May, is the head of government . Executive power is exercised by the British government, on behalf of and by the consent of the monarch, as well as by the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales, and the Northern Ireland Executive . Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, as well as in the Scottish parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies . The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature . The highest court is the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom . </P> <P> The UK political system is a multi-party system . Since the 1920s, the two largest political participation have been the Conservative Party and the Labour Party . Before the Labour Party rose in British politics, the Liberal Party was the other major political party along with the Conservatives . While coalition and minority governments have been an occasional feature of parliamentary politics, the first - past - the - post electoral system used for general elections tends to maintain the dominance of these two parties, though each has in the past century relied upon a third party such as the Liberal Democrats to deliver a working majority in Parliament . A Conservative - Liberal Democrat coalition government held office from 2010 until 2015, the first coalition since 1945 . The coalition ended following Parliamentary elections on 7 May 2015, in which the Conservative Party won an outright majority of 330 seats in the House of Commons, while their coalition partners lost all but eight seats . </P> <P> With the partition of Ireland, Northern Ireland received home rule in 1920, though civil unrest meant direct rule was restored in 1972 . Support for (non-British) nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales led to proposals for devolution in the 1970s though only in the 1990s did devolution actually happen . Today, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each possess a legislature and executive, with devolution in Northern Ireland being conditional on participation in certain all - Ireland institutions . The United Kingdom government remains responsible for non-devolved matters and, in the case of Northern Ireland, co-operates with the government of the Republic of Ireland . </P>

Does the uk have a two party system