<P> The current prime minister is Theresa May, who took office on 13 July 2016 . She is the leader of the Conservative Party, which won a majority of seats in the House of Commons in the general election on 7 May 2015, when David Cameron was the party leader; although at the last general election she failed to secure a majority government . Prior to this, Cameron and the Conservatives led a coalition from 2010 to 2015 with the Liberal Democrats, in which Cameron was prime minister . </P> <P> A key principle of the British Constitution is that the government is responsible to Parliament . This is called responsible government . </P> <P> The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch (that is, the King or Queen who is the Head of State at any given time) does not make any open political decisions . All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament . This constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the political power of the monarch, beginning with the Magna Carta in 1215 . </P> <P> Parliament is split into two houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons . The House of Commons is the lower house and is the more powerful . The House of Lords is the upper house and although it can vote to amend proposed laws, the House of Commons can usually vote to overrule its amendments . Although the House of Lords can introduce bills, most important laws are introduced in the House of Commons--and most of those are introduced by the government, which schedules the vast majority of parliamentary time in the Commons . Parliamentary time is essential for bills to be passed into law, because they must pass through a number of readings before becoming law . Prior to introducing a bill, the government may run a public consultation to solicit feedback from the public and businesses, and often may have already introduced and discussed the policy in the Queen's Speech, or in an election manifesto or party platform . </P>

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