Washminster

Washminster
Washminster

Wednesday 19 May 2010

The 55th Parliament

The British tend to identify their Parliaments by the year in which they were elected - unlike the Americans who refer to each Congress by a number. The first Congress sat from 1789 to 1991. The current congress is the 111th. What we will know as the 2010 Parliament is the 55th Parliament of the United Kingdom - the first met in 1801, after the Union with Ireland (the previous 18 parliaments are referred to as Parliaments of Great Britain - from the Union of England and Scotland). The earlier Parliaments of England are oftened numbered today by the number of parliaments summoned by each monarch - so the 29th Parliament of Edward I sat from 27th November to 4th December 1295 (but is better known as the "Model Parliament" - regarded as the traditional start of the regular participation of the Commons in Parliament). "The Long Parliament" which sat from 1640 to 1660 - began as the 5th Parliament of Charles I.

Lists of all members of the 55th Partliament (MPs in the House of Commons: Peers in the House of Lords) and the members of the government can be found here .