Layers of government

In the UK, there are many layers of government. These can be confusing, because in different places, there are different sets of layers, and the same name can mean different things in different places. 

This guide will walk you through your different layer of representation, to help you understand who represents you, and who is best to talk to about different issues. 

You are represented by different levels of politicians

There are lots of different names for the people who represent you — depending where you live, you might have different combinations of Councillors, MPs, MSPs/SMs/MLAs, or Mayors. 

The easiest way to understand this is to put your postcode into WriteToThem.com. This will tell you the names of all your elected representatives, from councillors to MPs and any others you have in your area (like Members of the Scottish Parliament or Welsh Assembly). 

Your MP

So you’ll have seen from the news that the Labour party is now in power in the UK Parliament. But that doesn’t mean that everyone is represented by a Labour politician. Each area (constituency) voted their own MP in — and they are from a range of parties. 

So the first thing to check, if you don’t already know, is what party your MP is a member of. You can see this again on WriteToThem.com, or on another of our websites, TheyWorkForYou.com.

Why does it matter what party your MP’s in? Well, the power an individual politician has depends a lot on whether or not they’re a part of the biggest party in Parliament — which makes them the governing party.

In general, government is where power lies, but this power is dependent on support from Parliament. In the UK Parliament, and the devolved Parliaments, the government is made up of representatives who also sit in the Parliament.

What is the difference between Government and Parliament? 

There is a lot of overlap between ‘Parliament’ and ‘Government’ (and the words are sometimes used interchangeably) – but there are important differences to understand. 

The UK Parliament includes MPs and Lords from all parties. It is where the legislation (laws) that cover the whole of the UK are debated, voted on, and scrutinised (checked). Draft bills are introduced, discussed, and if successfully passed by both Houses, they become legislation. 

Parliament meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, and is made up of two Houses, and the Sovereign (ie the King or Queen):

• House of Commons: 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected during general elections. The party (or coalition of parties) with the majority of seats forms the Government — but MPs from other parties are also in the House of Commons, where they’ve been voted in by their constituencies.
• House of Lords: Around 800 Peers (a gender-neutral term to cover all members of the House of Lords) are appointed. Once they’re in, they stay in — they can’t be voted out. The House of Lords is known as the ‘revising’ chamber; it mostly reviews legislation proposed by the House of Commons and suggests amendments.
• The Sovereign: Generally the role of the Sovereign is seen as a formality. The ‘King’s speech’ is written by the government, and royal assent is always granted to bills that are approved by both Houses. There is still some debate about the amount of formal and informal influence the royal family retains over the legislative process.

The UK Government, led by the Prime Minister, is responsible for running the country and implementing laws passed by Parliament.

The Government is formed only from the political party (or coalition of parties) that has the majority in the House of Commons. The leader of that party (or coalition) is the Prime Minister, and they appoint other MPs or Peers to become Ministers. 

As you’ll see, when the Government has a large majority (there are many more MPs from their party than from the others), it’s much easier for them to get legislation passed — because when they vote, they easily outnumber the opposition.

How is government made up?

The UK Government operates from 10 Downing Street and ministerial buildings in Whitehall (a part of London that houses key departments). It is made up of:

• The Prime Minister: The head of the Government and leader of the majority party in the House of Commons.
• The Cabinet: Senior ministers chosen by the Prime Minister, each responsible for specific government departments.
• Ministers: Members of the Government responsible for specific areas of public policy, government functions, and administration.
• The Civil Service: The civil service is a permanent, politically neutral body of government employees responsible for implementing policies, delivering public services, and supporting the Government’s administrative functions.

What the government can do 

The Government is largely in control of what happens in Parliament. The Ministers that make up the Government are also MPs (and sometimes Peers) who sit in Parliament. 

But Parliament also contains MPs for the other parties, who are called opposition parties.

The Official Opposition (the second largest party) mirrors the roles of the Government, with a leader of the opposition, “shadow cabinet” and “shadow ministers”, and sets out what they would do if they were in power. 

They don’t have access to the civil service but do receive ‘short money’ to help with operating costs. Smaller parties outside of the official opposition also organise shadow ministerial teams, where numbers allow, and also receive short money proportionate to their vote share. 

The Government has a lot of control over the Parliamentary timetable, especially which bills get introduced to Parliament, and which are given time for debating and voting. 

Because the Government by default has a majority in the House of Commons, their bills are likely to become law. The opposition parties have some opportunities to introduce their own bills, but much less control over whether they will get time to be debated and voted on. This makes it much harder (almost impossible) for opposition bills to be passed, because in order to succeed they need support from Government MPs.

How are they kept in check?

Broadly, the Government has a lot of power and will generally get its way in Parliament. But Parliament has mechanisms for scrutinising (checking) the work of the Government and existing legislation. 

These are questions (written and oral) and committees. These can extract information that lead to more investigations or policy changes. That said, the power of these mechanisms to meaningfully change legislation is limited — government ministers often respond vaguely to questions, and are able to ignore the recommendations of committee reports. 

You can also play a part in holding your MPs to account. Anyone can visit and watch business in Parliament, and you can use TheyWorkForYou to keep track of your MP and what is happening in Parliament — then tell them what you think, using WriteToThem. 

Devolved Parliaments and Governments

Just as the UK Government is drawn from the UK Parliament in Westminster, there are three devolved governments which are formed from members of the majority party (or coalition) in their own distinct parliaments:

• Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament (Holyrood): Located in Edinburgh, it has powers over areas like education, health, and transportation in Scotland.
• Welsh Government and the Senedd (Welsh Parliament): Based in Cardiff, it has powers  including health, education, and local government in Wales.
• Northern Irish Executive and Northern Irish Assembly (Stormont): Situated in Belfast, it has powers over areas such as health, education, and justice in Northern Ireland.

This means that if you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, you have two sets of MPs/Assembly Members: one in the UK parliament in Westminster, and one in your own country’s parliament. 

If you’re planning to contact your representative about a specific issue, it is worth checking that they deal with that issue (you’ll find a handy list when you input your postcode on WriteToThem).

Each of these devolved parliaments has different histories and powers — and each are part of ongoing debates about where power in the UK should sit. 

The Greater London Authority and London Assembly

If you live within Greater London, you have another important layer of representatives.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) is led by the elected Mayor of London, who holds “executive powers” and runs the city government. 

There’s a standalone election for the Mayor of London, separate to the election for the 25 seats in the London Assembly.

Members of the London Assembly are called MLAs and they check the Mayor’s decisions and have a wider remit to explore issues of importance to London — and can approve or reject the Mayor’s budgets. 

The GLA has powers over transport, policing, economic development, and fire and emergency planning. The GLA oversees three functional bodies —Transport for London, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, and the London Fire Commissioner — which are responsible for delivering these powers.

Combined Authorities in England

Combined authorities are groups of local authorities which share responsibilities and take on specific devolved functions from the central government. 

The councils form these groups voluntarily: by collaborating, they can deliver transport and economic policies more effectively across a broader region. They are:

Authority	Member councils	Established
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	Cambridgeshire, Peterborough	2 March 2017
East Midlands	Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire	27 February 2024
Greater Manchester	Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Manchester, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan	1 April 2011
Liverpool City Region	Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Wirral	1 April 2014
North East	Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside, Sunderland	7 May 2024
South Yorkshire	Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield	1 April 2014
Tees Valley	Darlington, Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland	1 April 2016
West Midlands	Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton	16 June 2016
West of England	Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire	9 February 2017
West Yorkshire	Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield	1 April 2014
York and North Yorkshire	North Yorkshire, York	1 February 2024

Credit: Wikipedia

Local authorities

Local authorities are also known as ‘local councils’. 

The structure of local authorities across the UK varies a lot. In some areas there’s just one big local authority (eg a city council), in others there are parish, district and county councils, all at once. The way each area divides its local authorities also impacts which powers each has. 

The main types are:

• County Councils cover large areas and are responsible for services like education, transportation, and social services. In these areas, District Councils serve smaller areas within the wider county councils, and manage local services such as housing, waste collection, and local planning.
• Unitary Authorities combine the functions of County and District councils in a single tier, handling all local government responsibilities for their area.
• Parish and Town Councils are the most local level of government, dealing with community-specific issues like parks, community centres, and local events.

Wherever you are, you’ll have at least one local councillor representing you at your local council, and maybe several. You can find out who they are when you input your postcode on WriteToThem.com. 

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Photo by Shelley Bernstein (CC)