Politics in the UK
By Aphra
How does it work?
Currently, the three main political parties in the uk are The Conservative Party, The Labour Party, and The Liberal Democrats. We have coalition prime ministers, David Cameron of the Conservative Party, and Nick Clegg of the Liberal democrats, However David Camerons party has more seats and therefore more power. The Uk is a democratic country, which means we vote for our leaders. We vote every 4 years But running up to an election, parties put lots of effort into getting people to vote for them. They produce leaflets to hand out, posters to put everywhere, and party leaders announce their 'manifesto', a speech saying everything they will do for the country if they win the election.In the uk, we vote using slips called polling cards, in a polling station. Voting takes place in a secret booth so you are not influenced by anyone, and your name is ticked off so you cant vote more than once.
Voting is important because if only a minority of people vote, the country isnt very democratic. A handful of people end up running the country. But lots of people dont have strong feelings towards any party, so they dont vote. Or they just dont have time. But Historically people died for the right to vote (like the suffragette who threw herself under a racehorse to get women the vote) so it is important.