Your Politics Glossary

I've been throwing some mega important words, terms and phrases into these pieces recently and I figured - what better to do than give you a chance to learn what they all mean, in the same place? Something you can keep coming back to when you don't know what something means?

Well, today is your lucky day...

If you have any political names or terms which leave you thinking, "what the fuck does that mean?" - please let me know and I'll try my best to explain them in the political glossary.

Act of Parliament - when something going through Parliament becomes a law.

Article 50 - the piece of legislation which outlines the process to withdraw from the European Union.

Austerity - the act of reducing the budget in public services (such as the NHS or education) while continuing to provide the service. This can often lead to cuts in services.

Backbencher - an MP who isn't in a Government Minister position. Ballot paper - the piece of paper where you put an X in the box of the statement you agree with in a referendum, or to support this person to become your MP in a General Election.

Bill - the name of what may become a law, while it's in the Houses of Parliament.

Brexit - a shortened version of the words "Britain" and "Exit". Amazing.

By-election - vote in a single constituency to decide on their new MP, between the two General Elections. These can indicate how the population think the Government are getting on.

Cabinet - the name for the group of MPs who are Government Ministers of major departments. This includes the Prime Minister, Chancellor and Home Secretary.

Capitalism - an economic and political system where a country's race and industry are controlled by privately-owned businesses for profit, rather than by the Government.

Chancellor of the Exchequer - the MP who is in charge of Her Majesty's Treasury, so represents all the money in the public purse. The role is usually shortened to Chancellor. The Chancellor is currently Philip Hammond.

Communism - a system where all property is owned by the community, and each person gives and receives according to their own needs.

Conservative Party - a political party, who are currently in charge of the country. Their leader is Prime Minister Theresa May.

Constituency - an area of the country that an MP represents in Parliament. Constituents - the people that live in a constituency.

Crossbench / crossbenchers - members of the House of Lords who aren't affiliated with any particular party. Deficit - the gap between what the Government spends and how much money it gets. Recent Governments have aimed to reduce the deficit.

Devolved / devolution - the act of moving Parliament to a different area, closer to home to ensure the best decisions for that area are made. This has happened in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. It will also happen around England. It can also mean getting into a worse state...

Downing Street - where the Prime Minister lives, at Number 10. Some news reports say "at Number 10" or "from Downing Street". The Chancellor lives at Number 11.

Eurosceptic / Euroscepticism - a Eurosceptic is someone who is against the increasing powers of the European Union. Euroscepticism is the belief. European Union - a group of countries in Europe who come together to create certain laws.

Eurozone - the group of countries who use the Euro as their currency. This includes France, Spain, and Germany.

Exit polls - used as an indicator of how people have voted in a General Election. These come out the second after polling stations close at 10:00pm.

Foreign Secretary - an MP who is in charge of foreign relationships with Britain as well as MI6 and GCHQ. The current Foreign Secretary (don't laugh) is Boris Johnson.

GCHQ - stands for Government Communications Headquarters and is based in Cheltenham. They give signals intelligence data to the British army and intelligence officials (such as MI5 and MI6).

General Election - a time, usually every five years, when all eligible to vote go to vote for their own MP around the country. These help decide which party will form a Government Government - the party in charge of the country form a Government. This party is currently the Conservatives.

Government Minister - an MP in the party in power, who has a powerful position in a department such as education or health.

Home Secretary - the person in charge of the Home Office, which oversees internal affairs like MI5 and immigration. The current Home Secretary is Amber Rudd.

House of Commons - the House in which every elected MP gathers to discuss important topics.

House of Lords - the house in which unelected people gather to discuss important topics.

Houses of Parliament - the collective name for the House of Commons, the House of Lords and all their chambers.

Hung Parliament - when no one party has a majority in the House of Commons, so they have to work with another party. This happened in the 2010 General Election.

Labour Party - a political party, who are currently not in charge of the country. Their leader is Jeremy Corbyn MP.

Leader of the Opposition - this is the person in charge of the second largest party in the House of Commons. The current Leader of the Opposition is Jeremy Corbyn.

Legislation - another name for law.

Liberal Democrats - a political party. Their leader is Tim Farron.

MP - this stands for Member of Parliament. These are people elected to represent your constituency in Parliament. There are 650 of them. MSP - this stands for Member of Scottish Parliament. These are people elected to represent your constituency in the devolved Scottish Parliament. There are 129 MSPs.

Net migration - The difference between the people coming into the country (immigration) and people leaving the country (migration or emigration).

Nigel Farage - the former leader of UKIP. Some might say responsible for the outcome of the EU referendum. Widely considered to be a sausage.

Northern Ireland Assembly - a Parliament for Northern Ireland which makes laws for its own area.

Opposition - the largest party which are not in Government. At the moment this is Labour.

Parliament - the main roles of Parliament are to make laws, debate topical issues and looking at how taxes are spent. This takes place in the Houses of Parliament.

Peer - another name for a member of the House of Lords.

Polling station - where you go to cast your vote. You have to go to the polling station on the card that comes through your letterbox. Prime Minister - the person in charge of running the country. This person is Theresa May.

Prime Minister's Questions - a 30 minute session each week where the Prime Minister is questioned by MPs in the House of Commons. This is usually Wednesday at 12 noon.

Private Members' Bills - Bills put forward to become law by backbenchers or Lords. Only a handful become law.

Privatisation - the act of selling off Government-owned organisations to private firms to make money. This can happen in prisons, education or the NHS, for example.

Public Bills - the most common type of Bill put forward to become law in Parliament. They are mostly put forward by Government Ministers.

Referendum - similar to a General Election, but the population is asked to vote on a question rather than for people.

Royal Assent - where the Queen will sign off on something to become an Act of Parliament, once it has been through the appropriate stages.

Scottish Parliament - a Parliament for Scotland which makes laws for its own area.

Select Committee - something which many backbench MPs are part of, which scrutinise policy or possible laws, such as Home Affairs Select Committee.

Single Market - the idea that the European Union as a whole is one big country, and goods and services can travel through them freely.

Socialism - a political and economical theory which argues that the means of production, distribution and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Speaker - Speaker of the House of Commons chairs debates between MPs. They are an MP themselves, but have to be completely balanced. The current Speaker is John Bercow.

Supreme Court - the highest ranking court in the country. This is usually the last resort for any appeals or challenging decisions.

Tory - another word for Conservative, or a Conservative supporter or MP.

UKIP - short for UK Independence Party. Their current leader is Paul Nuttall.

U-turn - similar to what you'd to in your car. When a political figure goes back on something, perhaps that they promised.

Welfare state - a country which works to protect the health and wellbeing of its citizens, such as providing a benefit system or a health service.

Welsh Assembly - a Parliament for Wales which makes laws for its own area.

Westminster - where the Houses of Parliament are. News reports often say "from Westminster".

Whips - MPs or Lords appointed by each party to help organise the party's contribution to Parliamentary business. This is mainly ensuring the maximum number of MPs vote, and in the way the party wants.

Xenophobia - the dislike or prejudice against people from other countries.

#politics