Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 16, 2006

The Houses of Parliament, seen over Westminster Bridge

The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. At its head is the Sovereign; it is bicameral, including an upper house, called the House of Lords, and a lower house, called the House of Commons. The House of Lords includes two different types of members—the Lords Spiritual (the senior clergy of the Church of England) and the Lords Temporal (members of the peerage); it is a wholly unelected body. The House of Commons, on the other hand, is a democratically-elected chamber. The House of Lords and the House of Commons meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster, in the British capital, London. By constitutional convention, all government ministers, including the Prime Minister are drawn exclusively from the House of Commons or House of Lords. (More...)

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