How is the British Prime Minister elected?
In Britain we have to have a General Election at least every five years. There are 645 Members of Parliament, mainly from the 3 biggest parties, Labour, Conservative and Liberal. In reality only the first two have a chance of winning a majority in the House of Commons. Each of the 645 represents a constituency, which is a geographical area – for instance, Luton, Guildford etc. Each MP is elected on a simple majority in his or her constituency. After the General Election, the Party with the most MPs form the Government. The leader of that party becomes Prime Minister. Whoever is Prime Minister remains as such until either his or her party ceases to be the party with the most MPs, or he or she resigns, or he or she is replaced by his or her own party. Quite specifically the Prime Minister is NOT elected by the people, although, or course, the people know at a General Election who the leaders of each party are. Thus, at the last two General Elections the Labour Party formed the Government
