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is greatly restricted today and is usually only exercised in consultation with Parliamentary Ministers. The last occasion when the Queen exercised her prerogative was to appoint Harold Wilson as Prime Minister in 1974 even although the Labour Party did not have a majority.

The laws and customs passed in Parliament dominate everyday life in Britain, as does case law upheld in courts of justice.

Constitutional experts on the subject such as, Walter Bagehot, who wrote the book, The English Constitution in 1867, also influenced the constitution.

Membership of the European union has changed the power of the British Parliament. With the introduction of the European Communities Act, the European Parliament can overrule British Parliamentary Acts.

Treaties are a significant part of the British constitution, but have to be introduced in law through an Act of Parliament. The European Convention on Human Rights did not become law until the human Rights Act 1998 was passed.

History dictated how British laws evolved, with input from many foreign peoples and cultures that became part of the British constitution. That ethos continues today as new laws are enacted to accommodate wider national and global needs. They will never appear in one document because they are diverse and extremely complicated in their own right, but the key principles remain the same. They are, the rule of law, and the supremacy of Parliament.

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