The Government is responsible for deciding how the country is run and for managing things on a day to day basis.
The people in the government are responsible for making key decisions, such as what to spend money on, what taxes to charge the public and what services to provide them in return.
This section looks at how different parts of the Government work and why they are important in the running of the country. Click through the tabs below to find out more about the UK Government and Prime Minister.
Sir Keir Starmer entered Downing Street as the new Prime Minister following the Uk General Election 2024.
The Government in the UK is technically known as His Majesty’s Government, running the country on behalf of the monarch. The party winning the most seats in the House of Commons at a General Election will usually be invited by the King to form a Government, and the leader of that political party will become Prime Minister. The role of the monarch is a largely ceremonial one and their power has reduced over time.
The Prime Minister is the leader of the Government and is ultimately responsible for all policy and decisions that it makes.
The Cabinet is a group of senior members of the government (known as Cabinet ministers) which meets to discuss the most important issues for the government. Ministers are chosen by the Prime Minister from members of Parliament and are responsible for the actions of different departments
There are 24 ministerial departments. These departments are led by government ministers and are served by civil servants. For example, the Department for Education is responsible for children’s services and education.
There are also 20 non-ministerial departments and over 400 agencies and other public bodies that work with the government, from the Broads Authority to the Bank of England.
The Prime Minister (PM) is the head of the UK Government and is officially appointed by the King – though this person will usually be elected by the membership of the largest political party in the House of Commons. The PM is ultimately responsible for the policy and decisions made by the Government.
The PM appoints cabinet ministers and members of the Government, represents the country and decides the direction of the Government.
The current Prime Minister is Sir Keir Starmer. Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister in 2024 following the Labour Party’s landslide General Election victory. Before the election, Rishi Sunak was the Prime Minister, since he became the Conservative party leader and Prime Minister in 2022 after Liz Truss resigned and left Downing Street after just 49 days.
In the previous General Election in December 2019, the Conservatives won a large majority in the House of Commons, then led by Boris Johnson.
You can find out who’s who in the UK Government here.
