Government - Links

Keeping up-to-date

Below you will find links to sites that will keep you up-to-date in terms of elections, government departments, cabinet members and so on. However to keep up with current news the BBC and the Guardian should help.

The BBC www.bbc.co.uk

As always a very good site for basic information as well as up-to-date news items. It is suggested you enter the Politics page on http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/default.stm - there is no clear link to it on the Homepage. Once in it look for Politics Database down the page for background information. Also there are audio/ video links from here to live news and parliamentary proceedings if you have the software. The new BBC Parliament TV channel is dedicated to all parts of the political process.

The Guardian www.guardian.co.uk + The Observer

Known as Guardian Unlimited it has an excellent and very useful open archive - see website review. Use it to follow up recent political events or find out about politicians. A good way of finding out how Polish politics are reported in the UK press

Guardian Politics politics.guardian.co.uk

A very thorough and very full website of all aspects of day-to-day political life in Britain with plenty of critical commentary not found on the BBC or Vacher Dod sites. It has a number of useful sections including Ask Aristotle - an internal search engine, Polls - details of the latest UK opinion polls, Backbencher - political commentary from a range of columnists, Whitehall - about the Civil Service, Talk - online opinions, Parliament - up-to-date news, Beyond Westminster - Scotland, Wales, local, green etc and finally Special Reports - compilations of recent articles on popular themes e.g. women in politics, student politics, the Euro and constitutional reform

Vacher Dod Publishing

Dod On line www.politicallinks.co.uk a long time political publisher with a lot of information, as well as recent parliamentary news, simply and directly accessible from their homepage. Not only Westminster but the Welsh Assembly, Scottish Parliament, the Greater London Authority, the Civil Service and so on. There are links to Key Political Websites. Professional and up-to-date.

Government

Ukonline www.ukonline.gov.uk see website review The British government portal - run from the Cabinet Office. Big and complex. If you want a government department go to A-Z Central Government. Very good search engine.

Number 10 www.number-10.gov.uk. The website of the Prime Minister�s office (10 Downing Street) - a lot of uncritical information, but an emphasis on information nonetheless. User friendly.

� www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page19.asp - current list of members of the cabinet

� www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page30.asp - current list of major government departments with links to their websites

The Electoral Commission www.electoralcommission.org.uk - this site has very good introductory pages on:

� UK Parliament www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/ukparliament.cfm

� Local government www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/localgovernment.cfm

� The Greater London Assembly www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/gla.cfm

� Scottish Parliament www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/scotparliament.cfm

� Welsh Assembly www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/welshassembly.cfm

� Northern Irish Assembly www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/niassembly.cfm

Office for National Statistics www.statistics.gov.uk. A very big but well organised site. Has information from the 2001 census. User friendly.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office www.fco.gov.uk to find out about the UK�s external relations. Use the search engine to find out about relations with Poland. Also the site to start finding out about the regulations for working in the UK

Polish equivalent sites

Polish Prime Minister Chancellery Site www.kprm.gov.pl

G��wny Urz�d Statystyczny www.stat.gov.pl for statistics.

Click on Urz�dy Centralne to get the websites of the different Polish ministries and many other government institutions to match those for the UK above. Some statistics are available in English.

Parliament�

The United Kingdom Parliament www.parliament.uk - both history and present business - both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. There is a glossary of the specific terminology - but not very helpful definitions.

The Electoral Commission www.electoralcommission.org.uk - everything you want to know about elections in Britain at every level from Parish Councils to the European Parliament. A large quantity of up-to-date information on present, past and future elections with pdf files of election results and in addition all the electoral rules for candidates, administrators and voters. For details of a large review of many aspects of the electoral system which is at present being undertaken e.g. electronic democracy/ political broadcasting/ political funding/ voting ages/ voting procedures/ internet campaigning and so on see www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/policyreviews.cfm

Dod On line www.politicallinks.co.uk - this has most of the information you will need straight from the homepage - even a history of parliament. But if you cannot find it try the three sites below:

� www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/e01/results.htm for the political composition of parliament

� www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/alms.htm for a list of MPs, their biographies, websites etc

� www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/mps.htm - MPs by constituency with full election results

Explore parliament www.explore.parliament.uk - a site aimed at children and teachers - so a good one for introducing your students in a straightforward way to the institution and the buildings

Polish equivalent sites

These links should give you starting points for investigating government and politics in the UK. Polish equivalents are given where possible to enable comparison.

Vacher Dod Publishing

Inside parliament