Cabinet
The Cabinet is made up of about twenty senior Ministers chosen by the Prime Minister. The Cabinet decides on government policy and co-ordinates the work of the different government departments. The Cabinet meets each week and also sets up smaller committees to look at certain issues. Cabinet meetings are private and its members should not disclose any information about them. There is also a Cabinet Office which is the central department of the Government. This department is responsible for ensuring that the Government can work efficiently and also manages the Civil Service.

Candidate
A person standing for election is known as a candidate. In order to stand a person must be a British citizen over 21. They must be nominated on official papers signed by ten electors including a proposer and a seconder. The papers must also include the candidate's full name and address and their consent in writing. All candidates must pay a £500 deposit which is lost if they do not secure 5% of the total number of votes cast in their constituency. Candidates do not have to live in the constituency in which they intend to stand. Party support, although usual, is not necessary - a candidate can stand as an independent.

Canvassing
Canvassing means asking the public for votes at an election. Candidates and their supporters will go from door to door around the constituency talking to the electorate, as well as holding public meetings in order to win votes.

Casting Vote
The casting vote is the vote that decides an issue when two sides have exactly the same number of votes. In the House of Commons the casting vote is held by the Speaker or the chairman of a committee. The convention is that the Speaker’s casting vote always gives the House another chance to discuss the subject before any final decision is taken. If the vote is tied in the House of Lords the Lord Chancellor does not have the casting vote because he may already have voted. The rules of the House decide the outcome of the vote.

Catching the Speaker’s eye
In order to speak during a debate in the House of Commons, MPs must try to 'catch the Speaker's eye'. MPs may speak only if called to do so by the Speaker. MPs therefore try to attract the attention of the Speaker by standing, or half standing, to show that they want to speak - hence the term 'catching the Speaker's eye'. The Speaker calls upon each MP by name to address the House. They must sit down if the Speaker rises to his feet to call for order or to interrupt the debate. MPs may write or speak to the Speaker in advance to indicate that they want to be called during a particular debate. Ultimately however it is the Speaker who decides who is to speak and an MP might not be called during a debate.

Central Lobby
The Central Lobby is situated in the middle of the Palace of Westminster and was planned as the focal point of the Palace by Charles Barry. It forms the crossroads of the building. Everything to the south of it is part of the House of Lords, and everything to the north is part of the House of Commons. When the Houses are sitting the Lobby is a hive of activity and members of the public can come here to request a meeting with their MP. The Central Lobby is octagonal and features mosaics of St. George, St. David, St. Andrew and St. Patrick. The statues around each of the archways were designed by Charles Barry using sculptors from the Thames Bank Workshop. Barry originally planned a higher ceiling for the lobby, but had to change his plans to accommodate the ventilation system.

Chairman of a Select Committee
The Chairman of a Select Committee is a Member of the House of Lords or MP who is chosen to preside over the work of that particular Select Committee. Once a committee has completed its investigation the Chairman is responsible for drafting the report of the committee's work.

Chairman of Ways and Means
The Chairman of Ways and Means is a senior member of the House of Commons who acts as one of the Speaker's three deputies. In addition he or she always acts as Speaker during Committees of the Whole House , and is in charge of Private Bill procedure. The title of Chairman of Ways and Means comes from a committee of the House of Commons that used to sit to consider the 'ways and means' that Government would raise revenue. Today the Chairman of Ways and Means still occupies the chair when the budget statements are made or finance bills discussed.

Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the principal Finance Minister of the Government. The Chancellor is the head of the Treasury and one of the most important members of the Cabinet. He is responsible for coordinating Government spending. His duties include preparing and presenting the Budget.

Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is the most important Whip in each party . Whips are MPs or Peers who have been selected by the leadership of their party to act as a channel of communication between the leadership and members in each House. In a sense Chief Whips are business managers who encourage members of their party to vote in line with the policies of the party. Chief Whips spend a lot of time in the Palace of Westminster sounding out the opinions of back bench MPs and Peers. No Chief Whip wants to be surprised by the way a vote has gone. In the House of Commons the Government Chief Whip's official title is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, and in the House of Lords it is Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentleman-at-Arms. The Government Chief Whip reports to the Cabinet. It is the responsibility of the Government Chief Whips to ensure that Government Bills pass through Parliament successfully. The Government Chief Whip sits on a special Cabinet Committee which looks at all proposed Government legislation. By tradition Chief Whips from all parties usually do not speak in debates in the House, although they are very often present.

Civil List
Parliament gives the Queen and other senior members of the Royal Family an annual sum of money or grant for carrying out official duties. This is called the Civil List.

Civil Service
The Civil Service are the permanent administrative staff who work in Government Departments and carry out the policies of Government . In 2000 there were nearly 500,000 Civil Servants, 80% of whom worked outside London. Members of the Civil Service are non-political in the sense that they work for the Government, whichever party forms it. The branch of the Civil Service that works in the Foreign Office and serves in British Embassies abroad is known as the Diplomatic Service.

Clause
A Bill is divided up into sections that Parliament can debate separately. They are known as clauses. Clauses can be amended or added to a Bill. When a Bill becomes an Act of Parliament these clauses are called sections.

Clerk Assistant
The Clerk Assistant is the deputy of the Clerk of the House in the House of Commons. He or she sits in a central place at the Table of the House, on the immediate left of the Clerk of the House. Although the first appointment to the post dates from 1640, the need for assistance to the Clerk seems to have been felt much earlier, when the House allowed the Clerk's man to enter the Chamber and help out his master at the Table. Today the Clerk Assistant assists the Clerk in his full range of duties at the Table and, under his direction, has certain senior administrative responsibilities within the Clerk's Department.

Closure Motion
A Closure Motion is when an MP requests the Speaker to close the debate and order a division. An MP usually does this when he or she feels that other MPs are trying to delay so that there would not be enough time for the debate. A Closure Motion can only be accepted if the majority of MPs present vote for it and at least 100 MPs vote. A Closure Motion is allowed at the Speaker's discretion.

Coalition Government
Coalition Government is a Government created from more than one political party. A Coalition Government is sometimes (but not always) created when no single party has gained an overall majority in a General Election. Two or more parties may then agree to govern together. One occasion when the UK was governed by a coalition was during the Second World War when the Government comprised all three major parties, Conservative, Labour and Liberal.

Command Papers
Command Paper is the collective name given to different types of papers prepared by the Government and presented to Parliament. The following documents are all types of Command Paper:- Treaties, some White papers, some Green Papers, some Government replies to Select Committee reports, reports of Royal Commissions, reports of some major committees of inquiry, annual reports and statistics of certain bodies (judicial, penal, immigration). The name Command Paper comes from the fact that these papers are presented to Parliament with the words “presented to Parliament by command of His/Her Majesty”.

Committees
A lot of the work of the House of Commons and the House of Lords is done by committees which are usually made up of relatively small numbers of MPs or Peers. In such committees issues can be reviewed and discussed in detail. There are several types of committee. Select Committees, in the Commons, look at the work of Government Departments and in the Lords they investigate issues such as science and technology, the economy and the European Union. Both Houses have committees that check draft European laws and directives. Standing Committees in the Commons look in detail at the proposals in Bills. Sometimes a committee is formed with members from the House of Commons and the House of Lords. These are known as Joint Committees. Occasionally a committee will form a sub committee to look at one issue in greater depth.

Consolidated Fund
The Consolidated Fund is the Government's general bank account at the Bank of England. Payments from this account must be authorised in advance by the House of Commons. The Government presents its 'requests' to use this money in the form of Consolidated Fund Bills. The Bills set out the money they want to spend and how they want to spend it. Although the House could actually refuse to pass the Bill, in practice this does not happen. These Bills differ from other Bills in that in the Commons the Second and Third readings pass without a debate. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P6 on the UK Parliament website.

Constituencies
To become an MP you have to be elected to represent a constituency. Britain is divided into areas called constituencies, and one MP is elected to represent each of these areas. The size and number of constituencies are reviewed at intervals of between 8 and 12 years by the Boundary Commissioners and changes are agreed by Parliament. In 2001 there were 659 constituencies in the United Kingdom of which 529 were in England, 40 in Wales, 72 in Scotland and 18 in Northern Ireland.

Constitution
In Great Britain the Constitution is the whole body of public law, customary as well as statutory, which is continually being modified by custom, judgement in the courts as well as by the elected representatives of the country. The British Constitution developed from the Magna Carta and whilst it is not written down in one place, it is considered to be a strong constitution. In other countries such as the United States there is a formal written Constitution.

Contents Lobby
Content is the name given to a 'yes' vote in divisions in the House of Lords - in other words a vote in agreement with the proposal being discussed. Members of the House of Lords show that they agree with a proposal by going into the Contents Lobby during a division.

Cross Bench Peers
Independent Peers are often called Cross Bench Peers. They do not belong to either the Government party or one of the Opposition parties, and by tradition sit on the benches that cross the chamber of the House of Lords.

Crossing the floor
Crossing the Floor has come to mean permanently changing political party. The term comes from the fact that, traditionally, Members of Parliament from opposing parties sit on opposite sides of the chamber. Therefore an MP that changes party usually has to cross the floor of the House to sit on the other side of the chamber. Of course, if a Member leaves one opposition party to join another he or she may not actually cross the floor. The term is used to signify the changing of allegiance. In practice, it is rare for an MP to change party.

Courtesy of www.parliament.uk