What is the structure of Parliament?

Britain has two Chambers in the Houses of Parliament, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Commons is made up of elected Members who represent their constituencies, a total of 361 in all, with the Governing party sitting on the Right of the chamber and the Opposition on the Left. A party requires a minimum number of seats to win an outright victory at a General election (I'm not quite sure what this number is)- if it fails to secure this, it attempts to form a Coalition with one of the opposing parties, but if agreement cannot be reached then there has to be another General election. The House is presided over by the Speaker, whose job it is to maintain discipline in the Chamber and ensure that all MPs abide by the rules of proper conduct.

Any MP can introduce a proposal that they would like to see become law- this is called a Motion, and is debated in the Commons. If the Motion secures the support of enough MPs it becomes a Bill, and a vote is taken as to whether it should become a part of the law. If the vote is Yes, then the Bill passes on to the House of Lords.

The House of Lords is made up of titled persons, who are known as 'peers'- in the old days, these were entirely members of the aristocracy, but today, although there are some hereditary aristocrats who retain their places in the Lords, their numbers are balanced out by ordinary non-aristocrats who have been ennobled to the rank of Lord or Lady by The Queen. This can include former politicians from the Commons, and prominent persons from the worlds of buisness, the arts, science and the armed forces. Anglican Bishops are also entitled to sit in the Lords. It is the UK's 'Upper Chamber' of Government, and whilst it holds debates in it's own right, it also has to pass any Bills voted upon by the Commons, and has the right to reject any that it disapproves of becoming law. The Commons does have an ultimate right of veto over the Lord's decisions, but this is hardly ever used, so if a Bill is rejected by the Lords, it usually goes back to the Commons to be amended to get around any objections by the Lords.

The monarch officially opens each new Parliamentary annual session and delivers a speech to Parliament every year.