How does Westminster relate to Northern Ireland?
- Published
On 4 July voters in Northern Ireland - along with their counterparts across the rest of the UK - will cast their ballots in the general election.
Each of NI's 18 constituencies will elect one MP to send to the House of Commons in London.
But once they are at Westminster what do they have a say over?
The election will also see either the Conservative Party returned for another term running the UK government or a new party taking power.
But what does this mean for Northern Ireland and what exactly does the UK government at Westminster do in NI?
What is the difference between Westminster and Stormont?
Westminster is the term used to describe the UK Parliament and government - it takes its name from the Palace of Westminster where Parliament sits.
It has power over most areas of policy in England, including things such as education, the environment and healthcare.
But in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales the devolved administrations set policies in most of these areas - known as devolved matters.
Northern Ireland's devolved administration is known as Stormont, after the location of the assembly buildings in east Belfast.
Westminster also has control over issues which affect the UK as a whole, known as reserved or excepted matters.
Who runs what in Northern Ireland?
Stormont is responsible for a range of issues which mainly cover every day life within Northern Ireland.
It has eight executive departments covering these areas:
Agriculture, environment and rural affairs - inluding issues such as climate change, rivers and farming
Communities - including sports, the arts and the benefits system
Education - including childcare and schools
Economy - including universities, tourism and energy. However many economic matters are not devolved
Finance - including the civil service and building regulation. Many financial matters including taxation are not devolved
Health - including social care
Infrastructure - including roads and public transport
Justice - including courts, prisons and the police
A ninth department - the Executive Office - is responsible for the general operation of the Northern Ireland Executive.
Westminster remains responsbible for a range of other issues, many, but not all of which, affect the UK as a whole
These include:
The armed forces
Foreign affairs
Taxation
The monarchy
Elections
The honours system
Postal services
Immigration
Drug classification
Nuclear energy
What do Northern Ireland's MPs do at Westminster?
Because the big parties which have formed governments in recent decades - the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats - do not win seats in Northern Ireland, MPs from NI do not end up being part of Westminster governments.
However they still speak in debates, vote on laws and sit on committees where they can seek to influence government policy.
They are also able to propose debates and submit private members' bills - attempts to make law by individual MPs rather than the government.
Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats - a policy known as abstentionism so they are unable to do any of these things.
They argue that they are still able to represent their constituents and influence government policy.
Sometimes Northern Ireland parties can have a bigger influence, such as when a big party has not quite got enough seats to form a government.
In this case it may turn to Northern Ireland MPs to give it a majority in the House of Commons - this happened most recently in 2017 when the Conservatives agreed a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party.
What else does Westminster do?
As well as the areas it directly has control over, the tone a Westminster government strikes can have a big impact in Northern Ireland.
There is one UK cabinet minister - the secretary of state for Northern Ireland - who oversees some policy ares such as certain public inquiries.
But they also represent Northern Ireland at cabinet and act as the UK government's intermediary to Stormont and the NI parties.
As the UK government's representative they are responsible - jointly with the Irish government - for upholding the Good Friday Agreement - the 1998 peace deal that ended the worst of 30 years of political violence in Northern Ireland.
In times of instability at Stormont - or if devolution collapses - they are often at the forefront of negotiations to get things up and running again.
They are also the only person with the power to call a border poll - a referendum on whether Northern Ireland should remain in the UK or join with the Republic of Ireland.
