The head of state and source of executive, judicial and legislative power in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the British monarch, now Queen Elizabeth II. Under the convention, the monarch appoints the leader of the party that has a majority in the House of Commons, the prime minister, although in theory he has the right to approve any British citizen, even a parliamentarian or a member of the House of Lords. The monarch gives the royal consent to the bill of parliament, and formally has the right to refuse (the last case was March 11, 1708). The monarch can also dissolve parliament on the advice of the prime minister (not observed in practice), but de jure has the power to dissolve parliament of his own free will, without the consent of the prime minister. Other royal powers, called royal prerogatives (appointing ministers, declaring war), belonging to the executive branch, are exercised on behalf of the Crown by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The role of the Monarch in public policy is limited to ceremonial functions.
The monarch meets weekly with the prime minister and other members of the Cabinet. The de facto political leader of Britain is the Prime Minister, most recently the leader of the Conservative Party Boris Johnson (since July 24, 2019).
The bearer of sovereignty is the "Queen in Parliament". The United Kingdom has recently become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a member of the European Union, the G7, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
