Queen Elizabeth I and government - OCR BElizabeth and her Parliaments

The Elizabethan Parliament was very different to the Parliament of today, it was much less powerful or representative. There was no Prime Minister, no political parties, Members of Parliament (MPs) were all men, and they were all voted in by wealthy landowners.

Elizabeth tightly controlled Parliament

• Parliament could only meet if Elizabeth called it, and she set the agenda.
• Parliament could only talk about what Elizabeth allowed it to discuss.
• Elizabeth mainly used Parliament to grant her taxes - this was her main income.
• Elizabeth could close (prorogue) Parliament at any time.
• Parliament only met 13 times in her 45 year reign for an average of three weeks per year.
• Elizabeth made sure her Privy Councillors sat in Parliament to help control proceedings.
• Both Walsingham and Cecil used Parliament to introduce key issues such as marriage, the succession. and religion. Elizabeth fought back by stating that these were issues for her to decide just like any other monarch.

MPs tried to take control back

During Elizabeth’s reign however, MPs became more assertive and influential. They were in conflict with Elizabeth over certain issues.

Marriage issue

Some MPs felt Elizabeth should name a suitor to marry and produce an heir in order to secure the line of succession. Elizabeth’s response was that this was her private business and she would marry when and if it was convenient.