Tony Stewart

In addition to his 3 wins in the Indy Racing League, Stewart has also won 2 International Race of Champions events.
. During the 2005 season, Stewart won a total of $13,578,168, including $6,173,633 for winning the championshiop, making this the largest season total in NASCAR history. Cricket is also popular; although the popularity of the game is dramatically greater in England than the remainder of the UK, all four constituent nations as of 2006 compete at the One-Day International level - Scotland independently, Wales as part of the English team, and Northern Ireland as part of All-Ireland. He was also praised by fellow competitors, notably NASCAR veteran Mark Martin who proclaimed Stewart as the greatest NASCAR driver of this generation. Golf is one of the most popular participation sports played in the UK, and St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course. After winning his second championship, Stewart because only the third active driver in NASCAR to win multiple championships, along with Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte. World-famous horse races include the Grand National and the Epsom Derby.

He is also one of the youngest drivers to win multiple championships. It originated under Charles II of England as the "Sport of Kings" - and is a royal pastime to this day. On November 20, Stewart won his second NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship, joining Jeff Gordon as the only active drivers to have won multiple championships. Thoroughbred racing is also very popular in England. He mentioned in a press release from his sponsor, "I plan to keep winning races and helping to drive down the cost of home improvement for The Home Depot customers.". The Wimbledon Championships are international tennis events held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are seen as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar. After his Allstate victory, Home Depot presented fans who presented the advertisement of his Allstate 400 win with a discount on purchasing bricks. Every four years the British and Irish Lions (comprising the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) tour other countries.

After his second full climb of the fence in Loudon, NH, they ran a discount on ladders and fencing at the stores with a campaign named, "Hey Tony, we've got ladders," where anyone who presented the advertisement in national newspapers in their stores earned the discount. England is the current holder of the Rugby Union World Cup. It also led to sponsor Home Depot cashing on Stewart's success with some promotions reminiscent of Stewart's Eldora Speedway drivers. In Rugby League the UK plays as one nation - Great Britain - whilst in union it is represented by the four nations. Tony was quoted as saying "I'm too fat for this," and recently purchased $17,000 worth of exercise equipment to remedy the problem. Rugby League originates from and is generally played in the North of England, whilst Rugby Union is played all over Britain. Stewart has, following his second win of the season, begun a tradition of climbing the fence separating the fans from the racetrack after each victory, a practice adopted from two-time Indy 500 winner Hélio Castroneves . Both forms of rugby are national sports.

In an apparently unrelated incident, Kyle Busch was also fined $10,000 and placed on identical probation for ramming Anthony Lazzaro's car after the Sirius Satellite Radio race, also at Watkins Glen. British teams are generally successful in European Competitions, including the following European Cup/UEFA Champions League winners: Liverpool (five times), Manchester United (twice), Nottingham Forest (twice), Aston Villa and Celtic. Stewart was also placed on probation until December 31st. Clubs compete in national leagues and competitions and some go on to compete in European competitions. Stewart was driving a Busch series car owned by Kevin Harvick at the time. The UK also hosts many world-renowned football clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in England and Rangers and Celtic in Scotland. On August 16th Stewart was fined $5000 for hitting the car of another driver, Brian Vickers, after the completion of the Busch Series Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. The English and Northern Irish football associations have confirmed participation in this team while the Scottish FA and the Welsh FA have declined to participate.

He won five races, including the Allstate 400 at The Brickyard, a race that Stewart said he would give up his championship to win, and took with it the #1 seed headed towards NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup 10-race playoff. However, a united team will probably take part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as these are hosted in London. 2005 was one of Stewart's most successful years in the Nextel Cup. It is because of this unique four-team arrangement that the UK currently does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games. In addition to placing fourth, the trio placed third in the Daytona Prototype class. Instead, the home nations compete individually as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. With 15 minutes left in the race, and with Stewart at the wheel, one of the rear wheels came off, finally ending their run. The national sport of the UK is association football, but the UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament.

The result does not show the trio's performance, however: they had dominated the race until the last two hours, when the suspension cracked. A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including football, golf, cricket, rugby, tennis and boxing. in a Boss Motorsports Chevrolet to take fourth place in the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race. Recent rock bands to emerge as great talents are the Kaiser Chiefs (all ex-temporary teachers from Leeds), Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys. In 2004, Stewart teamed with Englishman Andy Wallace and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The United Kingdom is also associated with music from the Caribbean, with a large number of Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals being present in the UK. He also still makes the occasional cameo on dirt tracks, appearing regularly at an ARCA race on dirt and at many prominent midget car events, USAC's Turkey Night Grand Prix, and the indoor Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. The UK is also at the forefront of electronica, with British artists such as The Prodigy, Faithless, Aphex Twin, Nitin Sawhney and Lamb at the cutting edge.

Located in Rossburg, Ohio, Eldora is a half-mile dirt track known to many as "Auto Racing's Showcase Since 1954." Stewart began racing there in 1991 and continues racing in special events alongside other Nextel Cup drivers and dirt track legends. In the mid to late 1990s, the Britpop phenomenon saw bands such as Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and Coldplay gain international fame. In November of 2004, Stewart became the owner of one of the most legendary short-tracks in America, Eldora Speedway. The UK was at the forefront of punk rock music in the 1970s with bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and the subsequent rebirth of heavy metal with bands such as Motörhead and Iron Maiden. His current driver lineup in USAC consists of Josh Wise in the midget, sprint, and Silver Crown cars and Jay Drake in the sprint car and Silver Crown Series. The UK was, with the US, one of the two main contributors in the development of rock and roll, and the UK has provided some of the most famous rock stars, including The Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, The Who, and many others. Yeley in 2003 and Jay Drake in 2004. Various British TV formats have been exported to other nations, notably Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, The Weakest Link and The Office.

He also collected owner titles in USAC's National Sprint Car Series with J.J. Popular programmes in the UK include the three major soaps - EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale - as well as the comedy news quiz Have I Got News For You and Reality TV shows such as Big Brother. Yeley, and in 2004 with Dave Steele. The other main television networks are ITV, Channel 4, Five and Sky Television. Stewart has won USAC car owner titles in the Silver Crown division in 2002 and 2003 with J.J. The BBC is the oldest and perhaps the most respected broadcasting network on the globe, with the BBC World Service radio channel and its news output held in particularly high regard. In addition to his Nextel Cup gig, Stewart, nicknamed "The Columbus Comet" (for his present hometown of Columbus, Indiana), "The Rushville Rocket" and "Smoke", is also the owner of a World of Outlaws sprint car driven by Danny "The Dude" Lasoski. George Frideric Handel spent most of his composing life in England.

He only won twice that season, but led more laps than he'd done the previous year and was highly competitive in the final races of the year. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten in the 19th and 20th. Driving a Chevrolet instead of his previous Pontiac ride (Gibbs switched), Tony actually had his worst Cup season, but it was still good enough for a 7th place finish in points. S. As defending champion, Stewart managed to have a relatively incident-free 2003. Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, John Taverner, William Lawes, John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, and Henry Purcell from the 16th and early 17th centuries, and, more recently, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. At the end of the year, Stewart held off a charging Mark Martin to win his first Winston Cup championship. Important poets include Lord Byron, Robert Burns, Lord Tennyson and William Blake.

Stewart went on to win the race immediately after being disciplined, and went on a tear in the final races, finishing consistently in the top five. Rowling. NASCAR put Stewart on probation for the rest of the season. Wells, Charles Dickens, and J.K. The second half of his season was plagued by an altercation he had with a photographer after the Brickyard 400. G. He won twice early in the season though, but was only 7th at the halfway point of the season. Lewis, John Milton, H.

Tony started 2002 even more inauspiciously than he'd started his previous season, as his Daytona 500 lasted just two laps due to a blown engine. S. Tony, understandably, earned a reputation for being NASCAR's bad boy. Tolkien, C. Stewart was not allowed to practice until wearing one, and only managed to practice after his crew chief intervened. R. He confronted the same official at the race in Talladega after refusing to wear a mandated head and neck restraint. R.

This resulted in another fine and longer probation. Playwright William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in the history of the English language; other well-known writers from the United Kingdom include the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), Jane Austen, William Thackeray, J. At the same race, he also got into an incident with a reporter, kicking away a tape recorder. Britain's other languages are also spoken by small groups across the world, including Welsh in Argentina [3] and Gaelic in Canada. He got into further trouble at Daytona, when he confronted a Winston Cup official after ignoring a black flag. It is taught as a second language more than any other around the world. Stewart was fined and placed on probation by NASCAR. The English language has spread to all corners of the world (primarily because of the British empire and the influence of the United States) and is referred to as a "global language".

Gordon pulled a "bump and run" on Stewart to gain a better finishing position in a race in Bristol, and it resulted in Stewart retaliating in a post-race incident by spinning Gordon out on pit road. The United Kingdom contains many of the world's leading universities, including the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Manchester and the University of London (which incorporates, amongst others, University College London and the LSE), and has produced many great scientists and engineers including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Isambard Kingdom Brunel; the nation is credited with many inventions including the locomotive, vaccination, television, the railway, and both the internal combustion and the jet engine. The season was not without controversy though. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Hindi-speaking peoples outside of the Indian subcontinent. Statistically, he had a worse season than 2000, but he was the runner up to Jeff Gordon for the Cup championship. Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages, including Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, and Cantonese. He recovered to win three more races, and as he'd done before, ran near the front most of the season. Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, most famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep.

Amazingly, he walked away nearly unscathed. The other indigenous languages include the Celtic languages; Welsh, the closely related Irish and Scots Gaelic, and the Cornish language; as well as Lowland Scots, which is closely related to English; Romany; and British Sign Language (Northern Ireland Sign Language is also used in Northern Ireland). Tony's 2001 got off to a frightening start, as he was involved in a nasty crash in the Daytona 500 where his car violently flipped over several times. Although Celtic languages persist in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the predominant language is English, which is a West Germanic language descended from Old English, featuring a large amount of borrowings from Norman French. The two are still heated rivals to this day, with Gordon always seeming to outlast his competetitor. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France. Stewart made his displeasure towards Gordon known in an obscenity-laden tirade. Contemporary Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century.

The most well known of these came at Watkins Glen, when he and Jeff Gordon tangled and crashed into each other. A group of islands close to continental Europe, the British Isles have been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent, including Roman occupation for several centuries. Tony also began to get some bad press for his on-track incidents. Reforms to the nature of the church's relationship to the state have been ongoing, especially concerning the nature of the House of Lords and the appointment of a fixed amount of the lordships going to Lords Spiritual, Bishops of the Church of England. However, he "slipped" to 6th place in the standings because of a handful of DNFs, and an increase in the number of competitive drivers, among them his teammate Labonte, who won the Cup championship. During his reign, England broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church and established the Church of England as the official religion of England. Stewart showed no signs of a sophomore slump in Winston Cup in 2000, as he won six races. Anglicanism is the state religion that has been established in England since 1534 during the reign of King Henry VIII.

His attempt at "The Double" was mildly successful, as he finished in the top 10 at both races, but he fell 10 miles short of completing all of the miles. The Church of England and the Church of Scotland function as the official national religions in their respective countries, but most religions found in the world are represented in the United Kingdom. Tony also attempted to race 1,100 miles on Memorial Day, as he attempted to race the Indy 500 during the day and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte at night. Education is mandatory from ages five to sixteen. Not surprisingly, he ran away with the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99%) is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696). He finished his first year an unprecedented 4th in points, the highest points finish by a rookie in the modern era (since 1972), and only bested by James Hylton, who finished 2nd as a first-timer in 1966. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's prosperous south-east and is predominantly urban and suburban--with about 7.2 million in the capital of London.

He won a pair of pole positions at short tracks, and tied a rookie record with three victories. Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world. He only failed to finish a race once, and even then he finished 9th. At the April 2001 census, the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194, the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. Stewart spent most of his rookie season wowing people, as his car was often in the top 10. The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before they recommend that the UK adopts the Euro, and hold a referendum. In the 500 itself, Stewart ran near the front until problems with the car relegated him to a midpack finish. Tourism is also important: with over 24 million tourists a year, the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world, between China (33) and Austria (19.1).

The Intimidator came out on top, but Tony had nonetheless impressed quite a few people with his performance. Industry continues to decline in importance, although the UK is still Europe's largest manufacturer of armaments, petroleum products, personal computers, televisions, and mobile telephones. He showed courage in one of the Gatorade Twin 125 races, when involved in a great battle with Dale Earnhardt for the win. Services, particularly banking, insurance and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP. Stewart started his Winston Cup career with a bang, as he qualified his No 20 Home Depot Pontiac in second place in his first Cup race, the Daytona 500. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial state. With that move, Stewart ended his three year career as a full time IRL driver. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force.

Gibbs had enough confidence in Tony that he was moved into Cup for the 1999 season. Over the past three decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatisation programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State. Stewart finished a solid 2nd place in 2 (of 31) starts, ahead of six drivers with more starts, and had an average finish that was comparable to some of the series' top 10 finishers. The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, the fourth largest in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates. He came extremely close to winning his first Busch Series race in Rockingham, but was beaten on a last lap pass by Matt Kenseth. In total it is estimated that the UK includes around 1098 small islands, some being natural and some being crannogs, a type of artificial island which was built in past times using stone and wood, gradually enlarged by natural waste building up over time. On the Busch side, he finished in the top-five five times in 22 starts. Lough Neagh, the largest body of water in the British Isles, by surface area (388 square kilometres), can be found in Northern Ireland.

His season was something of a disappointment, especially as he finished last in the Indy 500 because of an engine failure. The province is home to one of the UK’s World Heritage Sites, the Giant's Causeway, which consists of more than 40,000 six-sided basalt columns up to 40 feet (12 m) high. In the IRL, he won twice and finished 3rd in the championship. The main cities are Belfast ('Beal Feirste' in Irish) and Londonderry / Derry ('Doire' in Irish). The double duty did not affect his performance in either series. Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. Stewart so impressed Gibbs that he was signed to drive the majority of the Busch schedule in 1998 to go along with a full-time IRL schedule. The largest and capital city is Cardiff, located in South Wales.

When Stewart was able to finish, he was in the top 10, and had a 3rd place in Charlotte. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey. This time, he was racing for Joe Gibbs, the former (and current as of 2004) coach of the Washington Redskins who was having a lot of success with driver Bobby Labonte in Winston Cup. Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon at 1085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level. As he had done the previous year, he raced a handful of Busch Series races. The largest city is Glasgow. Despite an average end to his season, finishing 7th, 14th, and 11th, and five DNFs, Stewart did just enough to beat Hamilton for the IRL title. The capital city is Edinburgh, the centre of which is a World Heritage Site.

He became the leading contender for the series' championship after a bad slump knocked points leader Davey Hamilton out of first place. A multitude of islands west and north of Scotland are also included, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. Tony finally got his first career win at Pikes Peak, where he led all but seven laps of a 200 lap race. There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. At that year's Indy 500, Stewart had a good enough car to win his first IRL race, as he led 64 laps, but tailed off near the end of the race and settled for 5th. Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain at 1344 metres (4,408 ft). He failed to finish the first three races of a ten race schedule, but recovered to finish second in Phoenix. There is no peak in England that is 1000 metres (3,300 ft) or greater.

Tony was poised to improve his IRL standing in 1997, but struggled with finishing at times. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France. He had more success in a one-time ride in the Craftsman Truck Series, where he finished 10th. The largest urban area is Greater London. In nine races, however, he had only a best finish of 16th place. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber Estuary. Tony also made a handful of starts in NASCAR's Busch Series that year. The lower limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds, Lincolnshire and chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation.

When he wasn't racing Indy Cars, he raced stock cars. Most of England consists of rolling lowland terrain, divided east from west by more mountainous terrain in the Northwest (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District) and north (the upland moors of the Pennines) and limestone hills of the Peak District by the Tees-Exe line. In 1995, Stewart became the first driver to win USAC's version of the Triple Crown, earning championships in all three of USAC's major divisions, National Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown. Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq (Granby, No-Fly-Zones, Desert Fox and Telic) may all be taken as precedent - indeed the last true war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, in which military action was initiated by Argentina and the UK was fighting a defensive, rather than offensive, campaign. Stewart was the USAC rookie of the year in 1991, and was the National Midget series champion in 1994. Despite the United Kingdom's wide ranging capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that any large operation would be undertaken as part of a coalition. He raced three-quarter midgets for a handful of years before moving up to the USAC series. The Royal Navy is the second largest navy in the World in terms of gross tonnage.

Born in Columbus, Indiana, Stewart grew up racing go karts, highly successfully, winning the world karting championship in 1987. The UK's Special Forces, principally the SAS, provide elite commandos trained for quick, mobile, military responses; often where secrecy or covert operations are required. . This puts total active duty military troops in the 190,000 range, currently deployed in over 80 countries. Anthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart (born May 20, 1971), is an auto racing driver who has won championships in sprint cars, Indy cars, and stock cars. The 36,810-member Royal Navy is in charge of the United Kingdom's independent strategic nuclear arm, which consists of four Trident Ballistic Missile Submarines, while the Royal Marines provide infantry units for amphibious assault and for specialist reinforcement forces in and beyond the NATO area. 2002 and 2003 Virginia is for Lovers 200 (Richmond). The British Army had a reported strength of 103,780 in 2004, including approximately 7,600 women, and the Royal Air Force a strength of 49,280.

2005 Hershey's Take 5 300 (Daytona). Its global power projection capabilities are second only to those of the United States Armed Forces. 1999 Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 (Richmond), Checker Auto Parts/Dura Lube 500 (Phoenix), Pennzoil 400 presented by Kmart (Homestead). The United Kingdom fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive military forces in the World. 2000 MBNA Platinum 400 (Dover), Kmart 400 (Michigan), thatlook.com 300 (Loudon), MBNA.com 400 (Dover), NAPA AutoCare 500 (Martinsville), Pennzoil 400 presented by Discount Auto Parts (Homestead). They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations. 2001 Pontiac Excitement 400(Richmond), Dodge/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma), Sharpie 500 (Bristol). The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting the United Kingdom's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts.

2002 MBNA America 500 (Atlanta), Chevy American Revolution 400 (Richmond), Sirius Satellite Radio at The Glen (Watkins Glen), also won Winston Cup Championship. Their Commander-in-Chief is the Queen and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. 2003 Pocono 500 (Pocono), UAW-GM Quality 500 (Charlotte). The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. 2004 Tropicana 400 presented by Meijer (Chicago), Sirius at The Glen (Watkins Glen). Also sometimes associated with the United Kingdom, though not constitutionally part of the United Kingdom itself, are the Crown dependencies (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) as self-governing possessions of the Crown, and a number of overseas territories under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom. 2005 Dodge/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma), Pepsi 400 (Daytona), New England 300 (Loudon), Allstate 400 at The Brickyard (Indianapolis), Sirius at The Glen (Watkins Glen), also won Nextel Cup Championship. Northern Ireland is divided into 26 Districts.

Wales consists of 22 Unitary Authorities, styled as 10 County Boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Scotland consists of 32 Council Areas. Although at one point it was intended that each or some of these regions would be given its own regional assembly, the plan's future is uncertain, as of 2004, after the North East region rejected its proposed assembly in a referendum. Each region is made up of counties and unitary authorities, apart from London, which consists of London boroughs.

Although all four have historically been divided into counties, England's population is an order of magnitude larger than the others so in recent years it has for some purposes been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions. The Laws in Wales Act 1535 incorporated Wales and England into England and Wales for legal purposes. The well-received resurgence in Celtic (Welsh, Scottish, Irish and Cornish) cultures and languages, as well as 'regional' politics and development, contribute to the forces pulling against the unity of the state, however, outwith the special case of Northern Ireland (where, arguably, crisis is the natural state) there is at present little sign of any imminent crisis. The contradictions this places upon the state may yet prove to be considerable, where the largest constituent country England seeks no separate legislature and is therefore governed according to the balance of parties across the whole of the United Kingdom (see West Lothian Question).

However, increased autonomy and devolved executive and legislative powers within the state, with both Scotland and Wales now possessing a legislature and government alongside that for the United Kingdom as a whole, have not reduced support for independence. Though 'nationalist' (as opposed to 'unionist') tendencies have shifted over time in Scotland and Wales, with the Scottish National Party founded in 1934 and Plaid Cymru (the Party of Wales) in 1925, a serious political crisis threatening the integrity of the United Kingdom as a state has not occurred since the 1970s. Independence for the Republic of Ireland in 1922 provided only a partial solution to what had been termed in the 19th Century the 'Irish Question', and competing demands for a united Ireland or continued union with Great Britain have brought civil strife and political instability up to the present day. Though many in the United Kingdom consider themselves 'British' as well as 'Welsh', 'English', 'Scottish' or 'Irish' (and increasingly also 'Afro-Caribbean', 'Indian' or 'Pakistani'), there has long been a widespread sense of separate national identities in the nations of Wales and Scotland and amongst the Catholic community in Northern Ireland.

The Liberal Democrats are the third major party in the UK parliament and actively seek a reform of the electoral system to address the dominance of the two-party system. Though coalition and minority governments have been an occasional feature of Parliamentary politics, the first-past-the-post electoral system used for general elections tends to maintain the dominance of these two parties, though each has in the past century relied upon a third party to deliver a working majority in Parliament. Since the 1920s, the two largest political parties in British politics have been the Labour Party and Conservative Party. The Church of England is the established church of the state in England.

The House of Lords has 724 members (though this number is not fixed), constituted of hereditary peers, life peers, and bishops of the Church of England. The House of Commons has 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Commons is the more powerful of the two houses. It is bicameral, composed of the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed.

It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. Support for a British republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent [2].

Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested several times, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong in spite of recent controversies. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the Queen (being given Royal Assent), although no monarch has refused to assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708. The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. In the United Kingdom the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his or her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial.

The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997. The Prime Minister is chosen as the MP who can command a majority in the House of Commons - usually the leader of the largest party or, if there is no majority party, the largest coalition. The British system of government has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the United Kingdom's colonial past - most notably in the other Commonwealth Realms. Ministers do not, however, legally have to come from Parliament, though that is the modern day custom.

The majority of cabinet members will be from the House of Commons, the rest from the House of Lords. The government is answerable chiefly to the House of Commons and the Prime Minister is drawn from this chamber of Parliament by constitutional convention. While the monarch is Head of State and holds all executive power, it is the Prime Minister who is the head of government. The UK is one of the few countries in the world today that does not have a codified constitution, relying instead on customs and separate pieces of constitutional law.

These ministers are drawn from and are responsible to Parliament, the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be "supreme" (that is, able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors). The cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and other ministers collectively make up Her Majesty's Government. The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised on behalf of the Queen by the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments.
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It has not chosen to adopt the Euro as domestic political opinion runs strongly against such a move, whilst the government itself has not seen fit to advance membership based on a judgement of the economic costs and benefits in doing so. The attitude of the present government towards further integration is conservative, with the official opposition favouring a return of some powers and competencies to the UK. The UK has been a member of the European Union since 1973. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous nation.

The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted from the effects of World War I and World War II. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one quarter of the Earth's surface and encompassed a third of its population - making it the largest empire in history. The United Kingdom, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing Western ideas of property, liberty, capitalism and parliamentary democracy—to say nothing of its part in advancing world literature and science. Independence for the now Republic of Ireland in 1922 brought the partition of the island of Ireland, with six of the nine counties of the province of Ulster remaining within the UK, which changed to the current name in 1929 in recognition.

The Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1169 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. With the Act of Union 1707, the independent states of England and Scotland, having been in personal union since 1603, agreed to a political union as the Kingdom of Great Britain. Wales, under the control of English monarchs from the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, became part of the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland and England have existed as separate political entities since the 9th century.

The present United Kingdom is the latest of several unions formed over the last 840 years. . The UK is also one of the major nuclear weapon states. It is one of the more populous member states of the European Union and a founding partner of both the UN (with a permanent seat on the Security Council) and NATO.

The UK has a highly developed economy, the fourth-largest in the world. The UK has close relationships with the fifteen other Commonwealth Realms, which share the same monarch as head of state. The UK has several overseas territories, including Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, and has sovereignty over the Crown dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The United Kingdom, often confusingly referred to as "Britain", is a constitutional monarchy and a "unitary state", composed by the political union of four constituent entities: the three constituent countries of England, Scotland, and Wales on the island of Great Britain, and the province of Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom, or the UK) is a country and state situated in the British Isles, off the north-western coast of mainland Europe, with a land border with the Republic of Ireland and otherwise surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. Name changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927.
⁷ Official estimate provided by the UK Office for National Statistics [1].
⁸ ISO 3166-1 is GB, but .gb is unused. Norman French is also used for occasional items of official business.
⁶ Formed as United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ²There is also a variant for use in Scotland, see Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom for details.
³ The Royal motto used in Scotland is Nemo Me Impune Lacessit (Latin for "No-one provokes me with impunity").
⁴ Not official.
⁵Officially recognised languages: in Wales, Welsh; and in Scotland, Scottish Gaelic since 2005 Act.