Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 10:56 pm on 16 March 2010.
Anne Main
Conservative, St Albans
10:56,
16 March 2010
The Chamber is not exactly crowded tonight, and I have asked specifically about the roads in St. Albans. The east midlands is an interesting topic generally, but I would appreciate it if the Minister could address the specific issues to do with my Constituency that I have raised, especially given that other hon. Members have chosen not to attend this debate to speak about their areas.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
