Constitution of the E-United Kingdom:

We the people of the E-United Kingdom, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the E-United Kingdom.

Note: This Constitution may only be altered by the site operators, albeit that if a Referendum decision by Electors (see below) affects this Constitution, the site operators will endeavour to implement such change.

Article 1 – Political Gatherings

People may freely join, in any number, in public or in private, to discuss politics, without any interference from the E-State.

To this end, political parties play no part in the governmental functions of the E-Nation. They may be registered as Lobby Groups to influence the outcome of debates and decisions, but cannot dictate such outcomes. Any person may be a member of such groups, however, their sponsors and chairmen may not hold any other public role. There may be a free exchange of information between Lobby Groups and any other person.

Speakers Corner is available for individual Electors who wish to broadcast their viewpoint nationally on anything to anyone who will listen: similar locations are available within each constituency.

Article 2 – Free Speech and Correspondence

There shall be no restrictions on free speech or correspondence, except with the bounds of (real-world) laws, including libel, slander, official secrets and incitement. In addition, the courtesies of polite behaviour are preferred. Within these constraints:

    Editors may freely publish Newspapers reporting events in any way they choose, and expressing whatever opinions they wish.

    Orators may freely speak, and express any opinion they choose. Spectators at such events may heckle freely.

    Any Elector may freely write to any other Elector on any subject, whatever their role. Electors may block mail from any other individual Elector, and such blocking shall be advised to the sender.

    Opinion Pollsters may freely seek the views of the electorate, or sections of the electorate, on any subject they wish, and Electors may express their opinion in such polls in confidence.

Article 3 – Electors

All persons aged 18 and over, permanently resident in the United Kingdom, may become Electors. They will be registered in the Constituency of their declared residence, by postcode.

Electors may adopt public roles in parallel, including Candidate, Press, Orator or Lobby Group Sponsor/Chairman. Subject to election by the designated electoral school, they may also become Members of the Web Parliament. Persons adopting such roles remain eligible as Electors, but are barred from performing other public roles.

Electors are entitled to vote in General Elections, By-Elections, Referenda and Votes of Confidence.

In the E-Nation, Electors may be known by a non de plume, however, once they adopt any public role, their real name must be declared and will be used to identify them.

Note: Eligibility to be an elector is determined at time of site registration from the declared date of birth. For members under the age of 18, the system automatically detects when they become eligible.

Article 4 – Constituencies and Members of the Web Parliament

Each major postcode boundary (ie the initial one or two letters of the postcode) in the United Kingdom is deemed to be a Constituency, currently 121 of them, as listed in Appendix 2.

Each Constituency may be represented in the House of Representatives by at least one Member of Web Parliament (MWP), provided there are resident Electors within that constituency.

The total number of MWPs shall be 363, an average of 3 per constituency, the number per constituency allocated pro-rata on the basis of the number of Electors registered per Constituency - - variations of plus or minus 5 shall be permissible in order to maintain a fair distribution of seats.

MWPs may not perform any other public role outside of the government, except that of Elector.

MWPs may be subjected to a vote of confidence by their own electorate, if ten per cent (10%) of the Electors in their constituency lodge a protest. If more than fifty per cent (50%) of the electorate vote against them, they will lose their seats, and a By-Election is called.

All MWPs automatically lose their seats when the House of Representatives is dissolved for a General Election, and revert to being Electors.

Article 5 – Elections

All forms of Election are called at four weeks notice, specifying an Election Day.

When the Web Parliament is dissolved, a General Election is called. The maximum life of a Web Parliament is one year.

If a MWP resigns, dies or loses a vote of confidence, a By-Election is called.

Any Elector may nominate themselves to stand as a Candidate, in any registered Constituency.

Electors may cast votes for one Candidate in their Constituency at any time during the Election Day.

Up to the number of seats allocated per Constituency, Candidates will be selected in order of number of votes polled. Ties shall be resolved by random means.

Note: Once ten thousand (10,000) electors have been registered on the website, the first General Election will be called.

Article 6 – House of Representatives

All MWPs become members of the House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives shall be in session from 1900 to 2200 UK local time Monday to Thursday, excepting Bank Holidays.

Each session of the House of Representatives shall be chaired by a Chairman. The House shall not be in session until an MWP entering the House has volunteered to perform the duties of Chairman.

The primary purpose of the House of Representatives shall be to elect members to become Ministers. They shall also be able to call for and vote in votes of confidence on Ministers. These tasks are performed out of house sessions.

The second purpose of the House of Representatives shall be to debate legislation, measures, referenda questions and budgets proposed by Ministers. The Chairman shall be able to allocate time to each debate. They shall also be able to vote on the wording of referenda questions and options.

The third purpose of the House of Representatives shall be to debate issues requested by MWPs. The Chairman shall select the issue to be debated from requests, and ten minutes will be allowed per request.

Article 7 – House of Experts

The House of Experts shall be formed of one hundred and twenty persons, selected by the the Council of Ministers.

There shall be six experts with primary expertise relative to the responsibilities of each of the twenty Ministries (see Article 8).

Electors may submit their CVs to the Council of Ministers for consideration as Experts.

The House of Experts shall be in session from 1900 to 2200 UK time Monday to Thursday, excepting Bank Holidays.

Each session of the House of Experts shall be chaired by a Chairman. The House shall not be in session until an Expert entering the House has volunteered to perform the duties of Chairman.

The primary purpose of the House of Experts shall be to respond to requests from the Council of Ministers to frame legislation, measures and budgets proposed. This task is performed outside of house sessions.

The second purpose of the House of Experts shall be to debate legislation, measures, referenda questions and budgets proposed by Ministers. The Chairman shall be able to allocate time to each debate.

The third purpose of the House of Experts shall be to debate issues requested by members. The Chairman shall select the issue to be debated from requests, and ten minutes will be allowed per request.

Once elected to the House of Experts, an Expert shall remain a member until such time as they resign, die or are removed by a vote of confidence.

Experts may be subjected to a vote of confidence by Mnisters, if twenty per cent (20%) of the Ministers lodge a protest. If more than fifty per cent (50%) of Ministers vote against them, they will lose their position, and the position made available for re-election.

Article 8 – Ministries, Ministers and Council of Ministers

There shall be twenty (20) Ministries, one of which is the Prime Minister’s office. Ministers shall meet in a Council of Ministers, at times specified by the Prime Minister.

MWPs may nominate themselves to be considered for vacant Ministerial positions, but only for one position at a time.

The responsibilities of the respective Ministries are defined in Appendix A. The Prime Minister’s Office may amend the terms of reference and division of responsibilities between these Ministries, but changes to the Ministries themselves require a change of constitution (see Preamble).

Each session of the Council of Ministers shall be chaired by the Prime Minister, or a nominated deputy.

The first purpose of the Council of Ministers shall be to select Electors submitting their CVs to become Specialists in the House of Experts. They shall also be able to call for and vote in votes of confidence on Specialists.

The second purpose of the Council of Ministers is to agree the order of priority of submission of proposed legislation, measures, budgets and Referenda wording to the House of Representatives and House of Experts.

The third purpose of the Council of Ministers shall be to debate issues requested by Ministers. The Chairman shall select the issue to be debated from requests, and no more than ten minutes will be allowed per request.

Ministers may be subjected to a vote of confidence by MWPs, if fifteen per cent (15%) of the MWPs lodge a protest. If more than fifty per cent (50%) of MWPs vote against them, they will lose their positions, and the position made available for re-election.

Article 9 - Government Measures

The government may from time to time implement measures to introduce new legislation, budgets or other instruments, or to modify existing measures. Ministers may register requirements for such measures.

Such measures may be drafted, re-drafted and circulated for discussion in any forum or to any individual while they are in draft. As a minimum, such measures must be debated at least once in each of the Council of Ministers, House of Experts and House of Representatives.

Each measure must also have associated with it a referendum question and at least two options, one of which must be to reject the measure. No measure may be implemented without selection of an option by Electors.

A measure may only be put to the Electorate once the wording of the Referendum question and options has been agreed by a majority of MWPs, who are bound to verify that this article of the constitution has been complied with prior to such agreement.

Article 10 – Referenda

Referenda Questions shall be submitted to Electors at two weeks notice, nominating a Referendum Day.

Electors shall be able to vote for only one option in each Referendum.

Votes shall only be counted nationwide.

The winning Option shall be the one polling more than fifty per cent of the votes cast. In the event of an exact tie, the Referendum Question shall be resubmitted for re-voting two weeks later.

Article 11 – Freedom of Information and Open Government

All proceedings of the Council of Ministers, House of Representatives and House of Experts shall be accessible by any Elector, in real-time and on permanent record.

All Electors shall be entitled to correspond with any person in a public role that they choose to do so. However, persons in public roles may redirect mail to other persons volunteering to assist them. Such blocking or redirection shall be advised to the person sending the correspondence.

Appendix 1 – Ministries