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HOW BRITAIN DECIDES: THE NUTS AND BOLTS
(CNN) -- British politicians play the election game by simple rules: the party that wins the most seats wins 10 Downing Street.
The prime minister is customarily the leader of the party that wins the most seats in Parliament's House of Commons, and is formally appointed by the Queen. The prime minister -- who lives at 10 Downing Street -- is Britain's head of government, and appoints about 20 ministers to a Cabinet.
All members of the House of Commons are up for election in the May 1 general election.
Each of the chamber's 659 seats, including eight added this year, represents a constituency with an average of 69,000 voters. A party needs to win 330 seats to secure an overall majority.
Candidates are chosen by the local parties, and do not have to live in the constituencies they run in. The candidate with the most votes wins the constituency's single seat.
Members of Parliament do not have fixed terms, but are elected for a maximum of five years. These can be abbreviated if the prime minister calls an early election.
A general election may be called at any time by the prime minister, and must be called at least every five years. The prime minister has to give just three weeks notice of a general election, and naturally tries to time the decision to coincide with higher public approval.
The party with the second-largest majority is called the opposition, and its leaders form a "shadow" cabinet. It stands ready to step in at any time because it's not known when the next general election may occur.
In addition to general elections, in which all seats are open, by-elections are held when a member dies or resigns.
Britain has a strong two-party tradition, with Labour to the left and the Conservatives, or Tories, to the right. Smaller parties compete, but not on the same scale.
Parliament's other chamber, the House of Lords, is not elected. Its 1,200 or so peers hold the office either on a hereditary or an honorary basis.
Citizens reach majority at age 18, and nearly 44 million of Britain's 58 million inhabitants are eligible to vote in this year's election.
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