The history of British politics over the past 800 years has been largely one of breaking down the monarch's former power, and vesting that authority in Parliament as the sovereign legal voice of the people. This struggle has produced bitter conflicts on governmental, social and religious levels, as well as slowly evolving political institutions. The original structures were inevitably monarchical, aristocratic and non-democratic. These have been gradually adapted to the requirements of parliamentary democracy, changing social conditions and the mass franchise of today.
However, the roles of the political institutions are still vigorously debated in contemporary Britain. Governments are frequently accused of being too secretive, too centralized, too party-political, and insufficiently responsive to the wider needs of the country. It is also argued that Parliament has lost its controlling and restraining influence over the Cabinet-led executive. It is felt that political power has shifted overwhelmingly to the sitting government, and to the Prime Minister within the Cabinet. This view suggests that the real authority in the British governmental and political system now rests with the Prime Minister, as it had once belonged predominantly to the monarch.