What is Royal assent?

What is Royal assent?

• A. The monarch's election to Parliament
• B. The formal approving of an act of Parliament by the monarch
• C. The government's budget approval
• D. The prime minister's appointment of ministers

Answer: (B)

Royal assent is the monarch’s formal signature on a bill that has been passed by both houses of Parliament, after which the bill becomes law. In practice, the assent is given on the advice of the government, so it’s largely a ceremonial step today. It’s not about there being an election, nor about approving a budget, and it isn’t the prime minister’s act of appointing ministers. Those powers belong to other parts of the constitutional process, while royal assent simply completes the path for a bill to become an Act.

Royal assent is the monarch’s formal signature on a bill that has been passed by both houses of Parliament, after which the bill becomes law. In practice, the assent is given on the advice of the government, so it’s largely a ceremonial step today. It’s not about there being an election, nor about approving a budget, and it isn’t the prime minister’s act of appointing ministers. Those powers belong to other parts of the constitutional process, while royal assent simply completes the path for a bill to become an Act.