The current holder of a seat in the legislature or of an office of authority.

Quasi Autonomous Non-Government Organisation. A body financed by government but not under its direct control.

The legislative equivalent of a criminal prosecution, where a high government official is subject, by a house of Parliament or Congress, to an investigation, indictment and subsequent trial.

Short speeches allowed by any MP on any subject but only granted at a specific time per week for a few hours.

In optional preferential voting systems, a vote that was not fully completed and, in being counted, has reached its last candidate, still not made up a quota, and thus becomes worthless.

The relationship of the values of any two country’s currencies. Any one-off reading is informative when taking into account what each country’s unit of currency will buy in its own domestic market. Also relevant is when the rate changes over time indicating one country’s economy is not doing as well as the other.

A state or society ruled by men where moral authority and control of property may also be exclusively in the hands of males. a.k.a.  andrarchy or phallocracy.

Either a non-proportional representation or a non-preferential electoral system as is common in both the UK and the USA.

A party whip is a parliamentary party disciplinary officer who ensures that his/her party members do the right thing such as being in attendance for certain crucial votes. A whip is also the notice sent by the aforesaid to members.

Someone engrossed in the technicalities of some aspect of public policy.