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The British constitution is the system of rules that decides the political governance of the U.K. and Northern Ireland. Unlike in most countries, it is not codified into a single document. However, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom recognises that there are constitutional principles, including parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law, democracy and upholding international law.

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Although England's parliament, often called "the mother of parliaments" has existed for over seven centuries, the founding document of England's "constitution" is generally considered to be the Magna Carta, which the barons drew up and forced King John to sign in the year 1215. The spirit of this document has guided the evolution of English law over the centuries and inspired numerous constitutional documents drawn up by other countries, including the Constitution of the United States of America, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The most important landmark bills are the English Bill of Rights and the Acts of Union, establishing the linking of England and Scotland within a United Kingdom.

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Parliament is the representative of monarchy, aristocracy, church and people  and makes laws. Parliament cannot act anti-constitutionally, but in the past, the Monarch could refuse to sign bills; Today he or she has to sign any bill passed by the two chambers of Parliament.
In past centuries, laws were dictated by the Monarch and the House of Lords. Since the 19th century, parliamentary power has been held by the elected members of the House of Commons.

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Legislative programmes are determined by the Government in power, known as "Her Majesty's Government". In theory, the government is appointed by the Monarch; in practice, the monarch no longer has any choice in the matter. He/She appoints as Prime Minister, the leader of the political party with a majority in the House of Commons, then appoints the Ministers of "Her Majesty's government ". The government can also manage the day-to-day affairs of the nation by using "statutory instruments" to make administrative changes to existing legislation.

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While Parliament cannot act outside the law as it is the supreme maker of law,  the government can do so. This was shown in January 2017, when the Supreme Court ruled that the Government's decision to short-circuit parliamentary scrutiny in preparing a Brexit agreement was unconstitutional.

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The other great base of the United Kingdom's constitution is Common Law, the fruit of centuries of jurisprudence, that is based on historic principles of "natural law. Great Britain does not have a "penal code" nor a "civil code". Common Law, though based on the principle of "precedent", can change at any moment, as it is determined by judges.

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Ever since the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, the British Monarch has also been the official supreme governor of the Church of England, the "Defender of the Faith". Each coronation takes place at a ceremony at Westminster Abbey, where the new monarch is crowned and blessed by the Primate of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury. In reality, the Monarch takes no more part in the running of the Church of England, and the Bishops who sit in the House of Lords can only have a marginal influence on debates in the House which does not have the power to oppose government legislation . Their main function, in the 21st century, is to act as guardians of moral or socially equitable values in the British parliament, in fact the UK Parliament was one of the first national parliaments in the world to approve gay marriage.

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Each new law, each new major decision by judges, becomes a new stone in the edifice of the British Constitution. Therefore, the British constitution changes all the time.
Currently, one of the changes being discussed is the modernisation of the House of Lords, to make it at least in part a chamber to which members can be elected. The Cameron government pledged to introduce chages in the life of the present Parliament, but British voters are not very concerned by this issue. As of 2014, it seems unlikely that this "constitutional reform" will be enacted before the next General Election; few people in the UK think that constitutional reform is necessary.