The manual gives an overview of the UK's system of government, reflecting the importance of Parliament, Cabinet government and the democratic nature of the UK's constitutional arrangements by explaining the powers of the Executive, Sovereign, Parliament, international institutions (most notably the European Union), the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories and the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The writing of the manual was originally initiated by Gordon Brown as part of his broader plan to establish a written constitution for the UK.
In February 2010 during a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that he had asked Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell to "consolidate the existing unwritten, piecemeal conventions that govern much of the way central government operates under our existing constitution into a single written document".
[1] Sir Gus and his team in the Cabinet Office travelled to New Zealand, which uses the Westminster system of government and also lacks a codified constitution.
Following recommendations by the Parliamentary Committees, a finalised version was published in October 2011 with forewords by David Cameron and Sir Gus O'Donnell.