What is ministerial responsibility?

The Queen and the ministers together make up the Government. Under the Constitution, which dates from 1848, the ministers and not the monarch are responsible for affairs of government. No legislation can come about without a minister being accountable for it to Parliament. Acts of Parliament and Royal Decrees, the latter not requiring the approval of Parliament, are always signed by the Queen, who thereby gives them the royal assent, and countersigned by a minister who accepts full constitutional responsibility for them. In this way, the Queen exercises her authority as head of state, and the minister his constitutional responsibility.