If two parties get together to form a ruling coalition and then the smaller party decides it was a bad idea, is the government dissolved? Do we get another General Election? Or does the larger party get to decide and could it then continue as a minority government?
Not that it's [i]that[/i] likely to happen, it's the Lords reform thing that got me to thinking.
The larger party can decide to continue as a minority government, however, the opposition can call for a vote of no confidence, and if the government loses the vote then a General Election is called.
Guess it would need a vote of no-confidence in the government, and the two opposition parties to pass this .
Any minority government needs some support to pass anything, so if "party 3" don't want to work with them, it's unlikely "party 2" will prop them up.
Edit. snap 🙂
The government needs to retain the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons. If the House votes to indicate that it has no confidence in the government, either by defeating the government on a confidence motion or by defeating a policy that the government has indicated is a 'matter of confidence', then a General Election would be called if a confidence motion in the new government was not passed within 14 days of the original no confidence motion.
Pretty sure that financial motions such as the budget are motions of confidence too, by default.
The coalition changed the law to make early elections via a vote of no confidence nearly impossible when they set up fixed five year parliamentry terms.
The coalition changed the law to make early elections via a vote of no confidence nearly impossible when they set up fixed five year parliamentry terms.
No they didn't
Under section 3(1) of the Act, Parliament automatically dissolves 17 working days before a polling day of a general election. Section 1 of the Act provides for such polling days to occur on the first Thursday in May of the fifth year after the previous general election, starting with 7 May 2015. The Prime Minister has the power, by order made by Statutory Instrument under section 1(5), to provide that the polling day is to be held up to two months later than that date.
Section 2 of the Act also provides for two ways in which a general election can be held before the end of this five year period:
If the House of Commons resolves "That this House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government", an early general election is held, unless the House of Commons resolves "That this House has confidence in Her Majesty's Government". This second resolution must be made within fourteen days of the first.
If the House of Commons, with the support of two-thirds of its members, resolves "That there shall be an early parliamentary general election".
In either of these two cases, the monarch (on the recommendation of the Prime Minister) appoints the date of the new election by proclamation. Parliament is then dissolved 17 working days before that date.
I said nearly impossible.
I said nearly impossible.
So what part of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act is different from previous rules that makes it 'nearly impossible' ?
I can't see any difference in the process