[EL] UK now has fixed term parliament with option of self-dissolution

[Adam Morse]

As I look at it, the specific law is mostly political theater (or I suppose
"theatre," since it's British).  A no-confidence vote can still cause a snap
election, albeit with a 14-day period to try to re-assemble the governing
coalition.  And despite the two-thirds majority requirement, the government
could presumably still cause an election that isn't scheduled by either
deliberately failing a no-confidence vote or by passing a new law repealing
this law, and then following that with a decision to call a new election.
 Requiring a procedural two-step doesn't make much of a difference.  I'm not
aware of anything that would insulate that super-majority requirement from
repeal by a simple majority, although perhaps there is some wrinkle of
British parliamentary practice that I don't understand.  Under current
circumstances, that would require the cooperation of the Lib-Dems, but even
without their cooperation the Conservatives could engineer an election by
deliberately failing a no-confidence vote.

The law may have actual impacts because of its symbolic effects.  There
might, for example, be political reasons that Cameron would be unwilling to
have his party express a lack of confidence in his government.  And over
time, if elections are held at the regularly scheduled times as the law
provides, a tradition may develop that would make it politically difficult
and unpopular to break the tradition.  But unless I'm missing something, any
effects would be because of those symbolic, political impacts rather than
because of the direct effects of the law.

--Adam Morse

On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 10:27 AM, Josiah Neeley <JNeeley at bopplaw.com> wrote:

> Actually, I believe that enacting fixed-term parliaments was one of the
> conditions the Lib-Dems had for entering the coalition with Conservatives.
> Fixed-term parliaments don't mean that the Lib-Dems can't leave the
> coalition; a government can still be brought down at any time by a vote of
> no confidence. What it does mean is that the party in power can't just pick
> an election date based on what would be to its own partisan advantage.
> ________________________________________
> From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [
> law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] on behalf of Douglas Carver
> [dhmcarver at gmail.com]
> Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2011 12:25 PM
> To: jure.toplak at uni-mb.si
> Cc: law-election at uci.edu
> Subject: Re: [EL] UK now has fixed term parliament with option of
> self-dissolution
>
> Evidently Mr Cameron is not confident in the durability of his coalition..
>
> On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 2:58 AM, <jure.toplak at uni-mb.si<mailto:
> jure.toplak at uni-mb.si>> wrote:
> I have not seen news about this on the list (I may have missed it) and
> members may find it interesting:
>
> Last week UK for the first time in history enacted fixed-term
> parliament. Elections will take place each 5 years in May. With this,
> the prime minister is giving up the right to pick and choose the date of
> the next election. Two thirds of the House of Commons can, however,
> dissolve the House and call early elections any time (self-dissolution
> of the parliament). The parliament is also dissolved early in case it
> votes that there is no confidence in the government and then, within 14
> days, it does not vote that there is confidence in a government.
>
> The text of The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011
> http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/14/enacted
>
> Wiki
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-term_Parliaments_Act_2011
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>
> --
> Dilexi iustitiam et odivi iniquitatem, propterea morior in exilio.
>
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>
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