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The UK has just had a general election which resulted in a hung parliament. This means that Theresa May is now forming a coalition government with the DUP. Watching BBC 1 and people are saying that there is nothing way the PM would be able to last the full term which could lead to a new PM later this summer.

Since there is a coalition, could a change of PM for the Conservatives result in another snap election? If so, how likely is it?

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Just to clarify, it seems the Conservative Party and DUP likely didn't form a coalition, but rather operate on a "confidence and supply" agreement, as reported in The Guardian.

There has been no decision as yet on whether there will be a formal coalition between the Conservatives and the DUP or if they will operate on a “confidence and supply” arrangement – whereby the unionists would support a minority government on vital matters in return for some of their policies being enacted.

It has been reported that the two parties do not believe it necessary to enter a formal coalition to govern.

(emphasis mine)


As to whether a new general election will be called will depend on the new Prime Minister. It's also legally not required for an unelected PM to call a general election and there have been many former Prime Ministers who assumed office unelected and did not call for any election.

The most recent example would be Gordon Brown, who won the Labour leadership election unopposed and didn't call for any election, thus remaining an unelected PM.

In fact, there are 2 other Prime Ministers after WWII who were unelected, they are Lord Home and James Callaghan.

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