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Can a General Election be called by a new Prime Minister?
There has been much speculation that an incoming prime minister (be it Gove, May or one of the other candidates) will want to call an early General Election (to establish legitimacy and perhaps to capitalise on the Labour Party's divisions)
Is this a realistic proposition? Can a General Election be called by a new Prime Minister?
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2 Answers
The Prime Minister can no longer call a General Election, due to the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011. The Act has a sunset clause, and a committee must report at some point between 1 June 2020 and 30 November 2020.
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In effect, yes.
The PM can't simply announce a general election purely on their own authority, but they can file a motion of no confidence in their own government in the Commons, and then instruct their MPs to vote for it.
This would cause a general election.
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Can a General Election be called by a new Prime Minister?
There has been much speculation that an incoming prime minister (be it Gove, May or one of the other candidates) will want to call an early General Election (to establish legitimacy and perhaps to capitalise on the Labour Party's divisions)
Is this a realistic proposition? Can a General Election be called by a new Prime Minister?
92.7k14 gold badges284 silver badges369 bronze badges
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The Prime Minister can no longer call a General Election, due to the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011. The Act has a sunset clause, and a committee must report at some point between 1 June 2020 and 30 November 2020.
3822 silver badges8 bronze badges
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