What happens when a general election is called?
What happens in parliament and government when an election is called?
A general election can be called by the prime minister at a time of his or her choosing, up until 17 December 2024.
The prime minister must request permission from the monarch to hold a general election. With permission granted, a date will be set for the dissolution of parliament. Polling day takes place 25 working days after this date. This process is laid out under the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, which replaced the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011.
What happens in parliament once the election is called?
There are normally several days between an election being called and parliament being dissolved. During this period, parliament will continue until it is either dissolved or prorogued (and then dissolved) – whichever comes first. This period is known as ‘wash-up’.
Any parliamentary business not completed by the end of ‘wash-up’ will fall. This means any bills that have not already received Royal Assent will not enter into law and cannot be continued into the next parliament. This leads to a rush to rapidly pass legislation through parliament to get it onto the statute book, normally requiring cooperation between parties to agree which bills they will support through this expedited legislative process.
The length of ‘wash-up’ is decided by the prime minister and can vary. Since 1992, the longest wash-up period was in 2017, when parliament sat for a further seven days after the election was called.
What happens once parliament is dissolved?
Dissolving parliament is a royal prerogative, exercised on the advice of the prime minister. At this point, all business in the House comes to an end and every seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant, meaning there are no longer any MPs. Government ministers, however, remain in post until a new government is formed after the election. Members of the House of Lords retain their positions but all business in the House ends.
Polling day takes place 25 working days after parliament is dissolved. 13 DaCoP 2022 Weekends, Christmas Eve and bank holidays (anywhere in the UK) do not count as working days. Polling day has been on a Thursday since 1935, but this – unlike for Scottish Parliament elections 14 Scotland Act 1998, S2 - has no basis in law and the prime minister could hold the election on any day of his or her choosing.
What happens in government once the election is called?
Government activity is restricted during the campaign, in what is known as the ‘pre-election period’ (previously known as purdah). This is to ensure public money is not used to support the campaign of the party in power, and to maintain the impartiality of the civil service. Often, these restrictions come into force once parliament has been dissolved, but the pre-election period can begin before this (as in 2017).
When are manifestos launched and TV debates held?
There is no set date for manifestos to be launched – it is decided by the parties. Since 1997, Labour and Conservative manifestos have been launched between 18 and 29 days before the election, typically within a few days of each other.
Televised debates with party leaders, or other politicians, are a relatively new feature of UK election campaigns. Though the possibility of holding televised debates has been discussed since the 1960s, it was only in 2010 that an agreement was reached and the first TV debates took place. 16 researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05241/SN05241.pdf
TV election debates have taken place in some form at every general election since then. Their format and timing are negotiated between political parties and broadcasters. They have varied from a head-to-head between the two main party leaders to seven-way debates featuring a wider range of parties. There is, however, no obligation on parties to take part. In 2017, for example, Theresa May ruled out taking part in any television debates.