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Category: Fixed Term Parliament Act

Getting rid of the FTPA won’t be that easy

Getting rid of the FTPA won’t be that easy

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The Coalition’s constitutional legacy could last a little longer yet The classic interpretation is wrong. Britain’s constitution is not unusual because it is uncodified (or unwritten, to use the inaccurate but more frequently-used description). It is, of course, uncodified – it cannot be found in a single source – and it is, in some important aspects of convention, unwritten; and while the former is unusual, to focus there misses the crucial point and places the stress on the wrong thing….

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The booby trap. Prime Ministers under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011

The booby trap. Prime Ministers under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011

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We are used to American presidents dominating their country’s politics.  “Commander in chief” can be understood in more than one way, given how the role has developed. It was not always thus. For most of the nineteenth century, American presidents were chiefly distinctive for their lack of distinction. In the sixty year period between Andrew Jackson to Teddy Roosevelt, only Abraham Lincoln really stood out for his achievements. Taken as a group, they were strikingly anonymous.   Taking the very broadest…

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Small minds and Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn’s latest gambit

Small minds and Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn’s latest gambit

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His letter’s a strategic mistake The real fight starts here. Jeremy Corbyn has written to other opposition party leaders suggesting that if he calls a vote of no confidence in the government, he stands ready to lead a temporary government to obtain an extension to the Article 50 notice and then call a general election. Perplexingly, this ecumenical offer has met with a cool reception. The Lib Dems have given him the thumbs down on the ground that he would…

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Can we end this “snap election” speculation – TMay, like Dave before, simply does not have the power to call one

Can we end this “snap election” speculation – TMay, like Dave before, simply does not have the power to call one

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Everybody seems to be ignoring the Fixed Term Parliament Act In the latest PB polling matters podcast we hear that polling has been going on asking the public what they think of the idea of having an early General Election. The responses are interesting but they ignore one pertinent fact: The prime minister, unlike all those before Cameron, does not have the personal power to go to the monarch and seek the dissolution of Parliament. The Fixed Term Parliament Act…

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