|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2001 election • MPs |
2005 election • MPs |
2010 election • MPs |
The next United Kingdom general election will be the election to the 56th Parliament of the United Kingdom. The election will be held on 7 May 2015 (save for a collapse of government or a two-thirds majority of MPs voting for an early election) under the terms of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011.[2]
The general election will see voting take place in all parliamentary constituencies of the United Kingdom, in order to elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to seats in the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament.
This will be the 55th general election for the United Kingdom since 1801 (earlier elections took place for parliaments in Great Britain and Ireland), though the resultant Parliament will be the 56th, as the first Parliament came about after the co-option of members from the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland.
Contents |
An election was usually called following the dissolution of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The power to dissolve Parliament was a Royal Prerogative, exercised by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. It was extremely unusual for the Sovereign to refuse a request for dissolution; the guidelines under which this might occur are known as the Lascelles Principles after the King's Private Secretary who set them out. An incumbent Prime Minister could choose to call a general election at a time when they enjoyed a temporary tactical advantage (the Conservatives' decisive win in the 1983 election was attributed in part to a boost in the party's fortunes following victory in the Falklands War).[3]
Under the provisions of the Septennial Act 1715, as amended by the Parliament Act 1911, the election had to be held on or before Thursday 11 June 2015, barring exceptional circumstances. Since the enactment of the 1715 act, Parliament has never been allowed to expire.
The previous general election, held on 6 May 2010, elected MPs to the 55th Parliament which began on 18 May 2010; as such, Parliament would expire at the end of 17 May 2015.[4][5] Since the last day that a proclamation summoning a new Parliament could be issued is this day of expiration, election timetables dictate that the latest possible date for the election was 11 June 2015.[5]
It is possible for constituencies to be forced to delay their date of polling. In each of the two preceding general elections, there has been a constituency forced to delay their vote, due to the death of a candidate.[6]
Prior to the 2010 general election, both the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats pledged to introduce fixed-term elections.[7] As part of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement, the Cameron Ministry agreed to legislate for fixed-term Parliaments, with the date of the next general election being 7 May 2015.[8] This would have coincided with elections for the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales, which are held on a four-year, fixed-term basis. In response to cross-party criticism of this, Nick Clegg offered each devolved body the right to vary their length of tenure by a year in either direction. Therefore, the next elections to the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales will take place in 2016.
To make the fixed-term legislation effective, a prime minister no longer has the power to advise the Queen to call an early election as a political tactic. The bill originally only permitted early dissolution if Parliament voted for one by a supermajority of 55%. A government could still lose a vote of no confidence and be replaced on a normal majority of 50% plus one. Later, the Government chose to increase the proposed supermajority to two-thirds, as is used by the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. When doing so, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg clarified that Parliament would be dissolved if no new government could be formed within 14 days of a no-confidence vote.[9]
The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 will reduce the number of seats in the Commons from the current 650 to 600. It also instructs the Boundary Commissions to undertake the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies before 2014, which involves a notable redistribution of seats between the four parts of the UK and the near-equalisation of constituency sizes by electorate.
In addition, the Act mandated a referendum in 2011 on changing from current first-past-the-post system to the Alternative Vote system for elections to the Commons. The Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement committed the coalition government to such a referendum.[14] The referendum was held in May 2011 and resulted in the retention of the existing First Past The Post system.
Before the previous general election the Liberal Democrats had pledged to change the voting system, and the Labour Party had pledged to have a referendum about changing the voting system.[7] The Conservatives had pledged to keep first past the post, but to cut the number of constituencies by 10%. Liberal Democrat plans were to reduce the number of MPs to 500 elected using a proportional system.
As of 17 September 2010[update], the Electoral Commission's Register of Political Parties includes 392 different political parties registered in Great Britain,[15] and 43 in Northern Ireland.[16] In addition, candidates who do not belong to a registered party can use "independent" or no label at all.
In accordance with the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, the Boundary Commissions are undertaking a full revision of constituency boundaries with an instruction to reduce the number of constituencies to 600 and to recommend constituencies which are no more than 5% above or below the standard size. The Boundary Commissions are required to produce their reports by 1 October 2013.
If the election happens before these new boundaries are agreed, it will use the same boundaries as the previous election (2010). Listed below are some of the top target seats of each of the three main parties:
* By-election held here in 2011 makes this a more difficult seat to gain in reality
SNP targets | Swing Required | Plaid Cymru targets | Swing Required | Green Party targets | Swing Required | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ochil & Perthshire South (LAB) | 5.14% | Ynys Mon (LAB) | 3.55% | Norwich South (LD) | 7.20% |
2 | Argyll & Bute (LD) | 6.34% |
Each parliamentary constituency of the United Kingdom elects one MP to the House of Commons using the 'first past the post' system. If one party were to obtain a majority of seats, then that party would be entitled to form the Government. If the election results in no single party having a majority, then there is a hung parliament. In this case, the options for forming the Government are usually either a coalition government or a minority government.
|