header-logo header-logo

General elections: timing is everything

29 April 2022 / Neil Parpworth
Issue: 7976 / Categories: Features , Public
printer mail-detail
79659
When to call a general election: a matter for the prime minister to decide (once again). Neil Parpworth reports on the new Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022
  • The key features of the new law relating to the timing of general elections, the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, which has repealed the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011.

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA 2011) was a significant piece of constitutional legislation which represented a key aspect of the constitutional reform agenda of the coalition government. A central purpose of FTPA 2011 was to end the position whereby the timing of a general election was essentially a matter for the prime minister to decide, by requesting that the monarch exercise the prerogative power to dissolve Parliament. As Lord Holme once suggested, the position was comparable to that of an athlete who, when taking part in a race, is allowed ‘to approach it with his running shoes in one hand and his starting pistol in the other’: see Hansard, HL

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll