The X factor

Before very long speculation will start to mount as to the likely date of the next general election which must take place on or before 3 June 2010 (see Election Timetables, House of Commons Research Paper 07/31, 22 March 2007, at pp.10–11). Even at this stage, however, we can be more or less certain of one thing; that election day itself will be a Thursday. There is no law that says that this must be so. It has simply become a convention for general elections to be held on a Thursday. Thus since 1945 every general election has been held on this day of the week. In a statement made to Parliament in conjunction with the publication of the green paper, The Governance of Britain, Cm 7170 (July 2007), the prime minister said: “Britain is unusual in holding elections on weekdays, when people are at work, and the Secretary of State for Justice will announce a consultation on whether there is a case for voting