The bad manners of dissolving Parliament

Submitted by Anthony Zacharzewski on 25 February 2010 - 9:29am

Assuming the General Election in the UK is on 6 May, the election will be called on 12 April. The constitutional and ceremonial practice of calling an election involves the Great Seal of the Realm, royal proclamations and lots of other historical flummery. The political calculation, since the dissolution date is in the hands of the Prime Minister, is sharper.

In this note, from 2008, Prof Robert Blackburn of King's College, London, considers how the dissolution power has been misused in recent years.

He believes that MPs have been too acquiescent in the growth of dissolution-as-political-performance.

The high-handedness of prime ministers in dissolution practice has been most evident in not even informing parliamentary colleagues of the fact and dates of a forthcoming dissolution and general election in advance of telling newspaper journalists and television broadcasters.

In every case from 1966 to 1987, the public announcement of a dissolution and general election was effected by way of a Press Notice being issued direct to the media by the prime minister's staff at 10 Downing Street, leaving Members to hear of their pending demise from office along with the rest of the population from television and newspaper journalists.

Since 1992, the dissolution announcement has been delivered live on television, often acting as a free party political broadcast in the status-enhancing surroundings of Downing Street.

Gordon Brown, to his credit, has proposed a Commons vote before a dissolution, something which is unlikely to change the decision, but will at least ensure that MPs are informed of the dissolution before the media.

Prof. Blackburn goes further. He believes that Parliament (as local councils do) should remain formally in existence throughout an election period, with new MPs taking their seats and old ones stepping down a certain number of days after the election has taken place.

This could introduce fixed term elections without the risk of a regular five-week period without MPs (which might come in the middle of a financial or political crisis).

One for that written constitution, I think.